29 Hidden Gems in Berlin the Locals Don't Want You to Know About
Berlin is known for its underground culture and its secret spots. When it comes to quirks and hidden gems, the city’s balance of urban cool and green, open spaces makes it the perfect place for secret escapes, hidden watering holes and underground art and culture. Here are the secret spots in Berlin that the locals don’t want you to know about.
Natur-Park Schöneberger Südgelände
Park
The Tempelhof railway yard is where forgotten technology and nature meet, providing a strange oasis, rich in nature and abandoned relics. The deserted industrial area was shut down gradually after World War II and has since become a jungle forest that can be explored on foot. Abandoned water towers, trains and railways can be found within the park and visitors will feel as if they have been transported back in time.
West Germany, a hidden gallery and music club
Music Venue, School
Peacock Island
Natural Feature
The Stand by Me tree
Park, Zoo
Berlin’s tiniest disco
Art Gallery
Can’t get into Berghain? Luckily, just around the corner is Berlin’s smallest disco, and this secret spot has no bouncers or line. The teledisko is a ‘club’ inside a phone booth in the nearby, uber-cool RAW Gelände; among the graffitied urban stretch of buildings is a gold phone booth, doubling as a disco. The tiny cubicle plays a song of your choice, while fog machines, strobe lights and a disco ball set the mood. The party can be enjoyed solo or with a few friends, to lift your spirits and get visitors ready to party like Berliners.
Monsterkabinett
Amusement Park, Museum
Straussee
Natural Feature
Located about 30 kilometres (19 miles) northeast of the heart of Berlin, Straussee is a beloved escape for locals in the winter and summer. Encompassed by a charming small town and a dense forest, this lake is a favourite spot for hiking, swimming and taking a break from the pace of the city. It’s the perfect Sunday escape and you’ll find Berliners here all year round, soaking in the relaxing ambience and fresh air.
Fahimi Bar
Bar, German
A slice of country in the city
Park
Dotted across Berlin are the city’s allotment gardens, offering apartment-dwelling locals the chance to get some fresh air and use their green thumbs. Often sandwiched between railway tracks and residential streets, these quirky spaces pique the interest of passersby. Among these gardens, Charlottenburg’s Bahn Landwirtschaft is particularly special; it’s accessible via a nondescript gate, and the garden’s clubhouse/café/pub is open to the public. Visitors can spend an afternoon wandering the fragrant gardens and resting their feet at the old-school pub, treating themselves to a couple of beers and an idyllic rural atmosphere, all without leaving the city.
Underground dining
Restaurant, Contemporary, Vegetarian
Berlin’s vegans and vegetarians are well catered for, as the city is brimming with amazing meat-free joints. Cookies Cream is the city’s chicest herbivore haven, but this high-end vegetarian restaurant isn’t easy to find. Its entrance is reached via the Westin Hotel’s service alley, leading to an industrial-chic loft. Once inside, you’ll be treated to Berlin’s finest meat-free dishes, which are a delight for the eyes and palate. However, if you are craving some meat, you can visit Crackers, which is run by the same team and is located in a former cinema below.
Berlin’s 20s Ballroom
Historical Landmark, Architectural Landmark
Located in Berlin’s central neighbourhood Mitte is a unique window into the past, Ballhaus Berlin, a survivor of the city’s racy Weimar Era. Hosting a range of events and ballroom nights, it’s the perfect place to put on your dancing shoes and spend a night partying like it’s 1920. However, the main attraction is the Tischtelefonen (‘table telephones’) that are placed on the tables to let guest flirt with each other without even having to stand up.
Basement poetry
Bar
Each week in the basement of Du Beast, a cosy bar in Neukölln, hordes of Berliners crowd into the space to be wooed by the spoken word. Hosted by Berlin Spoken Word, the night is an open space for everyone to share their stories, poetry and musings. From the tear-jerking to the knee-slapping, this night always offers a wide selection of spoken-word performances every Thursday night, and is beloved by locals and visitors in the know.
