Become a Virtual Tourist Member Today!  Sign Up for Free | Sign In

Useful Information, Berlin

Search:
email to friend | help
Home » Travel Guides » Europe » Germany » Land Berlin » Berlin » General Tips » Useful Information Reviews

Berlin Travel Guide


Sponsored Links for Berlin

500 Hotels in Berlin
Good availability and great rates. Book online now, pay at the hotel!

Cheap Hotel Berlin
Book your Berlin hotel online - HRS Low rates on over 225,000 hotels!

Cheap Hotels in Berlin
4* Berlin Hotels from £60. Limited Availability. Book Today!

berlin hotels
Search over 159 Hotels Berlin Today at Hotels.com. 800-449-4167.

Plan A Tour Of Berlin
Explore Berlin In Comfort & Style On Your Own Schedule And Budget!

Useful Information, Berlin
See all Berlin General Tips
The Rough Guide to Berlin - Berlin
The Rough Guide to Berlin
by diocletianvs
Berlin General Tips: Travel tips and photos posted by real travelers and Berlin locals.
Useful Information
• 50 Photos
• 50 Reviews
All Berlin Hotels
Check-In Date:
Check-Out Date:
Guests
Hotels by OneTime.com
Sort By:  Most Recent | Best Rated
Useful Information: Surfing Comfortably
  • Tip Rating:
  • There is an excellent Internet Cafe on the upper level of Berlin Ostbahnhof. The computers are new, the connection is fast, and the chairs are very comfortable leather high back swivel executive type. Each computer also comes equipped with a pair of quality headphone. To add to the comfort, coffee is provided free of charge.

    The €4 rate is a bit high if you only need the service for an hour, but €9.50 for 20 hours usage within one-week period, that is an absolute steal.

    Leave a Comment


    Add to Your Trip Planner  Post a Question  Write a Tip on  Useful Information
    Rate      Not Helpful  1   2   3   4   5  Very Helpful
    Useful Information: It Happenned at the Wall
  • Tip Rating:
  • This fantastic book by Rainer Hildebrandt is a real bestseller (sold in more than 1,200,000 copies) and a must-read for everyone interested to find out what life in Berlin looked like between August 13, 1961 and November 9, 1989.

    The book is in fact a catalogue of the "Checkpoint Charlie" museum and features the introduction to the Wall and the background info about its phenomenon. A large part of the book is dedicated to the creativity of East Berliners trying to escape to the West - a black and white photography documenting something that we all took almost as normal until 1989.

    Great b/w photographs and descriptions in German, English and French make this 224-page book easy to read but hard to understand.

    The book is sold in many bookshops in Berlin, as well as in Tourist Offices. A very good bookshop is "Berlin Story" bookshop at Unter den Linden 40 offering many books in non-German languages.

    www.berlinstory.de

    Leave a Comment


    Add to Your Trip Planner  Post a Question  Write a Tip on  Useful Information
    Rate      Not Helpful  1   2   3   4   5  Very Helpful
    Useful Information: The Rough Guide to Berlin
  • Tip Rating:
  • Berlin asks for some preparation! It is a city without a central square, without charming boulevards and without many equestrian monuments. It is not an ancient city and its development shows all traces of its history that often took dramatic and even tragic courses. Berlin sights cannot only be looked at, you have to at least try to understand the stories that happenned behind their walls.

    I am a big fan of Rough Guide guidebooks and Berlin RG is a great source of background information about the city including the stories, people and off the beaten track places. (I doubt there are many guidebooks that list Marzahn on their pages ;) Written by John Gawthorp and Jack Holland they provide the usual useful information with just a right amount of other stories that make it easier to digest the Berlin puzzle.

    www.roughguides.com

    Leave a Comment


    Add to Your Trip Planner  Post a Question  Write a Tip on  Useful Information
    Rate      Not Helpful  1   2   3   4   5  Very Helpful
    Useful Information: Berlin highlights
  • Tip Rating:
  • Of course, once inside the bookshop I bought some other books as well:

    Berlin architecture and design is a small picture-book showing the main highlights of Berlin architecture and some of the best interiors worth visiting.

    Berlin highlights by Clemens Beeck (with photos by Günter Schneider) is a quick overview of main sights of Berlin, more worth for the pictures than for the text giving only brief info.

    Berlin New Architecture by Michael Imhof and Leon Krempel is a guidebook to new Berlin architecture from 1989 to today. From Reichstag to Potsdamer Platz and from Galleries Lafayette to the Nordic Embassies it lists all most important new buildings with basic info and a short description. Even if you're not an architect I guess this is interesting since Berlin in the 1990s was Europe's largest construction site.

