While many cities in Germany have one main Christmas Market, Berlin has dozens of Christmas Markets from which you can choose based on your interests and style. So, which are the best Christmas markets in Berlin?

Whether you're looking for a traditional German Christmas market or something a bit more offbeat, I offer here my handy Berlin Christmas Market guide. The recommendations are based on our experience living in Berlin for ten years and being avid Christmas market fans. It has all the information you need to know, including dates and schedules of Berlin Christmas markets and notes on how to visit my local favorites — these are Christmas markets that will make your visit to Berlin during the Christmas and holiday season even more special.

The Spirit of German Christmas Markets

There’s something that just about everyone looks forward to in December in Berlin: Christmas markets (Weihnachtsmarkt or Adventsmarkt). They offer a retreat from the shortening days of the year, into the company of gathered friends and neighbors.

In the selection that follows, you'll find the “markets” listed less about shopping and more about community — where friends and families make plans to meet at the market after work or on weekends. A place where the aroma of glühwein (spiced, mulled wine) and sweet roasted almonds wafts in an atmosphere of twinkling lights in a chilly winter vapor.

As conversations happen over steaming mugs of glühwein and hearty German street food like bratwurst, market-goers catch up on life and give air to what awaits at the turn of the new year. Christmas markets serve as the perfect antidote — or accompaniment if you like — to the approaching Winter Solstice.

I confess that I am a bit of a Christmas market geek. I helped launch a Christmas market when I lived in Estonia many years ago. Dan and I have even taken Christmas market-themed road trips through Germany and Central Europe.

Maybe this Christmas market affinity of mine has something to do with the fact that I'm American and I didn't grow up with the Christmas market culture. So, I get a little giddy when the season rolls around and I'm within reach of one. Whatever the cause, this is one of the reasons we stick around Berlin in December.

Does Berlin Have Christmas Markets?

At this point you might be thinking: “German Christmas markets are famous, but I’ve never heard anything about Christmas markets in Berlin.”

OK, then. Berlin’s Christmas markets haven’t traditionally carried the same reputation or history as those in other German cities like Munich, Nuremberg or Stuttgart. But that’s changing. Berlin makes its own way and blends the traditional into the tapestry of its forward-lurching, unusual self.

Just as Berlin doesn’t have one town center, it also doesn’t have one main Christmas market. Instead, Berlin usually features more than 50 markets (in 2022 it's gone up to 70 markets!) spread throughout the city, each with its own distinct personality, atmosphere and specialties. Some run the length of the Advent season, while others are limited-time offers or tuned to the spirit of their local neighborhood for only a weekend or two.

Of course, a certain commercialization and schlock lurks conspicuously at some markets. With this in mind, we share our personal recommendations: a few trusted and traditional or local and authentic favorites to help you get started in your Berlin Christmas market exploration.

Note: This post was originally published on December 3, 2015 and updated on December 8, 2024 with updated dates, times and other information. .

Berlin Christmas Market Dates

Berlin Christmas markets are usually open for the entire Advent Christmas market season, from the end of November through Christmas (and sometimes through to the New Year). In 2024, most of the Berlin Christmas Market open on 25 November 2024 and run until the very end of December or beginning of January 2025.

Best Berlin Christmas Markets

With around 70 Christmas markets in Berlin, so you'll have quite a few to choose from to enjoy the holiday season.

We find these Christmas markets especially atmospheric when it's dark and everything is tastefully lit, which is easy since the sun sets in Berlin before 4PM throughout December. Glühwein seems to taste better in the evening, too.

READ MORE: Berlin Travel: A Beginner's Guide

WeihnachtsZauber Gendarmenmarkt Christmas Market

Why: For a bit of the traditional in a beautiful setting, especially at night as the Konzerthaus (Concert Hall) and nearby churches and buildings are lit. Gift stands at the Gendarmenmarkt Christmas Market tend to be handicraft-oriented or luxury-focused. Food quality is generally pretty high here as well.

Be sure to check out the big feuerzangenbowle (fire-tongs punch) tent and seek out the wooden barrel of rum to the right of the bar should you need to “enhance” your steaming mug full of punch. In general, if you encounter a choice of glühwein “mit schuss”, that simply means “with a shot” as in a shot of rum or possibly amaretto. Note: Gendarmenmarkt charges a nominal entrance fee of €1. For more information, check out the Gendarmenmarkt Christmas market page.

Schloss Charlottenburg Christmas Market

Why: To drink mugs of steaming glühwein in the shadow of a 300+ year old Baroque palace. The Schloss Charlottenburg Christmas market is one with big time European fairytale charm. Some of its stands feature traditional — and huge — Christmas pyramids which entertain as figures go round and round all night long. Also fun, but kind of cheesy, is the light show at night.

For more information, check out the Schloss Charlottenburg Christmas Market page.

Lucia Christmas Market at Kulturbrauerei (Nordic-Scandanavian Christmas Market)

Why: Because you always wanted to taste the difference between Swedish, Norwegian and Danish glögg (Scandinavian mulled wine). Top off the entire experience with reindeer sausages and a host of other Nordic games and treats and you might just forget where you are. Compared to other open-space Christmas markets, the Lucia Christmas Market is set up in the winding courtyards of Kulturbrauerei, a 19th century brick industrial complex.

For more information, see the Lucia Christmas Market at KulturBrauerei page.

Spandau Old Town and Citadel Christmas Markets

Why: To feel as though you’ve been transported to a small German village even though you remain within the Berlin city limits. The citadel of Spandau, one of the best preserved Renaissance fortresses in Europe, is also taken over by its Christmas market.

The old town of Spandau also hosts a large Christmas Market on its streets. While the atmosphere and some of the bigger stands along the main strip can feel a bit commercial, the little courtyards and stands convey something a bit more traditional.

For more information, see the Spandau Christmas Market page.

Medieval Historical Christmas Market at RAW

Why: To feel like you've gone back in time to a medieval village complete with axe throwing or archery competitions and hand-operated carousels. This Berlin Christmas market is built each year on the grounds of the RAW Cultural Center and is a fun experience and atmosphere, especially for families or kids, thanks to all of its performances and games.

You can warm yourself up around one of the several fire pits and drink mulled wine or hot mead from heavy ceramic mugs. There is also plenty of hearty food, some of it of it aiming to be “medieval” (aka, heavy), to keep you warm and full. A fun way to spend a cold winter evening.

For more information see the Historical Christmas Market at RAW Cultural Centre page.

Potsdam Christmas Market

Why: To take a break from the big city. Visit the Potsdam UNESCO sites of Sanssouci Palace and gardens during the day and enjoy eierpunsch (spiced egg punch) at the Christmas market at night. The market takes over the streets of the old town for blocks on end and features some of the most elaborate and largest displays we’ve seen. There’s also an ice skating rink and other fun stuff for kids…or adults.

There is also a Polish Christmas Market nearby at the Kutschstallhof from 2-4 December to get your fill of Polish pierogis, handicrafts and other specialties.

For more information, see the Potsdam Christmas Market page.

Berlin Neighborhood and Weekend Christmas Markets

In addition to Christmas markets which run the entire length of Advent, Berlin also features its share of short-run special and weekend markets. These markets are typically smaller affairs featuring local organizations and neighborhood-oriented venues. If you're visiting Berlin for a couple of days during the Christmas season and authentic and local is what you seek, it's absolutely worth doing some research to see which of these markets happens to be timed with your visit.

Alt-Rixdorfer Christmas Market

Why: The Rixdorf Christmas Market serves as a nice kickoff to the Christmas season. It also illustrates how a neighborhood Christmas market can be done well and at scale with local organizations selling homemade crafts to raise money for schools, charities, firemen’s groups, and more. Stands tend to be locally run and offer a perfect excuse to get to know the Neukölln district a little better.

The square where the Alt-Rixdorf Christmas market is held, Richardplatz, features an enclosure with pony rides and a petting zoo. The whole thing is sweet, quaint and helps take you back in time a bit. For more information, see the Alt-Rixdorfer Christmas Market page.

Heissa Holzmarkt

Why: For a mixture of traditional and alternative in a fun and eclectic Berlin community space. Located on the Spree River in Friedrichshain, Holzmarkt is open all year around with its fixed shops, bakery, art studios and event space. Its Christmas market open on weekends during the advent season transforms what feels like its own urban village into a bit of a traditional and modern winter wonderland with bonfires by the river, ample amounts of glühwein, silent disco booths, German and international food options, bizarre puppet shows, and much more. This has become one of our favorite Berlin Christmas markets in the last years.

For more information, see this Heissa Holzmarkt Christmas Market page.

Schloss Britz Christmas Market

Why: To experience an intimate Nordic Medieval Fairytale Christmas market in the courtyard of an 18th century manor house. Though medieval costumes are involved here, the market somehow seems to pull this off without being a caricature of itself. As Schloss Britz Christmas market doesn't typically see the hordes that other markets might, you'll have the opportunity to speak to the various artisans and learn more about their handicrafts, preserves and other wares. The food served is usually inventive and a bit different than standard fare.

There is a €3 entrance fee, but we feel that the atmosphere and quality of the stands warrants the price. For more information, see the Schloss Britz Christmas Market page.

Christmas Market at Domäne Dahlem

Why: Located on the grounds of a manor house which also serves as a sort of farm and agricultural museum, the Christmas Market at Domäne Dahlem includes many small producers and artisans selling everything from sea salts and spices to traditional German handicrafts.

There is also an emphasis on fresh and organic foods, so you can certainly eat well and heartily here. Domäne Dahlem is a bit outside Berlin center, but if you want a more neighborhood and countryside feel, check out this Christmas Market during one of the Advent weekends. Entrance is €4.50.

For more information, see the Christmas Market at Domäne Dahlem page.

Berlin Christmas Market Resources

• A complete list of Berlin Christmas markets maintained by Visit Berlin

More Holiday Things to do in Berlin

Even if visiting Christmas markets is the main goal of your winter visit to Berlin, there are other holiday and Christmas-oriented things to do in the city. Here are a few of the more popular tours, events and experiences in Berlin as offered by our partner (also Berlin-based), Get Your Guide. They offer many different Berlin tours with no booking fees and free cancellation up to 24 hours before.

• Christmas Garden in the Botanical Gardens: I have to admit that I never thought about visiting the Botanical Gardens for Christmas this until my hairdresser recommended it as her favorite holiday activity in Berlin. A 2-km route takes you through a winter wonderland of lights and different holiday installations.
• Berlin TV Tower Fast View Tickets: Get out of the cold and up above it all with these fast-track tickets that allow you to skip the line and go straight up to the top of the TV Tower. You'll have great views of the Christmas market below at Alexander Platz as well as the city as a whole.
• Berlin Welcome Card with Transport Pass: Get around the city by public transportation easily without worrying about buying or validating your tickets with this Berlin Welcome Card (ABC Zones). You can choose different lengths, from 48-hours to 6-days. And, the Welcome Card provides you with lots of discounts at different attractions, shops or museums. We've used Berlin Welcome Cards quite a bit when we've had visitors as it's cost-effective when you plan to travel around a lot and do a lot of different activities.

Best Areas in Berlin To Stay for Christmas Markets

Here are a few recommended accommodation options in some of our favorite Berlin neighborhoods of Kreuzberg-Friedrichshain, Neukölln, and Mitte.

• Weinmeister Hotel in Mitte: Located in the heart of Mitte near Hackescher Markt and not far from Alexanderplatz, this design hotel is in a great location and has a beautiful rooftop terrace for meals and drinks. Several friends and work colleagues have stayed here and recommend it. Note: this is an adult-only hotel.
• Hüttenpalast in Neukölln: Located in a fun and hip area between Kreuzberg and Neukölln, Hüttenpalast offers both retro-style caravans and cabins, as well as hotel rooms, and a relaxing garden. Friends have enjoyed staying here.
• Nena Apartments in Bergmannkiez, Kreuzberg: If you want your own apartment and kitchen to self-cater, these apartments on a quiet street in the cute Bergmannkiez part of Kreuzberg are a good option. There are also Nena Apartments in Neukölln (Hermannplatz) and in the Moritzplatz area of Kreuzberg.
• Michelberger Hotel in Friedrichshain: Located close to the East Side Gallery (2km of the Berlin Wall that is now an outdoor mural gallery) and Spree River, the Michelberger Hotel has a great lobby and restaurant on the ground floor and unique design rooms of all sizes and prices. Several friends who have stayed here recommend it for the rooms and the location.
• Circus Hostel in Berlin: If you are looking for a hostel or budget accommodation option, several friends have recommended Circus Hostel with both dorm and single/double room options. It's located very close to Rosenthaler Platz in Mitte with lots of local restaurants, cafes and bars in walking distance. The owners have recently opened up Circus Hotel nearby if you aren't into the hostel vibe.

Plan Your Berlin Christmas Market Trip

• How to get to Berlin: There are endless options to fly to Berlin thanks to all the traditional and low cost airlines flying into TXL (Tegel Airport) or SXF (Schönefeld Airport). We often use Skyscanner to compare flight prices and to book tickets because it displays all the various airline combinations, including options from low-fare airlines.
• Berlin restaurant recommendations: For budget eating, check our our guides for favorite cheap eats in Berlin under €5 and our favorite neighborhood meals under €10. StilinBerlin offers another reliable resource for local Berlin restaurants and “best of” guides.