    Leave a Comment


    Add to Your Trip Planner  Post a Question  Write a Tip on  Useful Information
    Rate      Not Helpful  1   2   3   4   5  Very Helpful
    Useful Information: Portable bratwurst!
  • Tip Rating:
  • Check out the reflection in the window! - Berlin
    Check out the reflection
    in the window!
    by nigelw6443
    Send Photo to a Friend
    A funny sight that is becoming more common in Berlin is the one man Rostbrat vendor. They actaully walk around with a grill and cook the bratwursts whilst on the move. I haven't tasted one of these but they are a good alternative to standing at the imbiss.

    Leave a Comment


    Add to Your Trip Planner  Post a Question  Write a Tip on  Useful Information
    Rate      Not Helpful  1   2   3   4   5  Very Helpful
    Useful Information: Medicines etc.
  • Tip Rating:
  • No shortage of Apothekes in Berlin. - Berlin
    No shortage of Apothekes in
    Berlin.
    by nigelw6443
    Send Photo to a Friend
    Unlike North America it is useful to know that painkillers or any sort of medication even contact lens fluid cannot be purchased in drug stores. You have to visit an Apotheke. Fortunately there is no shortage. Even in the smallest of villages you will always find one, but you won't always find what you want. Opening hours are usually from 8:00 am until 2:00pm although alot have after hour services and at the ring of the bell you can get some service.

    Leave a Comment


    Add to Your Trip Planner  Post a Question  Write a Tip on  Useful Information
    Rate      Not Helpful  1   2   3   4   5  Very Helpful
    Useful Information: Free sights in Berlin
  • Tip Rating:
  • Visit the Reichstag - it's free - Berlin
    Visit the Reichstag - it's
    free
    by barryg23
    Send Photo to a Friend
    If you're on a tight budget try the following; they are all free:

    1. Brandenburg Gate
    2. Reichstag Dome
    3. East Side Gallery
    4. Topographie des Terrors
    5. Bernauer Strasse Wall Museum

    I have more detailed tips on each of these in the Things To Do section.

    Other free things in Berlin that I didn't get the chance to visit include:

    Stasi Museum
    Russian-War Museum
    Treptower Park
    Markisches Museum

    Leave a Comment


    Add to Your Trip Planner  Post a Question  Write a Tip on  Useful Information
    Rate      Not Helpful  1   2   3   4   5  Very Helpful
    Useful Information: Can You Put on a "Berliner" Face?
  • Tip Rating:
  • Tim's Cafe at one of the universities - Berlin
    Tim's Cafe at one of the
    universities
    by JourneyOf1
    Send Photo to a Friend
    Whenever I tried to put on my "Berliner" face I would laugh! What is a "Berliner" face? OK, its the serious but not unfriendly lack of expression most Berliners wear the majority of time when you see them out in public.

    I felt like a primordial animal baring its teeth at passer-bys sometimes because where I'm from when you make eye contact with someone you smile and say hello. Not in Berlin! If someone takes an interest in you they look at you until their heart is content without a smile.

    One day while riding the S-Bahn this guy, whom I named Herr Zug! looked at me for a full 3 minutes after having looked me up and down at his leisure when I first boarded. I looked back of course, he was really cute! but no smiling, though I felt like winking just to see what his reaction would be! ;-) Before he exited he gave me another 3 minutes of his time, and I wished him good day because I hoped he'd stored enough to have good dreams that night or something!! I wrote part of this memory in a short story in my travelogues.

    This is during the day I must say, at night when I was out and everyone had a beer or two, everybody was smiling ;-)

    Herr Zug and his unusual shoes! YES, I too was looking for a very long time at him! ;-)

    Leave a Comment


    Add to Your Trip Planner  Post a Question  Write a Tip on  Useful Information
    Rate      Not Helpful  1   2   3   4   5  Very Helpful
    Useful Information: EXBERLINER Berlin in English
  • Tip Rating:
  • Everybody knows that Berlin is the place to be for nightlife, music, art and general good times but what help is that when you don't know your Kreuzberg from your Kartoffel. Locals recommened I should read Berlin listing magazines such as tip and zitty which I'm sure are great- but not if the only German phrase you know is 'Sprechen Sie Englisch?' So it was a stroke of luck when I spotted the monthly English-language magazine EXBERLINER in my local newsagent. EXBERLINER is a great magazine for any English-speaking visitor to Berlin. The articles are informative and the listings are varied and up to date, all that for only 2 euros-well you can't really go wrong! www.exberliner.com

    I'm still in Berlin so I'm not feeling sentimental yet, but i'm sure when i'm back in 'Old Blighty' I'll have my subscription of EXBERLINER sent over so i'm still in the know of whats happening in Europes best capital city.