The post Berlin Christmas Markets: The Ultimate Guide (Updated 2024) appeared first on Uncornered Market.

Our list of favorite Berlin cheap eats under €5 is easy on your budget and includes high-quality, flavorful and hearty meals. These include Middle Eastern, Turkish, German, Italian and Asian dishes from a variety of different neighborhoods. So as you explore where to eat in Berlin, you get a sense of the city's diversity in addition to getting to know the local food scene.

During our time in Berlin we've lived in Kreuzberg and in Neukölln neighborhoods, smack in middle of what our visiting friends deemed “little Turkey.” Food was fresh, accessible, brimming with flavor and typically served by folks who took pride in their cuisine, interest in us as human beings, and great pleasure in serving up an experience.

For more of our Berlin foodie recommendations check out our favorite neighborhood meals under €10 and Stil In Berlin is also good for food and restaurant recommendations

Update July 2022: This article was first published in October 2010 and updated in August 2020 and July 2022 with updates to restaurants, dishes and prices (yes, inflation has had an impact recently), as well as recommended Berlin city tours and places to stay to explore the city even more.

Our Favorite 10 Cheap Eats in Berlin

1. Azzam Restaurant: Delicious Middle Eastern Food

We discovered this simple self-service Labanese-style (although owned by a Palestinian) restaurant by riding our bikes past it repeatedly and noticing it was always full of people, no matter what time of day. We thought: there must be good reason for those crowds. There was.

Azzam quickly became a favorite eating spot of ours in Berlin, one that we love taking friends to and sharing a bunch of different dishes together so we can all enjoy different tastes. Everyone always comes away with some variation of: “that food was delicious, and I can’t believe how inexpensive it was.” No doubt some of the highest quality food for the money in the city. Two people can easily stuff themselves with delicious treats for under €5.

What to eat: The falafel and halloumi cheese plate (now €6.50) is a classic that everyone loves (we think Azzam has some of the best falafel in the city). Musabaha (an addictive warm whole chickpea dip) or hummus bowl for around €5. Manakeesh flatbread covered in za’atar (a spice blend including thyme and sesame seeds) or cheese with a subtle fragrance of nutmeg. Fatteh is the ultimate comfort food at around €6.50. Everything comes with a boat of fresh vegetables, olives, and herbs plus a bag of pita bread.

Azzam can get busy around meal times so consider visiting during an off-time or if you come during prime hours just enjoy the buzz of the place and a cup of tea for free from their samovar.

2. Mustafa's: Gemüse (Vegetable) Kebab

You’ll know you’re close when you spot the long line snaking down the street on Mehringdamm. This is not your typical Berlin kebab. Instead of meat, a spindle of chicken and roasted vegetables is carved up and served with a fabulous mélange of potatoes, sweet potatoes, salad, a feta-type cheese and sauce. If you’re vegetarian, you can also go for the pure veg option. We usually opted for the durum (flat bread) döner with chicken for around €5 which is hearty enough feeds the two of us.

Mustafa is a food stand, meaning that it doesn’t have any seating of its own so you’ll need to grab your kebab and eat it on the street. Given the popularity of Mustafa’s it’s worth planning your visit during off-hours to avoid the long line.

Address: Mustafa's Gemüse Kebab, Mehringdamm 32 (Kreuzberg)

3. Han West: Get Your Dumpling and Bao Fix

We're spoiled as Han West's Neukölln location is just around the corner from us so it's our go-to place when we're craving dumplings or baos. You can get a filling bao (steamed bun) stuffed with tofu, shiitake mushroom or pork belly for €4.50. Vegetarian, vegan or meat-filled dumplings are around €6 for eight with a choice of sauce. And if you're really hungry order a box that includes dumplings, bao and fries or salad (€10.50). Pick up a craft beer from Neulich brewery next door (Neukölln location) and it's a perfect combination.

What to eat: Tofu or pork belly bao (€4.50), halloumi lemongrass or Thai chicken and herb dumplings (€6.00).

Address: Han West, Selchowerstr. 20, Neukölln + Görlitzerstr. 69, Kreuzberg + Burgsdorfstr. 9, Wedding

4. Gel Gör Inegöl Köfteci: Köfte Sandwiches & Turkish Food

Köfte usually means herbed minced lamb meatballs, but Gel Gör does it with a twist by using veal instead. And the result is astronomically good. They charcoal grill the meat just tender; the aroma and taste are both unforgettable. Next up, the bread: perfectly fresh, soft, then (blow my mind) dabbed and toasted on the charcoal grill. The whole thing is topped with salad greens, red onions, arugula (rucola) and mint.

Sauces are also standout: spicy red pepper sauce, garlic yogurt, and a yellow herb sauce. Go for all three. Have them top the whole thing with a dash of sumac and some red pepper flakes (for spice lovers) and your taste buds will go insane.

I'm told the proper way to down a Gel Gör köfte baguette is to drink it with ayran (drinkable Turkish yogurt). However, Gel Gör offers a formidable beer selection featuring prices only a few dimes over prices at a bottle shop.

What to eat: Köfte baguette (€5.00-€7.00). Meatatarians take the plunge with the köfte plate.

Address: Gel Gör Inegöl Köfteci, Kottbusser Damm 80 (Neukölln). Open 24 hours.

5. Tadim Lahmacun: Turkish Pizzas and Other Specialties

Lahmacun (Turkish pizza) at its best. A friend who visited likened lahmacun to the Turkish version of a burrito. But it's much more than that. Lahmacun is a rolled, thin flatbread dough topped with an herbed ground meat and baked until crispy. Ask the guys to top it with salad (tomato, flat parsley, onion, lettuce), some hot or yogurt sauce and a bit of sumac, a squeeze of lemon; they roll it up a la burrito. You can also try it with döner meat inside, but we are fans of the lahmacun alone.

Call us purists. Turkish pizza purists.

What to eat: Lahmacun (Turkish pizza) with salad (2.50€) or salad and sauce (3.00€).

Address: Tadim Lahmacun, Adalbertstrasse 98, Kreuzberg.

6. Thai Park: Where to Find Authentic Thai Food in Berlin

Thai Park takes over Preußenpark in Schöneberg every Friday to Sunday with food stalls serving Thai street food and everything you might be missing from your last trip to Thailand. It feels a bit like being transported to Bangkok for the afternoon as all of the vendors are Thai so you are surrounded by the smells, flavors and sounds of Thailand.

Take your time to walk through the different street food stalls and choose your favorite dishes (usually €3 – €6) — Pad Thai, a Thai curry, pad kra pao gai, papaya or seafood salad, spring or summer roles, soup, dumplings or mango and sticky rice. Then, enjoy eating some of the best and most authentic Thai food in Berlin in the park in fresh air on a picnic blanket. Doesn't get much better than this for food and atmosphere.

What to eat: It's hard to go wrong here, but our favorite dishes include chicken larb, seafood salad, pad kra pao gai (chicken with Thai basil and chili), and pad see ew (wide rice noodles).
Address: Thai Park (Friday – Sunday, April to October), Preußenpark near Fehrbelliner Platz (also an U-Bahn station), Schöneberg

7. Pazzi X Pizza: Authentic Italian Pizza

Finding cheap pizza by the slice in Berlin is easy. However, finding really good, high quality pizza by the slice in Berlin is rare. That's where Pazzi X Pizza just a few blocks away form Tempelhofer Feld in Neukölln comes in. Its authentic Italian thin crust pizzas (the owners are from southern Italy) with high quality Italian toppings will please the pickiest of pizza snobs (I count myself as part of that group). The standard piece (bigger than a regular pizza slice) costs €2.50-€3.00, depending upon the toppings. One is usually enough, but if you're really hungry then get two.

What to eat: Some of our favorite pizzas include cime di rapa (Italian greens) with salsiccia (Italian sausage with fennel), cherry tomatoes with ricotta cheese and rucola, roasted eggplant, and prosciutto with ricotta . The classic margarita (tomato sauce with mozzarella) is always a good bet.

Address: Pazzi X Pizza, Herrfurthstr. 8 (Neukölln)

8. Maroush: Lebanese Food

Tasty, accessible Lebanese food. Excellent falafel sandwiches stuffed with freshly fried falafel balls, salad and a surprisingly hefty dose of tahini (sesame sauce). Chicken shawarma sandwiches are chock-full of chicken and feature a tuck of French fries. Sounds odd, but the combo works oh so well. The final touch on both sandwiches: the stuffed pita is “sealed” in a sandwich press.

Open late and usually packed.

What to eat: Chicken shawarma or falafel sandwich (€5)
Address: Maroush, Adalbertstrasse 98, Kreuzberg.

There is always a large selection of different red sauce or white pizza options, all with high quality Italian toppings. This changes all the time so you'll always find something new. You can either eat there with tables inside and outside. Or, take your slices with you to eat as a picnic at Tempelhofer Feld.

9a. Tekbir Döner: Best Döner Kebab, Part 1

Like all good things, by word of mouth, friend of a friend. A tip from an Indian guy in Kreuzberg who had himself been tipped off by a Turkish neighbor. This is how all great döner scavenger hunts begin.

Although the meat on the spindle may look sketchy: rougher, darker than other döner huts, don't fear. Tekbir's meat spindle is stacked with cut veal instead of processed or pressed lamb döner meat. As a result, the texture is very much real meat, like cut steak in a steak-and-cheese. And the taste is the stuff of beautiful, sweet mystery. Maybe some allspice, cinnamon or nutmeg. In any case, it's elegant. The yogurt sauce is tart, as if it's straight ayran, rather than sweetened yogurt or mayonnaise you might find lurking elsewhere.

The whole package is rolled in a Turkish style lavash-like flatbread called a durum.

Best of all, Tekbir is the real deal, real neighborhood, and everyone working and eating there is extraordinarily friendly. They served us free Turkish tea during each visit. It doesn't get much better than that.

What to eat: Durum döner, 4.50€.
Address: Tekbir Döner, Skalitzer Straße 23, Kreuzberg

9b. Doyum Grillhaus Döner: Best Döner Kebab, Part 2

It's always a good sign when a Turkish restaurant is packed with Turkish people round-the-clock. We ordered a simple durum döner where the meat (lamb) is spot on, piled plentifully and topped with lots of fresh salad. Great sauce with a roasted chili taste. The adana kebab (pictured above) looked pretty nice, too. Next time.

Although we opted for a quick kebab to go, this is a proper Turkish restaurant with a delicious looking menu and full seated area.

What to eat: Durum döner (4.50€).
Address: Doyum Grillhaus, Admiralstraße 37-38, Kreuzberg

10. Requisite Berlin Currywurst

Do I think currywurst is the highest quality food going in Berlin? Um, no. But I know it's in the hearts and on the minds of just about everyone visiting. So, here's my take.

The “best currywurst” argument is a storm in a teacup, but if sausage served with a dusting of curry powder and ketchup sounds like your thing, then it's time for currywurst. In truth and fairness, my best memories of currywurst date back to the early 2000s and in particular, a rain-soaked R.E.M. concert in 2004. But those days — and eating currywurst at every stop from Zoologischer Garten to Nollendorfplatz — are long since over.

These days, the “best currywurst” battle rages between two places: Curry 36 and Konnopke Imbiss. Although I favor Curry 36's marginal generosity with their curry powder and their fries (with a dusting of red pepper powder), I appreciate the less firm sausage link from Konnopke Imbiss.

But like I said above: storm in a teacup.

What to eat: At Curry 36: two currywurst and French fries (4.50€). At Konnopke Imbiss: currywurst and French fries (5.00€).
Address: Curry 36, Mehringdamm 36, Kreuzberg. (If you are a group and want to smorgasbord it, get a gemüse kebab from Mustafa's listed above). Konnopke Imbiss, Schönhauser Allee 44A, Prenzlauer Berg.

Honorable Mention: Türkenmarkt at Maybachufer

It's no wonder that food in Berlin is so good, fresh and tasty. The produce coursing through all its markets is impressive. For a glimpse and taste, check out the Turkish outdoor market (Türkenmarkt) along Maybachufer and the canal in Kreuzberg. It's open Tuesday and Friday afternoons from 12:00-6:30.

Just about everything is sold here, even open-air haircuts. In the food department: fruits, vegetables, meat, fish, spices, olives, nuts, cheese and an array of Turkish breads. And for a walk-away comfort food snack, try the gözleme from Chez Su (right side, on the way towards Neukölln) for around €2.

Berlin Day Tours and Other Things to Do

Having lived in Berlin for almost ten years with dozens of visitors during that time, we’ve done quite a few city tours that explore Berlin by foot, bike and water (boat/kayak) that we’ve enjoyed. Each perspective and tour focus — whether it’s street art, history, alternative culture, or the local food scene — provides a little more understanding of this complex, complicated and ever-changing city we love.

If you have limited time in Berlin and want to sure you have a secured spot in a tour, we can recommend using our partners, Get Your Guide and Viator, for booking Berlin tours. They offer many different types of Berlin tours and day trips with no booking fees and free cancellation up to 24 hours before.

Here are a few tours and experiences we recommend if you visit Berlin. (Note: Some of the links below are affiliate links where the price stays the same to you, but we earn a small commission if you book something.)

• Half-Day Berlin Walking Tour: One of the ways we often orient ourselves when we arrive in a new city is by taking a walking tour. This provides us a background on the history and culture of the place, an overview of the main historical sights, and ideas on where we want to continue our exploration. We find that the walking tour guides often have great food and restaurant recommendations, too. If a half-day sounds a bit long, here's a shorter Berlin walking tour that focuses on the historical sites and World War II history around Brandenburg Gate. If you are curious about Berlin's Cold War history, consider this East Berlin walking tour (3 hours) that focuses on what it was like living in a divided city that includes visit to the East Side Gallery and Berlin Wall.
• Alternative Berlin and Street Walking Tour (4 hours): This walking tour that explores Berlin's alternative side with a focus on street art and counterculture history has been a favorite with our visiting family and friends. We've done a similar Berlin street art walking tour (3 hours) with this same company that we really liked. The guide is usually a street artist so you get an inside perspective. It makes you really appreciate the different layers and meaning behind the street art you'll see as you explore Berlin.
• Explore Berlin by boat: Many people don't realize that Berlin is a city on water with more bridges than Venice, Italy. The Spree River run through the city with many canals going into the different neighborhoods (built and used originally to transport goods throughout the city). So, one of the best ways to see and experience Berlin is on a boat, whether it's a quick one-hour boat ride through the main sites in the center or a longer half-day boat trip that goes from the center of town and the famous Museum Island to Landwehr Canal in Kreuzberg with its many bridges.
• Explore Berlin by bicycle: Given the vast size of Berlin and the city's bike lane infrastructure, a bike tour is a fun way to see a lot of different places and travel like a Berliner…by bike. We really enjoyed and learned a lot on this Berlin Wall Bike Tour (3.5 hours) that takes you through different places along the Berlin Wall and also tells the story of how and why it was built, what life was like in a divided city (usually the tour guides are from Berlin and can share their own experience), how people tried to escape, and the unexpected story of how the wall fell on 9 November, 1989. Another fun area to explore on bike are the neighborhoods of Kreuzberg and Fredrichshain with their street art, alternative culture, East Side Gallery, Spree River and more.
• Explore Berlin by kayak: The calm of Berlin's canals and Spree River make the city a great place to kayak through to see some of the main sites and neighborhoods. We've rented kayaks several times over the years (and also own a small inflatable boat) and can recommend kayaking along the Landwehr Canal in Kreuzberg and also into the former East Berlin. Another fun water option is this 1.5-hour stand-up paddle board tour that goes along the Spree River towards Treptower Park and Insel der Jugund.
• Food tours in Berlin: As you might have guessed from this article, Berlin has a diverse and international food scene. So, a neighborhood food tour is a way to sample different dishes and also learn the history and culture of that kiez (Berlin-speak for neighborhood). One of our favorite neighborhoods to eat in is Kreuzberg with its great Turkish restaurants and multi-cultural feel. Alternatively, take a food tour in Mitte to see how this former East Berlin neighborhood has transformed over the years.
• Other unusual Berlin tours: One of the things that visitors to Berlin sometimes miss are the great courtyards or backyards in traditional buildings and complexes. Many of these date back to the early 20th century when Berlin was an industrial city and so factories were located at the back of courtyards and workers lived in the front. Many of these beautiful (often) brick courtyard complexes have survived, but you need to know where to look for them. That's where this Berlin Courtyard Walking Tour in Mitte can help. Another unusual tour in Berlin we really enjoyed was this underground bunker and subway experience.

Where to Stay in Berlin

There is certainly no shortage of accommodation options in Berlin, whether a hotel, hostel or your own apartment rental. It can sometimes be a bit overwhelming to choose where to stay based on the diversity of Berlin's neighborhoods and size, plus your interests and budget.

One of the things that gives Berlin its unique feel is that each neighborhood is a bit different, so we recommend friends and family to stay in neighborhood back streets if they can. They provide a more local feel with more non-touristy cafes, restaurants, bars and shops.

Here are a few recommended accommodation options in some of our favorite Berlin neighborhoods of Kreuzberg-Friedrichshain, Neukölln, and Mitte.

• Weinmeister Hotel in Mitte: Located in the heart of Mitte near Hackescher Markt and not far from Alexanderplatz, this design hotel is in a great location and has a beautiful rooftop terrace for meals and drinks. Several friends and work colleagues have stayed here and recommend it. Note: this is an adult-only hotel.
• Hüttenpalast in Neukölln: Located in a fun and hip area between Kreuzberg and Neukölln, Hüttenpalast offers both retro-style caravans and cabins, as well as hotel rooms, and a relaxing garden. Friends have enjoyed staying here.
• Nena Apartments in Bergmannkiez, Kreuzberg: If you want your own apartment and kitchen to self-cater, these apartments on a quiet street in the cute Bergmannkiez part of Kreuzberg are a good option. There are also Nena Apartments in Neukölln (Hermannplatz) and in the Moritzplatz area of Kreuzberg.
• Michelberger Hotel in Friedrichshain: Located close to the East Side Gallery (2km of the Berlin Wall that is now an outdoor mural gallery) and Spree River, the Michelberger Hotel has a great lobby and restaurant on the ground floor and unique design rooms of all sizes and prices. Several friends who have stayed here recommend it for the rooms and the location.
• Circus Hostel in Berlin: If you are looking for a hostel or budget accommodation option, several friends have recommended Circus Hostel with both dorm and single/double room options. It's located very close to Rosenthaler Platz in Mitte with lots of local restaurants, cafes and bars in walking distance. The owners have recently opened up Circus Hotel nearby if you aren't into the hostel vibe.

Gluten Free Eating in Berlin (and Germany)

If you have celiac disease or a gluten intolerance there's good and bad news about gluten free eating in Berlin (and Germany in general). On the positive side, awareness about gluten free needs is rising in Berlin so quite a few restaurants offer gluten free alternatives. On the negative side, a lot of food in Berlin, especially street food, includes bread. It's important to always be careful and ask questions.

To help you navigate food in Berlin and Germany so that you can eat local, but also gluten free and with confidence, check out this German Gluten Free Restaurant Card and Gluten Free Guide to Germany created by our friend, Jodi. The restaurant card explains in detail, using local food names and language, your needs as a strictly gluten free eater, including common problems regarding cross contamination, so that you get the meal you want and need. (Bonus: You can use it when you travel in any German speaking country like Austria or Switzerland.)

Jodi has celiac disease herself so she understands first-hand the importance of being able to communicate gluten free needs in detail and educate waiters and restaurants on what this means in practice. She created her series of Gluten Free Restaurant Cards in different languages to help celiac and gluten-free travelers eat local with confidence, and without communication problems or getting sick.

Note: These gluten free restaurant cards are not part of an affiliate plan or a way for us to make money. We are extremely fortunate that we can eat everything, but we've seen the challenges of others who are celiac or have food intolerances where every meal can potentially make them sick. These detailed gluten free cards were created to help prevent that from happening and make eating out fun and enjoyable when traveling.

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“Add a little sugar to the saffron,” Farzane said as she worked the combination in her mortar and pestle. “It makes it easier to grind.”

Farzane, a 20-year old refugee from Afghanistan who’d come to Berlin with her family in the last year, was deep in the process of teaching us how to prepare several Afghan dishes she’d grown up cooking in her home town of Herat. In the heart of Berlin’s Schöneberg neighborhood, she guided us through the creation of dishes like zereshk polo (burberry rice pilaf) and khorecht lawang (lamb in a fermented yogurt sauce), among others.

As she taught our group how to make schole sard, an Afghan-Persian dessert that served as the finishing touch to our feast, she gathered us around for a final stroke of decoration. Taking one of the bowls of sunny, saffron-infused rice pudding, she dashed atop it an elaborate design of ground cinnamon, almonds and pistachios.

Farzane made it look so easy, so elegant. Then it was our turn. As we struggled with our own designs – powder lines of cinnamon and sprinkles of pistachio flecked almond flair — Farzane’s shyness yielded. She smiled, maybe even laughed. And we laughed at ourselves, the circle of vulnerability complete.

Cooking Across Borders: Deep Travel in Berlin

Why were we learning how to cook Afghan food in Berlin?

Last year we partnered with Context Travel as Deep Travel Ambassadors to help develop a new tour in Berlin. The goal: a shared experience focused on connection between travelers and a local community organization. After considering the various social and geopolitical issues that impact Berlin and the world, Context Travel, together with our help, set its sights on contributing to refugees and their integration in Berlin, while providing travelers a human lens through which to view a complex and often misunderstood issue.

That’s the inspiration and direction of the new Context Travel Cooking Across Borders tour and Deep Travel project in Berlin. The project is in partnership with the Berlin-based NGO Über den Tellerrand, a recent innovator in refugee support and integration projects in the city.

Über den Tellerand means “about the plate” so it’s not surprising that a large number of their projects feature food and face-to-face encounters between people with different cultural backgrounds. They organize pop-up restaurants with refugee chefs, cooking groups for refugee women, and other initiatives that bring people together through shared interests such as cuisine, gardening, and beekeeping. The common thread — just as it is with Cooking Across Borders — is an activity which bring us together, allowing us to meet one another where we are at.

A Cooking Across Borders experience begins with a brief seminar from an historian or migration expert about the history of immigration in Berlin, including the latest wave of refugees from places like Syria, Afghanistan and Somalia. This isn’t the first time persecution and wars have intersected with the arc of Berlin. The city’s past has produced its own share of refugees, many of whom found themselves emigrating permanently elsewhere around the world.

The city has also at times served as a haven for those fleeing persecution. For example, the prominent French Cathedral on central Berlin's Gendarmenmarkt stands testament to how the city offered asylum to 17th century Protestant Huguenots fleeing France. The flow and lasting imprint of diverse cultures has helped shape the energy of the city we know today.

Cooking Across Borders participants then embark on a cooking workshop led by a female refugee in Berlin. This experience pairing allows travelers the opporunity to understand the recent refugee crisis first more generally, then through a personal story, one that peeks behind the statistics and broad strokes of the news cycle. Along the way, travelers also learn how to prepare select dishes from the instructor’s home country. The questions, answers and anecdotes that unfold in conversation along the way help provide an understanding of each element of the meal and its cultural relevance.

Farzane: One Young Woman, Representative of Many

Farzane’s story, while personal and the story of one, is illustrative of many. Her previous home was Herat, the third largest city in Afghanistan, considered the gateway to Iran. She left with her parents and three other siblings about one year ago. Her family's decision, motivated by safety concerns, politics and violence, prompted a quick departure. She still has other family and friends back in Heart and remains in contact with them via Whatsapp, aided by the free wifi signal at the metro station near her home in Berlin.

In one of my recent meetings with her, I showed her an article about the Herat Friday Mosque and a few local artists working to renovate it. As Farzane scrolled through the images in the article, a smile appeared and widened on her face. “It's beautiful,” she said, but how much more beautiful it was in real life.

In Herat, cooking was nothing remarkable for Farzane; it's something every young woman in Afghanistan does. Farzane began helping her mother in the kitchen at 14 years old. Here in Berlin, the food she grew up with developed into something special, something to be shared, a vehicle to connect with others in a new land. Her interactions with Über den Tellerrand also provided an outlet for her to be with other women and use the German language, which she learned in nine months — a remarkable feat considering it often takes others several years. (I speak from personal experience.)

I discovered during the evening of our meal together, that Farzane had an interview with German authorities regarding her refugee status earlier that day. Her circumstances were being examined closely because she is over 18 years old, technically an adult. Where she goes from here in terms of process is uncertain. Her life this last year, it occurred to me, has been one of chronic uncertainty.

Cooking Across Borders: Levels of Impact

Food, cooking, creation – these forces bring us together. Food is fun, it teaches us, it levels. After all, we all need to eat. Whether one is focused on chopping pistachios or transforming saffron threads into a fine powder, a sense of our similarities tends to outweigh whatever our differences might be.

The impact does not end with a culinary lesson and experience for the traveler, however. A portion of tour fees provides the instructor with another source of income and professional development. An additional annual contribution from the Context Foundation helps fund a bi-weekly women’s cooking group which brings together refugees and members of the community.

Many of these women, especially those coming from refugee shelters, don’t have access to a kitchen. They’re unable to cook at home, a concept many of the rest of us take for granted. For the women, the Über den Tellerrand kitchen serves as a therapeutic outlet, a reprieve from the day-to-day challenges as a refugee, a place where one can have some semblance of order or comfort, even if only for a short while.

These “cooking afternoons” also fulfill the role of group support. With other refugees, women can discuss family, challenges and opportunities away from the shadow of their husbands and the immediacy of their children’s needs. The connection with German women from the community facilitates further support, cultural exchange, and language acquisition.

Cooking Across Borders: The Why

An experience like Cooking Across Borders conveys, in ways large and small, not only that we are interdependent but also that the fluidity of history is integral to the connections we share. If Berlin’s story of destruction and rebirth teaches us anything, it is that nothing is permanent — except, perhaps, the importance of our shared humanity.

Sometimes it takes grinding some saffron and pistachios to understand how it all, this life, really works. Sometimes it takes an experience that encourages us to care. And the more we care, the more we engage. The more we engage and align our decisions with our values, the more likely we’ll give to the forces that bring us together, rather than giving into those forces that seek to divide us.

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A few thoughts on the current state of global discourse, the power of individual interactions in the world of travel, and an update on a new project we’ve undertaken in Berlin with Context Travel.

Anyone else feeling dragged down by the current news cycle?