    Leave a Comment


    Add to Your Trip Planner  Post a Question  Write a Tip on  Useful Information
    Rate      Not Helpful  1   2   3   4   5  Very Helpful
    Useful Information: Service (or lack thereof?) in Europe
  • Tip Rating:
  • Especially when you are American, you may witness what you might consider a lack of service you are used to in the U.S.A. when traveling to Europe.

    Yes, most of what follows goes for Europe in general, not necessarily Berlin or Germany in particular.

    Say, you are in a restaurant: A good waiter will not come every 5 minutes and ask if you have any complaints or if you wish to place another order. Maybe he or she will come once and ask if everything's ok, but even that happens seldomly. The reason behind this ostensibly rude or ignorant behavior is that it would be considered intrusive. A good waiter will return empty plates (not glasses!) from your table and other than that come when you make eye-contact.

    Another thing may come as unpleasant surprise: You'll find every drink on your bill. When you order a coffee and want another one, the waiter will not refill your cup, but bring a new one and take the first back to the kitchen. In any way, you'll find two coffees on your bill. Drinks are what a restaurant makes money with; the meals they serve bring comparatively little revenue. The good thing is that meals, by comparision and a ridiculous Dollar-Euro exchange rate not withstanding, are a couple of bucks cheaper than they are in in the U.S., at least when you take into account that a 10% tip is not minimum but absolutely o.k.

    In Germany, plastic money is not as widely accepted as you may think. Department stores, fuel stations and supermarkets, not to mention hotels generally do accept both - debit and credit cards. Smaller shops and very affordable restaurants, like those frequented by students, probably won't accept any card. Issuers of credit cards charge shops with approximately 5% of each sales volume, plus a flat transaction fee plus a monthly or annual rate for the card reader. Many shop owners refuse to distribute those exenses to each customer. (Continues below)

    Speaking of supermarkets: Shopping for groceries in a supermarket means self-service! Sure, you can ask for help if you don't find something you need, but don't expect employees to approach you and ask if they can be of any service. That would, again, be considered intrusive. I for one hate if, when others comment on what I put into my shopping cart (not that any item would be embarassing), and likewise I don't think it's anyone's business to know which toothpaste I use or which table water I think is safe to drink. Other people seem to feel the same, hence it's only logical that you won't see a smiling student eager to put your groceries in a bag or in your car.
    Yes, some chains have tried it, but to no avail, and yes a typical "super"market is about one-fourth or fifth the size of an American. The range of products to choose from is, however, similar, since there are usually a number of different supermarkets to choose from. I live within walking distance (~10 minutes) of 5 supermarkets plus 2 additional supermarkets that exclusively sell organic food not to mention some greengrocers and a farmers market.

    Back to bags: Plastic bags almost always come free when you shop in a small retailer, such as a perfumery or wine store but never in a supermarket - at least not in Germany. If it has to be a supermarket (you may notice I like smaller shops and farmers markets better), bring a daypack, trolley or spend a couple of Euro Cents on a bag. The idea behind it is that plastic bags are not environmentally friendly. Even in a smaller shop you may be asked you if you need a bag for your purchase.


    Add to Your Trip Planner  Post a Question  Write a Tip on  Useful Information
    Rate      Not Helpful  1   2   3   4   5  Very Helpful
    More Berlin Tips
    Overview
     
    General Tips
    Tips: 743 - Photos: 646
    Restaurants
    Tips: 575 - Photos: 369
    Hotels and Accommodations
    Tips: 489 - Photos: 274
    Things To Do
    Tips: 3,058 - Photos: 2,836
    Nightlife
    Tips: 320 - Photos: 221
    Off the Beaten Path
    Tips: 466 - Photos: 399
    Tourist Traps
    Tips: 134 - Photos: 90
    Warnings or Dangers
    Tips: 143 - Photos: 77
    Transportation
    Tips: 516 - Photos: 345
    Local Customs
    Tips: 253 - Photos: 195
    Packing Lists
    Tips: 30 - Photos: 22
    Shopping
    Tips: 216 - Photos: 173
    Sports Travel
    Tips: 52 - Photos: 44
    Flights
    Tips: 56 - Photos: 34

    More Sponsored Links for Berlin

    Leonardo Berlin Hotels
    Check Availability and Book Online Best Rates & Service Guaranteed!

    Germany Packages
    Travel to Medievil Towns & Castles. Make a Family Fairy Tale w/ Disney.

    Holiday Inn Berlin
    Downtown & airport locations. Official site. Book online today.





    Find:        Matching:  Advanced