Particularly with so much of it being steeped in divisiveness, fear, and tribalism — a kind of “distrust of the other” juggernaut — it’s easy to feel helpless and winded, to forget or even dismiss the effect of our individual interactions and decisions against that grain.

I admit to occasionally feeling paralyzed, but when I step back I gain some perspective. Allow me to translate my feelings into a course of instructive action — a course that helps in some small way to redirect the flow of energy.

Don’t lose sight.

Don’t lose sight of the power of human connections to weave a resilient web of empathy. Don’t lose sight of how individual actions collectively seed an evolving understanding that cultivates change. Don't lose sight of each other.

Whoa, whoa. This is getting a little heavy. What does this have to do with travel?

Our actions matter, for and to each of us. When we align our values with our travel decisions we see the impact of our actions on three levels: on ourselves, on those we interact with, and on the planet.

To me, this approach to travel — and initiatives that embrace it — are perhaps more relevant than ever.

Deep Travel Ambassadors

We are excited to announce our new role as ambassadors for Context Travel and their Deep Travel program. In our role, we will work closely with their team to develop the program’s offering in Berlin, with an eye to features and best practices that can be carried to other Deep Travel projects around the globe.

Our objective is to help shape a program that creates a shared experience between travelers and a local community organization, and fosters empathy and engagement through two-way storytelling in action.

When we consider partnering with brands and organizations, we look for an alignment of values, and a shared vision regarding how travel can be used for positive change, to foster greater understanding and humanization of our planet.

We believe this program is a good fit with our ethos, and we look forward to sharing more with you in this role.

Who Is Context Travel?

Context Travel offers walking tours. In my experience, they run more like walking seminars. Groups are intimate with a maximum of six people and are led by a docent, usually a PhD or expert in a field relevant to the destination.

For example, we once took a Context tour of Kreuzberg, a nearby neighborhood in Berlin we thought we thought we knew well. Our guide, a history professor, drew our attention to specific details of waves of urban migration, industrial architecture, and cultural evolution we simply hadn’t known or considered. We’ll never see those streets in the same light.

Contextual storytelling makes a difference in the world of travel experience by deepening and changing our relationship with the places we visit.

This is Context’s approach, something they call Deep Travel.

What Is the Deep Travel Program?

The Deep Travel program takes this immersive travel approach a step or two further — by implementing it in the context of a local community development organization. The idea: to channel traveler curiosity in a non-traditional context to foster shared tolerance and two-way understanding.

The traveler gains an authentic (in the truest sense of the word) experience that affords her a deeper look at a destination through an alternative socioeconomic and cultural lens. In turn, the local organization and its participants are able to share their stories.

Finally, through a portion of tour fees and a partnership with the Context Foundation for Sustainable Travel, the local organization also benefits by having another source of income to expand its work in the community.

The intangible global impact is in the network effort. The more we connect with one another as fellow human beings, the more likely we are to overcome our differences. We listen, we go home, we tell others about our interactions. Broadly and in small strokes, we change the conversation and hopefully, the less we all fear “the other” — other places, other people, other cultures.

Thus far, Deep Travel projects have been implemented in Cartagena, Colombia and Florence, Italy. Berlin will be next (see below) with more projects envisioned in cities around the world where Context operates.

A telling of our experience in Cartagena probably demonstrates the concept best.

Cartagena: A Deep Travel Project in Action

During our trip to Colombia last year, we visited Context’s Deep Travel project in the barrio of San Francisco, Cartagena. Despite the beauty of old town Cartagena — or perhaps because of it — it’s possible for a traveler to emerge from a visit thinking the city’s polished colonial buildings and wealth represents the entire city, that it extends to everyone. The socioeconomic reality in Colombia, however, is one of systemic hierarchy and a gaping chasm between rich and poor.

Alex Rocha, a community leader in San Francisco, took us on an afternoon walk through what is considered one of Cartagena’s poorest barrios. The San Francisco neighborhood also happens to be the place where he grew up, where he lives and where he runs his community youth center. For him, learning English (he jokes that an obsession with Michael Jackson and breakdancing helped) and focusing on education helped him escape the barrio cycle of poverty. Here, gangsters are often the most appealing, if not the only, role models available for young kids. His youth center aims to provide alternatives focused on life skills education programs and foreign language acquisition.

In San Francisco, there were no beautiful colonial buildings or churches or historic sites to be seen that afternoon. However, the experience left a deep impression as to a reality that needs to be seen, experienced and understood if we are to acknowledge rightly that, notwithstanding the beauty of so many destinations around the world, all is not perfect and we have work to do. This project helped expand our understanding of Colombia, in all its dimensions. Alex and other members of the youth center shared their stories – not tales of poverty and pity, but ones of resilience and the pursuit of respect.

Despite whatever odds, their effort and Alex’s leadership lend a chance. And Context Travel’s offering a window to travelers to witness and experience this firsthand is the stuff of shared transformation.

Going Forward: Deep Travel Berlin and How Can You Get Involved

In the coming months, we will work with Context Travel to develop a new Deep Travel project in cooperation with a Berlin-based organization that supports refugees. The intended outcome: an immersive, interactive experience for travelers which engages refugees in Berlin in a way that reinforces their strengths and abilities. The tours also provide an additional source of funding for the local organization.

That this project is in Berlin has special meaning for us. We look forward to employing our global storytelling skills in our adopted home. Connections will be created, personal stories brought to light, and texture provided to otherwise de-contextualized refugee statistics we often see in the news.

Whatever you do, know that you have an impact.

The post Deep Travel in Berlin: A New Project with Context Travel appeared first on Uncornered Market.

Through sunny days and fog, famous towns and little known ‘burgs, wine cellars and village vintner festivals, this was our time on the segment of the Rhine River known as the Romantic Rhine in Germany.

Half-timbered homes sit as the foot of cobbled streets. Vineyard paths wind into the hills. And foggy moments as castles disappear and re-emerge on hilltops hint at history.

If you have a fear of missing out on the must-see bits of the region, but long for a taste of the lesser-seen local experience, then this article and guide to the Upper Middle Rhine is for you.

Here is all the information we would have wanted to know before our road trip to the Upper Middle Rhine Valley, the 67-km UNESCO World Heritage segment of the Rhine River from the towns of Bingen and Rüdesheim north to the city of Koblenz at the confluence of the Rhine and Mosel Rivers.

Rhine Valley Itinerary and Places to Visit

We traveled on the Rhine River from south to north, beginning in the town of Bingen and ending in Koblenz. Our recommendation is to spend at least three full days in the area. Ideally, give yourself more time so you can visit the area at a relaxed pace, leaving times for walks and hikes, a bicycle ride, and a few unexpected stops.

We visited the area in just over two days and found our pace a bit rushed so we would suggest at least three days to visit the following places.

Bingen am Rhein

We confess that we timed our visit to coincide with the Bingen 11-day wine festival, the longest such festival in the region. What makes this wine festival especially fun is the feel of locals enjoying their own wine and community.

On the evening we spent in Bingen, absolutely everyone was in the streets enjoying the local product — even the mayor, who wanted his photo taken with us.

Many of the local wineries set up stalls on the various squares across town. We recommend that you ask to taste a few wines before selecting the one you wish to commit to by buying a full glass.

This region is mostly known for whites – Riesling, Silvaner, Weissburgunder, and Grauburgunder. Show your curiosity and flash a few smiles. This will likely yield generous samples and a lesson on the different grapes in the area, the characteristics of this wine region, and the varietal in which the vineyard you are chatting with specializes.

Book a hotel in Bingen am Rhein

Rüdesheim

Just across the river from Bingen, the town of Rüdesheim is the traditional favorite with Rhine River cruise passengers. It's easy to understand why. Rüdesheim’s collection of half-timbered homes and narrow alleyways stuffed with shops make it feel like you’ve stepped into the set of a Grimm Brothers fairytale. Hopefully one with a friendly ending.

Rüdesheim is also a wine town — more specifically of the Rheingau wine region — and is famous for its Rieslings and Spätburgunder (Pinot Noir). There are vineyards spread throughout and surrounding the town.

We suggest that you try one of the terroir Rieslings, called as such for the distinct influence of the local soil and terrain noticeable in some of the wines. Taste a couple of terroir style Rieslings side by side and you'll begin to understand how the expression of a single grape can be influenced by the various minerals present in a specific patch of soil.

Rüdesheim gets busy with visitors, especially with river cruise passengers in the daytime. However, it begins to clear out a bit in the late afternoon and early evening. Consider spending the night here so that you can enjoy the feel of the town without the crowds.

Things to do in Rüdesheim:

Cable Car to Niederwald Monument: Highly recommended. A lot of fun to soar above the vineyards and gaze across the hills to the Rhine River below. At the top, take a walk over to the Niederwald Monument for even more views over the city and river valley. Cost: €7 roundtrip.

Siegfried’s Mechanical Music Cabinet: Although we had our doubts — a museum full of mechanical music devices sounds a little yawn-inducing — our host’s excitement about the place motivated us to visit. The history of mechanical musical instruments — including contraptions like full air-powered symphonies in giant organ-sized boxes complete with single-stringed mechanical rotating violins — is almost unbelievable, particularly in light of how much we take for granted about the production of sound and music in today's technology landscape. Cost: €6.50 (includes tour)

Boat Ride from Rüdesheim to see Rhine River Castles (1.5 hours): Traveling the Rhine River by boat is one of the best ways to see the Rhine Valley and its dramatic castles perched high on cliffs. This 1.5 boat ride will take you past Rheinstein and Reichenstein Castles (Trechtingshausen), the fabled Mouse Tower of Binger Loch, and the ruins of Ehrenfels Castle. This is also a beautiful way to take in the Rhine Valley small towns and terraced vineyards all around.

Book a hotel in Rüdesheim

Lorch

Lorch, a sleepy working wine town, proved our unlikely favorite spot along the Upper Middle Rhine Valley. It wasn’t the most aesthetically pleasing town we visited and we were only there overnight, but there was something about the feel and personal nature of the place that we really enjoyed.

Maybe it was our morning run through the misty vineyards above the river and town that made the whole area feel mysterious, as if the clouds were hiding secrets.

Perhaps it had something to do with the fact that Lorch wasn’t very touristed and featured a slow, relaxed pace. The personal touch and attention also helped, including at a family-run hotel in a converted schoolhouse (the owner went to school there as a child) where we stayed the night.

Top that off with a last-minute decision to drop in on the Perabo winery restaurant for a some appetizers and local terroir wines. A great way to spend an evening.

Kaub am Rhein

The morning drive from Lorch to Kaub is one to take slowly, pulling the car over at every overlook to catch views of castles on hilltops across the river. Kaub itself is a small medieval town that looks over Pfalzgrafenstein, a colorful 14th century castle on an islet set in the middle of the river.

We skipped going inside the castle in favor of a quick walk through town to pick up a coffee and morning snack — all before hopping the car ferry to Bacharach. Try to get here in the morning before 11AM, as we saw bus tours arriving around that time.

Bacharach

Bacharach is another absurdly cute town on the west bank of the Rhine. Among the more sight-loaded towns in the region, Bacharach also features a 1000 year-old castle (Burg Stahleck) perched high on the hill.

Our recommendation: find the walking path behind the church and head up through the woods to get to the castle (now a youth hostel) for a view of the town and river. If you have more time, get lost in the vineyard paths leading to and from the castle. Otherwise, head back down into town to explore the church and wander around the medieval streets and alleys.

Stop by Eis Cafe Italia (Oberstrasse 48) for some Riesling ice cream. Yes, Riesling ice cream! We had our doubts, but it was surprisingly tasty and refreshing and featured hints of fragrant fermentation.

Book a hotel in Bacharach

Lorelei (Loreley) Overlook in Urbar

We confess that we don't get the almost cult-like need to visit Lorelei. It's a pretty rock and segment of the river, and we know about the legend of the mermaid and Heinrich Heine's poem. Despite this, we don't quite understand all the hype.

Perhaps you can blame our literature teachers from high school. That said, we did enjoy — and recommend — the detour from Oberwesel to Urbar for the Lorelei overlook as the road and journey offers beautiful views of the river valley along the way.

Note: If you wish to see a photo of Loreley, it's here.

Oberwesel, Boppard and Braubach

We stopped briefly in — or drove through — the towns of Oberwesel, Boppard and Braubach on our way to Koblenz. If we stayed another day along the Rhine Valley, we would likely have spent it in one of these towns. There's a lesson here: everything in the region takes longer to cover. It's also easy to get stuck. So it was that we ran out of time walking village streets in the early parts of our days there.

Koblenz

Koblenz served as the final stop of our Rhine Valley road trip. It's the largest of the towns along this stretch of the Rhine River. As such, we kept our expectations in check, especially after all the fairy tale half-timbered homes and castles from the day's earlier stops. However, Koblenz surprised us.

Koblenz was originally a Roman town, dating to over 2,000 years ago and making it one Germany's oldest cities. Like Aachen and Cologne, it was under French rule for a spell at the end of the 18th century, and prides itself on still having a bit of French blood coursing through its cultural veins. Much of the city was destroyed during World War II. However, some sections survived while others were rebuilt with an eye to the traditional style, all of which made for pleasant atmospheric walks, especially in the old town.

We ended our visit to Koblenz by walking out to the Deutsches Eck (German Corner) where the Rhine and Mosel Rivers meet. The sun set as we took the cable car up to Ehrenbreitstein, the 19th century fortress across the river.

This aerial view of the Rhine River at dusk seemed a rather fitting close to our journey.

Book a hotel in Koblenz

Avoiding the Crowds Along the Rhine Valley

We’d be lying if we told you this segment of the Rhine River is undiscovered and untouristed. We visited in early September, coming off the high season when river cruises and bus tours are still active.

What we found, however, is that if you wish to get away from the crowds it is not especially difficult. All it takes is moving a block or two in either direction from the beaten tourist thoroughfare and you'll have the streets, castles, and vineyards much to yourself. It's literally that easy.

We also suggest getting an early start to visit some of the more popular towns in the morning before the river cruises and buses arrive (in our experience, around 11AM). You'll have the opportunity to see how the town wakes up — locals stocking up on bread at the bakery, picking up groceries, greeting shopkeepers as they make their way to work. We also tried to begin each of our days with a morning run or walk along the wine paths. Pleasant and mind-clearing.

Hiking and Biking in the Rhine Valley

Although our time was short and we couldn't do this ourselves, we recommend incorporating hiking and bicycling into your trip. There are hundreds of kilometers of hiking and bicycle paths that take you through all of the towns we mention above, as well as through vineyards and other castles tucked higher in the hills and away from the banks of the Rhine.

It's easy to pick up booklets from hotels and local tourist information offices that recommended day hikes and bicycle rides. And with the various options for train and boat transport (see below) you can easily return to your hotel at the end of the day.

The RheinSteig Weg includes 320km of paths along the east bank of the Rhine River. We ran along a very small portion of this through the vineyards outside of Lorch (called the Wein Wander Weg) and it was just beautiful. The paths on this side of the river seem a little less busy than those on the opposite side.

On the west bank of the river you have the RheinBurgen Weg, featuring 200km of hiking and biking paths. You can find some of the recommended day trips listed here.

Note: If you aren't especially picky about your ride, don't worry about bringing your own bicycle with you. Many, if not all, of the tourist offices along the Upper Middle Rhine Valley offer bicycle rental. They also offer the option of electronic-assist bicycles if you are worried about not being able to conquer some of the steep hills in the vineyards. In addition, we noticed many hotels and shops offering Rhine Valley bicycle rentals for €10-€12 per day.

Rhine Valley Transportation Options

The jury is still out for me on whether I would rent a car again to visit this area. While I enjoyed the flexibility of having a car, I was impressed by the public transport and boat options available that allow one to move around without the stress of driving and parking. It's worth noting that I (Audrey) am not a big fan of driving. If you especially enjoy driving, by all means rent a car.

Renting a Car in the Rhine Valley

Pros: Having your own rental car provides the most flexibility to visit little towns and villages along the river. You can take car ferries from select towns to get to the other side of the river, as there are no bridges between Bingen and Koblenz. These ferries are quite reasonable at around €5 for two people and a vehicle.

Cons: Parking in some towns can be a bit tricky. It can also get expensive (10€/half day, for example in Rüdesheim). If you'd like to travel part of the Rhine River by boat (recommended, see below), then you’ll have to find a way to backtrack to pick up your car. Additionally, if you want to sample wines along the way, driving may impact your tasting and consumption options.

Rental car details: We rented a car from Cologne railway station and dropped it off at the Frankfurt railway station. If there's not much difference in the cost, I suggest dropping the car off in Koblenz and taking the train to Frankfurt. Driving in central Frankfurt is stressful, particularly with construction, one-way streets and a hidden drop-off rental car lot at the Frankfurt central train station.

Note: If you are not a German resident, be certain to indicate this when you are booking your rental car. In searches I performed with various rental car companies, I found it much less expensive to rent a car if you are a resident of the United States than if you are a resident of Germany.

Boats Along the Upper Rhine River

There is definitely no shortage of boats going along or criss-crossing the Rhine River, and we recommend taking at least one trip as boats and ferries offer a different visual perspective on the towns and landscape along the Romantic Rhine.

We hopped on one of the KD Boats from Rüdesheim to Lorch (and then took the train to return to Rüdesheim to pick up our car). There are hop-on/hop-off boats that run up and down the Rhine River several times a day, so just check the timetables. You can buy point-to-point tickets, too.

For a budget option, hop car ferries to cross the river. It's a short ride and trips are reasonably priced at just a couple of euros.

If you are really short on time you can also take this one-day boat ride along the Rhine River from Frankfurt that includes almost 5 hours in the Rhine Valley between Rüdesheim am Rhein and Sankt Goarshausen. You can even opt for wine tasting along the way.

Regional Trains in the Rhine Valley

There are regional trains that run up and down both sides of the river. Trains run more frequently on the east bank of the river (Rüdesheim-Lorch-Koblenz). We also know from experience that trains can be faster than a car if you time it well. You can buy a Rheinland-Pfalz ticket that provides unlimited rides in a 24-hour period. Alternatively, point-to-point tickets are quite reasonably priced (e.g., around €2.90 from Lorch to Rüdesheim, one-way).

Taking the train works well with hiking and biking as you can complete a trail and take the train back to wherever you are staying. Just be sure to check the schedule before you go so you aren't spending unnecessary time waiting for a train at the end of the day.

We realize that we only scratched the surface of what there is to see, do, drink and eat along the Upper Middle Rhine Valley in our short time there. However, we hope this guide assists you in your planning and your approach to spending time in the area. 67 kilometers may not sound like much, but there's a lot to unpack and experience in the area.

Disclosure: Our trip around the Rhineland of Germany was supported by the German National Tourism Board (GNTB). As always, the experiences and thoughts expressed here are our own.

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Upon a recent visit to the German Rhineland cities of Aachen and Cologne and the surrounding area, we realized there’s a lot to experience and unpack — that is, to comprehend the full picture of what we’d seen and how astonishingly complex history can be.

From Roman beginnings, to medieval ascendency to industrial superiority, Germany’s Rhineland seems to have known it all. It has been influenced by French culture, impacted by the Prussians, and even spiced by a dash of Eastern European industrial migrants. It knows a blend of influences, cultural imprints and scores continually settled and resettled through events like World War I and II. Pull out a map and note that by cause and effect, the region borders Belgium, The Netherlands and Luxembourg — in addition to France — and you begin to get a sense of the near randomness of the borders we draw.

How to come to this understanding? Visit the towns of Aachen and Cologne on a city break or weekend getaway. Take a couple of day trips and immerse yourself in the history, eat heartily and take more than a few photos along the along the way.

Here are a few quick ideas regarding what you’ll see, what to seek out and how to break it all down.

24 Hours in Aachen

The fame and development of the German city of Aachen is due in large part to Charlemagne, crowned Holy Roman Emperor in 800, and his choice to make the city his imperial capital. Just as the Romans had been centuries before, Charlemagne was drawn to the location because of the presence of hot springs. After logging over 50,000km on horseback, Charlemagne chose to give up his nomadic ways, settle down, rule from Aachen — and take a long, hot bath.

Like any good emperor, Charlemagne built a grand palace — one with an octagonal domed chapel that is today part of Aachen Cathedral, the city's most famous site.

Our host, Christina, joked: “Aachen is so small that everything is within 15-minutes walking distance. Don't worry if you get lost.”

Good news for us, as getting lost is permanently on our itinerary. Here's are some of the highlights of Aachen we found while wandering — er, getting lost — in the back streets of Charlemagne's chosen city.

Visiting Aachen: Travel Planning

Aachen Cathedral

Some cathedrals — with their fanciful gargoyles, detailed carvings and elaborate flourishes — are best admired for their exterior. For others, it's all about appreciating what's inside.

What makes Aachen Cathedral so special for me, despite the beauty of its imposing Gothic exterior, are the mystical elements within.

Even with all that I'd heard of Aachen Cathedral prior to our visit, I still found myself surprised by the ornate mosaics that sprawled under its dome and a Byzantine design that hinted of the Near East. As we walked the chapel's inner octagonal ring, I was struck by arches that reminded me of sites like the Moorish Great Mosque and Cathedral of Cordoba and Istanbul's Hagia Sophia.

The core of the Aachen Cathedral — the Palatine Chapel — from which the panorama was taken dates back to the end of the 8th century. Although there have been a few renovations over the centuries, the essence of this design has its origins in the era of Emperor Charlemagne, as he commissioned the building of the chapel as an extension of his palace. More than 30 German kings were crowned in this cathedral between the 10th and 16th centuries. The cathedral also served as an important stop along the “Jacob's Way” pilgrimage route that devotees walked from Germany to Santiago de Compostela, Spain in the Middle Ages.

The scale of history through the lens of this cathedral's past: mind-boggling.

So when you visit the Aachen Cathedral, put your camera down for a moment and simply gaze up for a long, long time. Details in the mosaics and arches will emerge the longer you look. Maybe if you close your eyes you'll imagine the stream of people — from kings to pilgrims — who shared that same space in the last 1,200 years. Although the world outside its walls has known great tumult and change, the space itself has remained a constant.

How to visit Aachen Cathedral: It’s free to enter the Dom (Cathedral), but officials request visitors to donate a more than reasonable €1 if they wish to take photos inside. If you'd like to take a tour, you should consider booking in advance with the Cathedral Information Office (Johannes-Paul-II-Str.). On the day of our arrival, Aachen Cathedral tours had already sold out. The ticket for the Cathedral Treasury (Schatzkammer) is €5.

Aachen's Rathaus (City Hall)

The Rathaus is used today for exhibitions instead of the coronation banquets of kings, meaning that it's open to ordinary members of the public like us (with €5 admission). When we visited, it had been hosting Places of Power, one of the three Charlemagne exhibits running in Aachen to mark the 1,200-year anniversary of Charlemagne's death.

Eating and Drinking in Aachen

Himmel un Ääd (Heaven and Earth): A hearty meal of black pudding, fried onions, mashed potatoes (earth), and apples (heaven). Trust us: the taste is better than it sounds. This dish can be found throughout Germany's Rhineland region, but we're told that each area executes it a bit differently. We recommend trying it at Restaurant Elisbrunnen on Friedrich-Wilheim-Platz.

Recommended areas for Aachen bars and restaurants:

• The Hof: A cute, quintessentially European courtyard area located just near the Rathaus and dotted with several restaurants and pubs. After a heavy lunch of himmel un ääd, we enjoyed an early evening salad at Kaiser Wetter. Grab a beer before or after at Domkeller Pub and enjoy a vast collection of German, Belgian and Irish brews. When the weather cooperates, you'll find everyone outside enjoying the atmosphere in the courtyard.
• Pontstrasse: Follow this street from Aachen's Marktplatz (main square at the Aachen Rathaus) and you'll end up in Aachen's university area where you'll find endless options for drinks, cheap food and live music. If you take it all the way to the end you'll find Ponttor, the city's northern medieval tower.

Aachen Printen: Cookies with a pilgrim's purpose

Printen are the Aachen version of spice or gingerbread cookies (in German, lebkuchen). There are many different ways to eat printen — amorphous or in the shape of Charlemagne’s bust or the Aachen Cathedral; covered in chocolate or plain; fresh and soft or aged and a bit firm. Printen were favorites of pilgrims who made their way through Aachen in the Middle Ages en route to Santiago de Compostela, Spain. Yes, that’s a long walk. Printen served as a long-lasting food that could be carried for days and weeks without spoiling.

Having sampled several varieties, we suggest Klein Printen directly from where they bake it on the corner of Franzsstrasse and Aureliusstrasse outside the center. Just follow the scent of spiced cookies to the bakery's front door.

24 Hours in Cologne (Köln)

“It’s laissez-faire around here. That is, as long as you know the rules,” our guide, Claudia, explained to us the inimitable blend of French and Prussian cultural influence found in Cologne and its surroundings. Although our visit here was short, we began to understand and feel these contrasts.

Exit the Cologne train station and you'll find it difficult not to run into Cologne Cathedral, as the structures are literally adjacent to one another. An urban planning oddity perhaps, until you understand that when the railway was built in the 19th century, the idea was for visitors to exit the Cologne main train station and be awed by the first thing they saw, the Cologne Cathedral. First impressions such as these were meant to be long lasting and to firmly stamp the idea of Cologne's prominence in the mind and memory of the visitor.

Cologne, once a city loaded with medieval architecture, was badly damaged in World War II. Much of the city was rebuilt with an eye to the modern. However, there remains a small old town area between the Cologne Cathedral and the Rhine River where a few original medieval buildings survived and others rebuilt in a style to match the traditional cobbled roads and narrow streets.

Here's a visual stroll through Cologne's old town with some of our favorite sites and architecture.

Visiting Cologne: Travel Planning

Cologne Cathedral: It's free to enter the Cathedral (Dom), but if you would like to book a tour, be sure to do that in advance with the Cathedral Information Center. You can also walk up to the top of the cathedral (€3.00).

Hohenzollern Bridge (Love Locks Bridge): Even if you have limited time while visiting Cologne, consider taking a walk across Hohenzollern Bridge. It's known as the “love bridge” or “love locks bridge” for all of the padlocks affixed to it by couples from around the world. Beyond that, the bridge also provides a terrific visual perspective on the Cologne Cathedral and the old town via the train tracks coming out of the city.

Recommended guide: Especially if you only have a short time in Cologne (as we did) and would like an excellent overview of the city's history, we recommend Claudia Lupri as a guide. She can be booked in advance through the Cologne Tourist Office.

Kölsch: Cologne-speak for beer
On the surface, Kölsch is just a type of beer that happens to hail from its hometown of Köln (Cologne). However, Kölsch feels more like a culture unto itself. There are specific rules on how to make it, serve it, drink it, and enjoy it. In order for a beer to officially be called Kölsch, it must be brewed in a specific area in and around Cologne.

This top-fermented beer is only served in small, thin glasses, usually at 0.2 liters, meaning that the beer is always fresh and slightly chilled. It also means that it’s not difficult to fool oneself and drink a lot.

And then there is the person who actually serves the Kölsch: the Köbe.

Köbe is the local dialect for the name Jacob. This is a reference to the pilgrims in the Middle Ages who came through Cologne on the “Jacob’s Path” en route to Santiago de Compostela, Spain. These pilgrims were thirsty for beer by the time they arrived in Cologne, and those that served them — dressed in a blue apron and white shirt and just a tad rude — were referred to as Köbe. The name — and behavioral role — sticks to this day.

Recommended Kölsch: Of course, we didn’t have an opportunity to sample every variety of Kölsch, but we tried a few. Our favorites were Pfaffen and Früh. Each has its own brauhaus in the Cologne old town area.

Traditional Cologne Fare: The Brauhaus Früh just near the Cologne Cathedral serves up good traditional meals like sauerbraten (beef roasted in a sweet-sour marinade) and Halve Hahn (bread with Gouda cheese). Not to mention, the Kölsch is quite tasty there.

Recommended Day Trips in the Rhineland Area

Zollverein Coal Mine Complex — Essen, Germany

In full disclosure, we probably would not have gone to the Zollverein Coal Mine Complex had it not been suggested to us by the folks at the German tourism board. After all, a former coal mine and “industrial center” does not sound — on its surface — particularly enticing or appealing.

But Zollverein defies its seemingly mundane origins.

The recent history of Zollverein is a story of transformation — from a harsh, angular industrial complex to one of culture, design and creativity. There is an odd beauty and surface aesthetic at work — one composed of industrial rusting metal and abandoned chimneys and brick buildings all seated in the surrounding green space. Inside, the museum complex does a remarkable job telling the story not only the coal mine, but also the area's history.

This telling includes the area's prehistoric origins to its early development and right on up through the 20th century, and includes a found object storytelling exhibit and regional push button scents-and-smells exhibit like nothing you've ever experienced.

We realize this may still sound like an odd travel recommendation, but Zollverein is definitely worth a visit. It really did pique our interest to return so we can better understand the history and mindset of the local Ruhr area.

Recommended guide: We enjoyed an terrific afternoon with Sven Hilling from Visit Ruhr. He not only shared information about Zollverein and the Ruhr region, but also personal stories of growing up in the area and witnessing firsthand its transformation.

Augustusburg and Falkenlust Palaces in Brühl

We’re not usually ones for ornate palaces filled with period furniture, but Augustusburg Palace featured a depth to it well beyond its glossy facade. The palace tells the story of mid-18th century, pre-enlightenment Germany through the story of its patron, Clemens August.

In an era where families of nobility valued upward movement in status more than anything. August exhibited a public face of nobility full of pomp and ceremony while hiding another, that of a depressed intellectual who retreated to a nearby hunting lodge to get away from it all. Although the centuries are different, the desire to acquire what’s considered valuable at the time – wealth, power, and titles — is timeless and universal.

In order to visit Augustusburg and Falkenlust Palaces you must book a tour at the Augustusburg Information office (€6/person).

http://instagram.com/p/se2z3qsSTt/

Schloss Augustusburg, Brühl. The epitome of early to mid-18th century pre-Enlightenment European life and art, particularly among nobility and the great families. Baroque to Rococo style, rationalism in mindset, French in its display of nobility, Spanish in its ceremony and a German blend of it all.

Coming next: A road trip along the Upper Middle Rhine River. This doesn't quite fit into the category of a day trip from Aachen or Cologne, but we recommend combining them together into a week-long (or longer) trip like we did.

The post Aachen and Cologne, Germany: 24-Hour City Guides appeared first on Uncornered Market.

If you’ve ever known that pang of sadness on the longest day of the year or the faintest glimmer of hope on its shortest, this is for you. If you’ve ever pondered cycles and the tricks of the seasons, that too.

It was an early August heat wave. Audrey and I were returning home on bicycles from a late-afternoon-turned-evening gathering with friends, a craft brew and food festival just a few miles away. The sun nearly finished setting. We were just passing the final light of day. Along our path, we approached the western end of Tempelhof Airport, the airfield that was the site of the Berlin airlifts in 1948-49 and had remained open until 2008.

Now it stood empty – but not entirely so, for it had thankfully been turned into a public space, Tempelhof Park. Especially when the weather is fair, people turn out in droves to take it in – to picnic, to create, and to work all manner of wheeled and wind-propelled devices whose enjoyment requires open space.

“Let’s see if we can still get in,” I said to Audrey as she passed alongside me, casting night shadows.

After dark, the airport is usually closed.

But not this time.

We turned our bicycles into a narrow entrance and there was the old airport before us. I rolled over a few chunks of broken tarmac until the wide strip of 9L/27R, its main runway almost 2100 meters long, smoothed ahead of me.

2000 Meters

As I peddled faster, I picked my body up and I could feel a gathering rush of warm air. I drank in the summer. Sheets of heat lightning broke high in the darkness, but rain was no threat. All manner of warmth — like a blanket of goodness — washed over me.

Warm days are wonderful, but there’s nothing quite like the weight of a warm night. Anywhere — but here especially — it feels to me like something that maybe shouldn’t be. But when it is, I take it in.

This is joy, pure and unadulterated.

1500 Meters

Amidst the runway tar strips, I caught flickers of light from other bicycles. We weren’t the only ones with the idea of enjoying an empty airfield on a warm night. Others were still here. And I wondered if any of them were thinking what I began to think:

A warm wind, once a cool wind.

1000 Meters

I could see boyfriends and girlfriends wrapped in blankets, embracing.

I wondered if they’d been there all day long. Friends in t-shirts, long days, the haze of freshly poured beer.

My mind began to wander to so many moments on this runway, through the exchange of seasons. I had experienced Berlin just enough to see and feel each one. Summer to winter, and the in-betweens.

The movement of seasons is something beautiful and complex. It hearkens to death and rebirth. But it’s not so straightforward. It plays tricks. For on the longest day of the year, the Summer Solstice, we’re told we have the entire summer ahead of us, yet the days will become shorter. On that day, I feel just a little sad amidst all that light. And on the shortest day of the year, the Winter Solstice, we’re told we have the entire winter ahead of us, yet the days will become longer. On that day, I feel just a little upbeat amidst all that darkness.

500 Meters

I could see the end of the runway and the little hill that rolls up to the edge of my neighborhood, a cache of life called Schillerkiez.

The seasons would change. And it would be winter once again right on this very spot. And I will feel it then, too. I'll jog these runways and when I do, I'll take in their stillness, the silence, the peace, and the solitude. The cold, the biting wind also. For there’s something oddly beautiful in all that, too.

I might also think back to a warm summer night when I could cycle across it in the dark, with a warm breeze washing over me.

0 Meters

I pulled up off the runway and into the neighborhood. There was great life as people hung out open windows and spilled out from restaurants and bars into the streets. Even from the local Turkish taxi driver men’s club.

I wondered where they all would be several months from now, in winter, at this very moment, at this time of night.

—-

In the change of seasons, there’s a balance, an exchange.

I sometimes wonder what makes us alive. I hope we all do. This wonder gives us a platform for gratitude – for what is, for what was and what remains, in cycles.

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This is a story about deciding to move to Berlin. It's about life shaping and shifting. Plus, a thank you to the people who have helped make it possible.

A few days ago we returned to Berlin from a month in New Zealand. Something was different. Really different. Traveling for a month is not particularly unusual for us, but the fact that we had keys to an apartment, one where our names were on the buzzer, certainly was.

At this point, you might be saying: “What?! You guys are nomads! Nomads don’t have keys, much less apartments with their names on the door. What’s going on?”

Life shaping. Berlin. That’s what.

1) What's this all about?

Short answer: we’re creating a base in Berlin. In practical terms, this means having a flat (apartment) that we can return to between trips and projects to recharge batteries, write, and create and work on new projects. Think of it as a move towards semi-nomadism.

Long answer: That’s for telling over a drink or two. We actually moved in a couple of months ago to an altbau flat in a cache of Neukölln just a couple blocks from the edge of Tempelhof, atop one of Berlin's few hills. From here on out, we'll call it Tempelkölln until someone from Berlin tells us how ridiculous that name is. There’s a whole backstory of twists and turns as to why we decided on Berlin, how we jumped through hoops to get a legal lease with our names on it, why we had a meeting with the bezirksschornsteinfegermeister (District Master Chimney Sweep) to get cable internet installed, and much more.

Oh and by the way, this whole process took a village – a village of friends in Berlin, a village for whom we are profoundly grateful. When people come to bat like all of our Berlin friends continually do, it underscores why we are magnetically drawn to them and to this place.

2) Does this mean that you’ll stop traveling?

Not at all.

In fact, we expect this year to be as busy as any other on the travel front. The primary difference is that we’ll often return to Berlin instead of temporary apartment-hunting elsewhere.

Throughout our journey, we’ve found that we need a little perspective to truly appreciate the power of travel and to not take it for granted. Our goal is, and has always been, to do justice to all that we see and experience, deliver more effectively to our audience, and — here’s the linchpin – to do it all while deliberately servicing the kind of life that we’d like to live together.

3) Why the change from a completely nomadic life?

This is another long and complicated one. We loved (and still love) how nomadic life provided us with so much flexibility and freedom. But after living this lifestyle for six years, we noticed both our personal and professional lives evolving and we needed a change. (Full disclosure: perhaps it was more me than Dan, but we’re a team here).

We wanted a bit more stability, a community of friends around us, a place to reflect and collect our thoughts from our travels, and to create something new, something more.

Sure, we could have continued with our previous lifestyle and put off addressing some of the difficult questions and feelings we were facing. That’s life drift. There’s no reward for being the Energizer Bunny who keeps going and going without reflection on where he’s going and why he might be doing it.

Let me also tell you, change is tough. This has not been an easy transition.

While finding and furnishing a flat may sound ordinary to many of you, we’ve gone well outside our comfort zone on this. It’s been so tempting to throw this idea away and hop on the next airplane to leave it all behind and to find a chicken bus to take us to the middle of nowhere, our usual yet unusual comfort zone.

There also remains a great deal of uncertainty with what we’re doing. We’re trying to have our cake and eat it, too. There are risks, including that this experiment could fail. And in the fullest of disclosure, one of our greatest fears in making and announcing this change is that we’ll disappoint our community.

But, we only have one life to live and that life goes quickly. And we wouldn’t be following all of our own personal growth advice if we did it any other way. Deliberate decisions. Not wondering “What if?”

That’s the life we'd like to live.

4) Why Berlin?

We traveled all around the world and chose Berlin as a base. Why?

We like this city. A LOT. If you’ve ever visited Berlin, you’re nodding your head right now understanding the reasons why.

Berlin has a feel and vibe to it – entrepreneurial, creative, energetic, irreverent — that has drawn us in for the last three years. We also have a great group of friends here. The city felt like home with each of our recent visits and we always looked forward to returning. Each visit, we hoped to stay longer. This time we did.

(Note: We did get some grief by recently abandoning Berlin in its darkest hour, quite literally. Our February trip to New Zealand, during one of Berlin’s most sunshine-free interludes, drew cries of “You’re not really living in Berlin until you’ve lasted a full winter.” I think we even lost some of our Berlin friends after all those New Zealand photos on Facebook.)

Berlin is also very centrally located not only in Europe but also for access to Africa and the Middle East (two regions where we still have a lot of exploring to do). Additionally, it’s easy to get to the United States and Asia as well. And with the new airport opening up next year (hopefully, chuckles coming from the local crowd), the city will be even more connected than it is now.

Furthermore, Berlin seemed to offer us a combination of ease of work-life, infrastructure (we currently have 100Mbps internet), all at an expense level that worked for us. Not to mention, Berlin's food scene and its abundance of fresh markets.  Friends who visit come away amazed by how well and inexpensively one can eat in Berlin (if you know where to look) particularly when compared with other European destinations.

5) But you’re American. How can you live in Germany?

Americans are allowed spend up to 180 days in the Schengen region within one year on an ordinary tourist visa. However, we didn’t want to take chances and be limited in when and how we could return to our flat in Berlin. So we applied for a residence permit to live here legally.

And just a few days before we flew to New Zealand, we learned that the German authorities said yes. Shocking! And for two years, which for first time residence permit applications submitted by American freelancers, is surprisingly long. After two years, we can renew. How we navigated the bureaucracy to procure this is for another long piece in the form of a post or ebook.

6) Will Uncornered Market change?

No. If anything, Uncornered Market will continue to expand its scope of life and learning through the lens of travel.

Although we have a base in Berlin, Uncornered Market will not turn into a Berlin expat blog. It will continue to be a travel and life inspiration blog focused on following curiosity to explore and learn about oneself and the world. So expect the same sort of travel, human interest, food, personal growth, and humorous dispatches coming from all corners of the world.

Frankly, our hope is that with a bit more time and space, we can improve the quality and expand the volume of our content. As one of our friends often remarks, “I can tell when you’re taking a break from the road because the quality of your writing improves.” It’s always been our goal to improve and to grow.

That’s one of the reasons why we’ve made this decision.

Shift happens. We hope you'll embrace it with us.

—–
As always, we appreciate your support of our journey – in travel and life — and all the twists and turns it has taken over time.

Have any other questions? Ask away in the comments!

The post The Evolution of a Nomad (or, Why Berlin?) appeared first on Uncornered Market.

Traveling to Berlin? Here's our Berlin experiential travel guide to give you some approaches and ideas to get started with your Berlin itinerary and trip. We share some of our favorite experiences, neighborhoods, tours, restaurants and things to do in Berlin from living there for over five years.

After spending three summers in a row in Berlin, we found ourselves moving there. Berlin draws us in, like the school kid who may not be the best looking in the class but has the magnetic personality that everyone wants to be around.

Berlin for us is a place of openness and open space, physical and mental. The history of the city is one of destruction and creation. From our first visit over 10 years ago, it has always felt like a place in flux, in full evolution, always trying to figure itself out, reinventing along the way. This is what leads to its entrepreneurial feel, its inimitable style.

Given our enthusiasm and the amount of time we have spent in Berlin these last years, we’re often asked to give advice on how we approach the city — what to do, see, eat and enjoy. I’ve given this advice often by email, so it’s about time to share it in one place.

Exploring Berlin by Bike

Our number one suggestion to anyone coming to Berlin: rent a bike. Even if you’re not a big bicycle person and haven’t been on one for years, get over your fear. Hop on a bike to see the city. You can thank us later.

Berlin is perfect for cycling – the land is flat, bike lanes run throughout the city, and cars are respectful of cyclists (with perhaps the exception of taxis). And while we love Berlin’s fantastic public transportation system, exploring Berlin by bike is the best way to take in the different neighborhoods as you absorb the subtle changes between one area and the next. The whole Berlin-by-peddle-power experience is just plain fun.

Bicycle rentals in Berlin: Many guest houses and hotels rent bikes, as do many bike shops. The standard rate is about €10/day. If you rent one for several days, ask for a discount if one isn't already offered. Be sure to lock your bike everywhere you go as bike theft is unfortunately commonplace in Berlin.

Bike rental in Mitte: Berlin on Bikes offers bike rentals for €10 for a 24-hour period, which is quite nice and convenient if you want to pick it up in the evening and return it the following evening. You can also pick up a helmet for free if you'd like. These bicycles are in good condition, and many can go for really long hauls (see our Berlin Wall ride below).

Bike rental in Neukölln: If you want to ride a bike down the runways of Tempelhof airport, check out Bike 44 on Mahlower Strasse that rents simple bikes for €4/day. This is our neighborhood bicycle repair shop as well.

Bicycling the Berlin Wall: If you are really up for a bicycling challenge and want to learn a bit more Berlin history at the same time, consider bicycling the Berlin Wall in one day…or perhaps two. It's a long haul — 160km or 100 miles — but you spend most of your time in forest or rural areas. Also, it is almost entirely flat. The path is marked, kind of, with Mauerweg (Wall Path) signs to help guide the way.

You'll also find memorials with information on those who died trying to escape East Berlin, as well as stories and photos about what life was like in that exact same area during the almost 30 years of the Berlin Wall. Fascinating, yet also sobering. Highly recommended if you are a bicycling and history enthusiast. Note: We rented bicycles from Berlin on Bike for our Berlin Wall bike ride as their bicycles were more sturdy and higher quality than our own personal bicycles.

Favorite Berlin Neighborhoods

When we think of Berlin, we think of its neighborhoods. From gallery-flush Mitte to hipster Kreuzkolln to the country feel of Spandau, you can feel like you’ve visited multiple German cities in just one day. Cafes, restaurants, shops, architecture, and people — it all changes rather noticeably from one place to the next.

A few Berlin neighborhoods to consider checking out:

Kreuzberg

In full disclosure, we’re rather biased to Kreuzberg as we've sublet a place here for two summers. Traditionally a Turkish neighborhood, Kreuzberg is full of great food, vegetable stalls, independently-run shops, street art and people. Over the years Kreuzberg has become more gentrified (Berliners will shout “understatement!”) but poke in and around Kottbusser Tor and you’ll still see a few lingering grungy roots.

Recommended: Turkish market at Maybachufer on Tuesdays and Fridays (12 – 6 PM). Piles of fresh (and often cheap) vegetables and fruit, plus Turkish delis serving up all kinds of spreads, olives and flat breads. The Maybachufer market also features a few takeaway food stands, street performers and even the odd haircut-on-the-street.

Mitte

Once the historic center of old Berlin, Mitte was East Berlin central and home to the DDR's Checkpoint Charlie. Since the fall of the Berlin wall, the area and vast swathes of nearby no-man's-land has turned into pockets of hip and creation. Although rents have increased, pushing some art studios further afield, Mitte remains home to many art galleries and few unpolished bits of the city's not-so-distant and divided past.

Recommended: Take a walk down Auguststrasse and Linienstrasse, dropping in on art galleries along the way. Most are free and you never know what you may find — even a human-sized pig on an exercise bicycle.

Prenzlauerberg

Now the Park Slope of Berlin, this neighborhood was transformed from ordinary eastern workaday neighborhood to hip yup enclave within a few years. No shortage of cafes, shops, vintage stores, and baby carriages.

Recommended: On Sundays, Mauerpark becomes packed with people for the weekly flea market. Whether you’re looking for clever t-shirts or grandma’s teacups, you’ll be able to find it all here. Be sure to stick around for afternoon karaoke in the park. Check here to be sure karaoke is happening that weekend and get your courage on to take the stage in front of hundreds of people.

All Neighborhoods: Stumbling Blocks

As you walk around, keep your eye out for “stumbling blocks” (stolpersteine) on Berlin sidewalks. These small brass-covered blocks reflect the names of people (mostly Jewish) who used to live in that house prior to World War II and what happened to them (to which concentration camp they were sent, if they died or survived, etc.). For as small as these memorials are, they are exceptionally moving, particularly as you note that you'll find them all over the city.

Berlin Street Art

Berlin's graffiti and street art will greet you almost everywhere you go in the city. Be sure to look up to catch murals on the sides of buildings – they're easy to miss. Sometimes they're political, sometimes they're funny, sometimes they just are. But they almost always make you think.

Favorite Berlin Parks

Just open a map of Berlin (you know, the old fashioned paper kind) and take a look at the amount of green staring back at you. Berlin is among the world's greenest urban spaces. When the weather is good (a rarity some years) in the spring, summer and fall, parks are full of people picnicking, hanging with family, cooking, drinking, and just enjoying the space. Urban parks, happy places, happy spaces.

A few Berlin parks to recommend:

Tempelhof Park

If the name Tempelhof sounds familiar from your history classes of years past, it’s because it was the airport instrumental to the Berlin Airlift (June 1948-May 1949), when American and British forces delivered food, fuel and other supplies to West Berlin during the Soviet blockade.

Today, this bit of history is a park open to the public and offers the possibility of riding your bicycle down one of the airport runways, as free as a bird, hoping that you just might take off. Now where else can you do that?

Tiergarten

Tiergarten, Berlin's largest and most famous park smack in the middle of the city, seems to stretch forever, scattered with little paths, teahouses, and gardens. It used to be the dividing point between East and West, with Brandenburg Gate marking the East and the iconic Siegessäule monument the West. The whole thing is made for a bicycle.

Recommended:
Soviet War Memorial: The memorial to Soviet soldiers between Brandenburg Gate and Siegessäule is worth visiting not only for the sculpture (especially when you think that this was in West Berlin), but also for the large-format black and white photos of the city contrasting what it looked like before and after World War II.

Teehaus Tiergarten: Located on the northern edge of the park, the Teehaus Tiergarten offers a nice little place to rest your legs, get lunch or have a beer. On summer weekends, it offers free music concerts featuring jazz, world music, pop and more.

Treptower Park

Treptower Park took us some time to discover, but now that we have, it's one of our favorite parks, particularly on the weekend along the Osthafen Spree (East Harbor of the Spree river).

Recommended:
Soviet War Memorial: This is one of the biggest Soviet war memorials outside of Russia. Translated: if you’re looking for Soviet grandeur, style, and propaganda, you will not be disappointed. The memorial is dedicated generally to the Soviet soldiers who died in World War II, but more specifically to the 20,000 Soviet soldiers who died during the Battle of Berlin. Around 5,000 Soviet soldiers are buried inside the memorial.

Beer gardens along the Spree: As you walk towards the Spree river you’ll notice several beer gardens with great views of the water. Our favorite of the bunch is Zenner, for its beer on tap and the weekend afternoon polka-meets-disco that takes place on the outdoor stage. A little down home. When in full glory, this place will make you feel like you’ve gone back in time.

Random Berlin Recommendations: Museums, Ping Pong and More

Beer in the Park

One thing that surprises Americans when they come to Berlin is that people walk around drinking beer openly. And this is legal; there are no open container laws in Berlin. If you'd like to feel like a local, find your nearest spätkauf (bottle shop), pick up a couple of beers and either sit outside on their benches or go to a park and enjoy. Don’t forget to return the bottle for a refund.

Visiting the Rooftop of the Bundestag

Berlin's Reichstag, home to German Bundestag (Parliament). You can take a stroll on the rooftop and up and around its glass spherical dome. You'll get a free audio tour that will guide you around and provide a good historical overview of the building and city. The glass dome is cool, you get a 360 degree view of Berlin, and the whole thing is apparently rather environmentally friendly. Very German. Very Berlin.

We've also been told that it's quite good to visit at night as it is less crowded and you can look clearly down into the legislative chamber and appreciate the building's architecture.

Unfortunately, gone are the days when you could just show up on the steps of the Bundestag and head up to the roof to poke around and enjoy the view. These days, the visit is still free, you'll need to book your visit in advance. Check out the Bundestag website for more information. Alternatively, you book a table at the restaurant on the roof of the Reichstag where you don't have to wait in line and can enjoy your breakfast or coffee with the great rooftop views. You need to make a reservation at least 24-hours in advance and be sure to have your passport or an official ID on you to get through Bundestag security procedures.

Base Flying at Alexanderplatz

It may sound crazy to voluntarily jump off the top of a 37-story building. And it is. But it's also a lot of fun. Don't worry, you'll be attached to the building by a wire contraption that makes the process worry free (terrifying, but worry free). See for yourself in our 11th wedding anniversary base flying experience. Open on weekends, weather permitting. Go early (10-11 AM) for a special discount.

Potsdamer Platz

If you look into the past beyond all that new glass and steel, you'll find an eventful story — a place where a time lapse sequence over the last 100 years would almost defy reason.

In the early 20th century, Potsdamer Platz featured one of the busiest intersections in all of Europe and served as a hub for Berlin nightlife. But as in much of the city, World War II took its toll and Potsdamer Platz emerged in a pile of rubble. Not long after, the Berlin Wall was run right through the middle. The few remaining buildings were eventually demolished and this once busy intersection became a desolate no man's land between East and West until the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989.

During our earliest visits to Berlin in 2002, Potsdamer Platz was a full-on construction site. Its skyful of cranes and building skeletons — best captured from Brandenburg Gate — slowly filled in with finished skyscrapers on each of our subsequent visits, and the place took shape.

Dr. Pong

Round-robin ping pong doesn’t get any better than this. Rent a paddle for €5, grab a beer, and take part in the fun of running around the ping pong table trying not to miss your shot. Address: Eberswalder Strasse 21, Mitte

DDR Museum

The goal of this museum is to give you a feel for what life was like in Berlin during communist times including in all facets of life, from fashion to secret police to a love of nude beaches. The whole museum is interactive, so have fun getting your fill of the DDR, then exiting to a new era. Address: Karl-Liebknecht-Str. 1, Mitte

Berlin Food

Eating in Berlin is easy. Have no fear, Berlin isn't only about sausage; you won't find yourself confined to currywurst and bratwurst. Creative and ethnic cuisine abounds. In fact, it’s often the ethnic food that makes eating in Berlin so fun, and so reasonably priced.

We’ve already written tomes about food in Berlin and some of our favorite places that fall into budget eating €5-€10 category so we won't bore you with repeating it all here. Our Berlin food recommendations:

• Berlin Food: Favorite Neighborhood Meals Under €10
• Berlin Cheap Eats: Top 10 Under 5 Euros
• Berlin Food Rally: Beyond the Plate
• Berlin Hot Sauce Tasting: Hurts So Good

Recommended: Use food, and your search for it, to aid your exploration of Berlin's collection of neighborhoods. Choose a restaurant or café in one neighborhood for lunch and in a different part of town for dinner. As make your way around, either by bicycle or public transportation, stop in random cafés, shops, and art galleries along the way.

Recommended Berlin Guides, Maps and Websites

For a city that is changing as much as Berlin is, it's sometimes hard to keep up as a physical guidebook. But, it is sometimes nice to have a physical map and book to help guide you through the city, especially the historical and other sites that won't be changing quite so much. Here are a few recommended Berlin guidebooks and maps.

• Stil In Berlin Map: One of our favorite websites for Berlin restaurant and cafe recommendations has come out with its own map highlighting these small neighborhood and local places. It also sells a reasonably priced and regularly updated Berlin food guide.
• Time Out Berlin: We have an older version of this guidebook that we still loan to friends and family staying with us. A good overview of all the different main sites, museums, public transport, etc.
• Lonely Planet Berlin: We're quite used to — and enjoy — the format, style and maps of Lonely Planet guides. If you're the same and like this familiarity, then their Berlin city guide is for you.
• Green Berlin Map: If you're interested in ecologically conscious or “green” shops, fashion, restaurants, markets, or anything else you might possibly conceive of, this is the map for you with recommendations in many of the fun neighborhoods of the city. The founder of Green Me Berlin is also a friend and they run great sustainably focused tours of Berlin as well.

Online Resources for Berlin Events and Activities

Berlin is a great place to seek out quirky events and festivals, especially on weekends. These events are often free and they offer an opportunity to get a feel for the city's neighborhoods and to hang out with locals. Summertime is especially chock full; it overwhelms and it inspires discovery.

For more recommendations from locals check out our Berlin Resource Page put together with advice from a group of longtime expats living in Berlin. Also includes a fun Google Hangout discussion all things Berlin.

A few sites and newsletters to help you find out what’s going on:

• Cee Cee: A good weekly newsletter resource, particularly for Berlin food events happening around town. Cee Cee Berlin now has a Facebook page, too.
• Galleries Listing: Great resource for finding art exhibitions and openings.
• GreenMe Berlin Event Calendar: Weekly and monthly listings for all fun things green and eco-lifestyle happening in Berlin. The weekend listings usually come on Thursday, and you can sign up to the newsletter for that weekend's events delivered right to your mailbox.
• VisitBerlin: It’s impossible to keep track of everything happening in Berlin, but the official tourism board hub visitBerlin does a pretty good job trying to lay out upcoming festivals, concerts, and exhibits. Their blog usually has weekend or seasonal roundups of what's going on around the city.

Recommended Tours in Berlin

• Context Travel Tours of Berlin. We can recommend the walking tour of Kreuzberg. Although we had spent a lot of time in this neighborhood, we learned so much historical and cultural context during this tour. Also good is the Story of Berlin and Topography of Terror: Nazi Berlin tours. Use this link to get 10% off Context tours.
• GreenMe Berlin Tours: Interested in learning more about Berlin's green or eco movement and the businesses trying to create change in the city? Then hop on one of Claudi's green tours of Berlin. The Green Explorer Tours focus around going deep into the green or eco movement in one neighborhood (e.g., Mitte, Neukölln, Kreuzberg, etc.), while the Special Focus Green Tours are centered around a topic (e.g., eco fashion, vegan lifestyle, etc.).
• Refugee Voices Tours: If you are interested in learning more about what led to the war we have today in Syria, the refugee influx into Europe, and what it is like for a young Syrian refugee to integrate into life in Berlin, this is the Saturday evening walking tour is for you. All of this is told with the backdrop of four Berlin historical sites to show the connection with Berlin's past — uprisings, living in fear, secret police, walls, yet also peace and unification. The evening ends with a meal at a Syrian restaurant in Wedding. Tour fees=donation.
• Street Art Workshop and Tour with Alternative Berlin. Spend a couple of hours walking around Kreuzberg with a street artist to learn more about the graffiti and street art scene in Berlin. You can also choose a street art tour with a workshop on how to create your own stencil at an abandoned bread factory. Lots of fun to create your own street art.
• Berlin Wall Bike Tour with Berlin on Bike. This 2-3 hour bike tour takes you to historical spots along the Berlin wall, from the place where the border first opened on 9 November 1989 to monuments dedicated to those who died trying to get out of East Berlin. The best thing about this tour are the personal stories, as each tour guide is a Berliner and shares what life was like before the Berlin Wall fell and what it was like in the early days. Really a great way to explore Berlin's recent history.
• One of our favorite Berlin websites, Slow Travel Berlin, also offers walking and photography tours of different parts of Berlin like Kreuzberg, Wedding, and Neukölln. We haven't taken one of these yet, but we've heard great things about them and the guides.

Resources for Moving to Berlin

Update: We've gotten quite a few emails on what it takes to move to Berlin — to find an apartment, sort out visas and residence permits, health insurance, etc. — so we decided to add this section on resources that help you make the move to Berlin.

• Finding Your Feet in Berlin: A Guide to Making a Home in the Capital by Giulia Pines. A comprehensive, practical and well written guide that covers all the details you need to know to create a smooth landing in Berlin. Written by an expat who has lived in Berlin since 2008.
• Expath offers workshops and courses on how to find a flat in Berlin, where to look for a job, how to secure health insurance and more. We used their consulting service to look through our paperwork before applying for residency and found it useful. We've also enjoyed their intensive German language course.

Plan Your Trip to Berlin

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By no means is the Berlin Beginner's Guide a comprehensive list of things to do and see in Berlin. Instead, it's meant to be an orientation of what we think are some of the best bits of the city so that you can create your own Berlin adventure. Enjoy!!

The post Berlin Travel: A Beginner’s Guide on Things to Do, See and Eat appeared first on Uncornered Market.

We share some of our favorite Berlin restaurants and dishes that fall into the category of high value. The goal isn’t just to eat well and inexpensively, but to use Berlin food exploration as a compass to get out and enjoy the city's fabulous neighborhoods along the way.

In the first of our Berlin cheap eats installments, most of our recommendations were under €5 and located in Kreuzberg, where we happened to be living at the time. During our last visit we stayed in Neukölln, but several times a week we cycled across the city, hither and yon, lunch-seeking in the €5-€10 range. This is the result of our food quest. You'll find some of the usual suspects and a suggestion or two a little off-path. A big thanks to all of our Berlin peeps — you know who you are — for the tips.

Let’s dig in!

Berlin eating at around €5-€8

Wok Show

When a Chinese friend (thanks, Yuhang!) recommends a Chinese dumpling place, we take note. When we arrived at Wok Show for a late lunch, mother and daughter were stuffing and folding away. Select from about a dozen dumpling varieties. An order of 20 homemade and fabulously fresh dumplings costs €4.50-€6.50. Temporarily transported us to China and our favorite dumpling experiences there.
Address: Wok Show, Greifenhagener Straße 31 (Prenzlauer Berg)

W Imbiss

Compliments to Henrik of Berlin food rally fame for introducing us to this eatery. This became another favorite spot for its “naan pizzas” — crispy naan crusts topped with vegetarian freshness including combinations of artichokes, guacamole, rucola, sundried tomatoes, and creamed forest mushrooms (€8 and up, big enough to feed two). For a little off-pizza variety, check out the hearty black bean quesadilla (€7.50).
Address: W Imbiss, Kastanienallee 49 (Mitte)

Heno Heno

Authentic Japanese food in this tiny eatery. Bowls of udon soup and gyūdon (beef bowl with rice) for around €6-8. Happy stomach, Heno Heno.
Address: Heno Heno, Wielandstr. 37, (near Savignyplatz station)

Toros

This friendly family-run Turkish food stand on the corner of the park at Oranienplatz specializes in tantuni, an Anatolian-style slow-cooked spiced beef. The durum and bread (which blows the mind after they rub it in the sauce and on the grill) tantuni sandwiches are both delicious and cheap at €3-€5. Don't go too late at night; once the homemade flatbread (durum) sells out for the day, that's it.
Address: Toros, Oranienplatz 2 (Kreuzberg)

Dong Xuan Center

For something a little further afield, check out the Vietnamese market district in Lichtenberg and order yourself a bowl of pho, the Vietnamese soup just about everyone these days has learned to love. A standup bowl of pho bo tai (beef noodle) will run about €6. The bowl above is from the restaurant first on the left from the main artery (with outdoor seating) as you enter the complex.
Address: Herzenbergstrasse 128 (Lichtenberg)

Kuchen Kaiser

Update October 2014: We unfortunately can no longer recommend this restaurant. Kuchen Kaiser changed its menu this year — increasing prices and decreasing options. When we ate there in October 2014 the food had deteriorated considerably. The spaetzle was nothing like its former self. A disappointing meal all around.

If you're in the mood for hearty traditional German food, make your way over to Kreuzberg to this cute German eatery. Prices are more in the €7-€10 range, but portions are large and can often feed two people. Our favorites include the spaetzle covered with bergkäse and bacon, beef gulash and leberkäse. Rumor has it that they do good cakes and strudels, although we've never had the room to get there. Try also the Kreuzberger Molle, a pilsner style beer brewed locally. Highly addictive stuff.
Address: Kuchen Kaiser, Oranienplatz 11-13 (Kreuzberg)

Berlin Lunch Menus

In the world of value eating (i.e., the best quality food for your money), it's hard to beat the lunch menu. Even some high end restaurants will offer quality dishes on a lunch menu for a fraction of the cost of their dinner menu. Here are a few of our favorite Berlin lunch menus for around €5.

Blisse 14

This social enterprise supports people with disabilities and offers up creative and fun two-course lunches for €5 like chicken, mushrooms, peas, cherry tomato and mint over rice with a starter of tandoori-coconut soup. Menus change every week. It’s a bit out of the way in the Wilmersdorf neighborhood, but worth a cycle or metro ride over. Special thanks to Nicole at Visit Berlin for this tip, as we'd never have found this place without it.
Address: Blisse 14, Blissestraße 14 (Wilmersdorf)

Lavanderia Vecchia

An over-the-top cute Italian restaurant decked out in the theme of mama's laundry. Open kitchen. The daily menu revolves around the whim of the chef and what happens to be fresh. For lunch, the single-course menu runs from €4.50 with a two-course meal setting you back €8. Go early as it fills up quickly. If you want to splurge for a nice dinner, consider Lavenderia Vecchia’s 8-course €39 evening menu.
Address: Lavanderia Vecchia, Flughafenstr. 46 (back courtyard), Neukölln

Vino e Libri

Bring a book, get a book, and enjoy with a glass of wine. We first went here in the evening as part of our Berlin food rally, but noticed the inexpensive lunch menu and decided to return. The lunch menu changes regularly and starts at €5.50 for dishes like the spaghetti with mussels pictured above. Otherwise, the standard menu starts at €10 for pastas (e.g., homemade pumpkin ravioli) and heads up and over €20 for meat and seafood mains.
Address: Vino e Libri, Torstrasse 89, Mitte

Chen Che Teehaus

If you are looking for real Vietnamese food in Berlin, this ought to be one of your first stops. The décor is also fun and beautifully thought out. Lunch menus run €6.50-€8, with taster menus running a bit more. Chen Che also features an extensive tea selection for aficionados.
Address: Chen Che Teehaus, Rosenthaler Str. 13, Mitte

Pizza in Berlin

Papà Pane di Sorrento

If you like Napoli style pizza, this place has your number. Particularly when cherry tomatoes are in season, the sauce is spot on. You’ll speak more Italian here than German. Lunch specials run around €6 with specialty pizzas (our favorite is the Papà Pane — thin crust, chunks of buffalo mozzarella, pomodorini, and big basil leaves) for €7-€9. House wine is decently priced at €4 a half liter.
Address: Papà Pane, Ackerstraße 23 (Mitte)

Gasthaus Figl

For thin crust traditional Italian and Tyrolian style pizza with bergkäse (German mountain cheese) and speck, head to Gasthaus Figl. Fun atmosphere, pleasant outdoor garden. A short but decent selection of beers on tap. Go early or make a reservation, as Figl fills up quickly.
Address: Gasthaus Figl, Urbanstrasse 47 (Kreuzberg)

Breakfast and Brunch

A.Horn

After Kotti at Kottbusser Tor stopped serving breakfast, it was time to find somewhere new. A.Horn is it, our breakfast and brunch favorite near the canal. Bagels are pretty good, as is the coffee. But it's the mixed plate flush with tasty jams, fruit, cheese and meat that takes the prize. And they serve a decent weissbier — this and the outdoor setting offer the perfect excuse to drink beer for breakfast.
Address: A.Horn, Carl-Herz-Ufer 9 (Kreuzberg)

Gluten Free Eating in Berlin (and Germany)

If you have celiac disease or a gluten intolerance there's good and bad news about gluten free eating in Berlin (and Germany in general). On the positive side, awareness about gluten free needs is rising in Berlin so quite a few restaurants mark this on their menus and offer gluten free alternatives. On the negative side, a lot of food in Berlin includes bread or gluten rich ingredients. It's important to always be careful and ask questions.

To help you navigate food in Berlin and Germany so that you can eat local, but also gluten free and with confidence, check out this German Gluten Free Restaurant Card and Gluten Free Guide to Germany created by our friend, Jodi. The restaurant card explains in detail, using local food names and language, your needs as a strictly gluten free eater, including common problems regarding cross contamination, so that you get the meal you want and need. (Bonus: You can use it when you travel in any German speaking country like Austria or Switzerland.)

Jodi has celiac disease herself so she understands first-hand the importance of being able to communicate gluten free needs in detail and educate waiters and restaurants on what this means in practice. She created her series of Gluten Free Restaurant Cards in different languages to help celiac and gluten-free travelers eat local with confidence, and without communication problems or getting sick.

Note: These gluten free restaurant cards are not part of an affiliate plan or a way for us to make money. We are extremely fortunate that we can eat everything, but we've seen the challenges of others who are celiac or have food intolerances where every meal can potentially make them sick. These detailed gluten free cards were created to help prevent that from happening and make eating out fun and enjoyable when traveling.

The post Berlin Food: Favorite Neighborhood Meals Under €10 appeared first on Uncornered Market.