The local’s favourite brewery
Brewery
Drachenberg
Natural Feature
This mountain in West Berlin looms almost 100 metres (328 feet) over the Grunewald forest. Somewhat in the shadow of its more well-known neighbour Teufelsberg, Drachenberg (‘Dragon Mountain’) still attracts fans to its treeless, oddly-shaped plateau and is a great place to fly a kite or spot a few wild bores and foxes.
Rummelsburg Memorial
Architectural Landmark
Though difficult to make out if you don’t know what you are looking for, the Rummelsburg Memorial is worth seeking out. Once the largest workhouse in Germany and a former East Berlin men’s prison, it is now a historical site that profiles the stories of 21 prisoners and can be reached with an idle walk along the banks of the Rummelsburger Bucht.
The ‘Communist Chic’ hostel
Budget Hotel, Hotel
The budget accommodation Ostel Hostel promises to cater to all your nostalgia needs with its eerie recreation of Communist Berlin. The youth hostel offers visitors an insight into life before the Berlin Wall fell. Expect Communist kitsch, including corduroy sofas, toy versions of the popular East Germany cartoon character ‘the Sandman’ and historic photographs hanging in the rooms, all within a concrete apartment block typical of what was once East Berlin.
Skywalk Marzahner Promenade
Architectural Landmark
For those who laugh in the face of extreme heights, this skywalk in Marzahn is worth checking out. It’s a secret, free viewing platform over the city perched atop a high-rise building that stretches 70 metres (230 feet) into the sky. You’ll be rewarded with breathtaking views of central Berlin and the surrounding state of Brandenburg.
Berlin’s Old Texas Town
Architectural Landmark
This one is just too off-kilter to miss: Berlin’s own fully fledged, hand-built homage to America’s Wild West. Located next to a suburban shopping mall, this small but extremely detailed slice of Americana is also the headquarters of Berlin’s very own Cowboy Club. They’ve been swinging pistols and cracking horse whips here since the 1970s, but the quirky attraction remains an under-the-radar catch that even locals are unlikely to know.
Roller Disco
Music Venue
This is a regular feature on the calendar of the S036—the little Berlin bar made famous by the nighttime exploits of famous musicians like David Bowie. Now you can roll back into the smashing 70s with the bar’s monthly roller disco dance spectacle. You don’t need to have your own pair of old-school four-wheel skates, as you can rent a pair for just €2 per half-hour.
Buddhist Temple in Spandau
Buddhist Temple
Silent Green Kulturquartier
Art Gallery
Gardens of the World
Park
Berlin’s Gardens of the World is a 22-acre park of beautifully themed landscapes, hidden among tower blocks in Marzahn. The perfectly manicured gardens take visitors on a journey around the world as they wind their way from one continent to another. From an Arabian courtyard to a Balinese rainforest and hillside Korean temple, this stunning space is an impressive gem in Berlin. A must-see while in the garden is the Chinese garden—a picturesque ensemble of crystalline lakes, pagodas, and traditional gardens built entirely by Chinese craftsmen that offers an authentic look into traditional Chinese aesthetics.
Uli’s Museumsladen
Historical Landmark
The people of Hakenfelde certainly know Uli Feick and his bicycle shop, but Berliners from the 11 other districts of the city may not be so familiar. This Spandau resident exhibits beautiful historical bicycles and his shop is a go-to destination if you’re in need of any repairs on your own vintage beauty.
Funkturm Observation Deck
Architectural Landmark
Jungfernmühle
Historical Landmark
Jungfernmühle is Berlin’s oldest surviving windmill not being used for museum purposes. First constructed in Potsdam in 1757 by the Dutch carpenter Adriaan den Ouden, the mill was moved in 1860 to make way for a villa and was rebuilt in Rixdorf. In 1872, the mill was sold again to Otto Wienecke, who rebuilt it in Buckow-Gropisustadt where it still stands. Steeped in history and authentic charm, this former windmill is a rare slice of Berlin’s past.
Gesundbrunnen bunker
Historical Landmark
A former war bunk which connects to Berlin’s U-Bahn tunnels, the Gesundbrunnen bunker is a spooky window into the past. Although it was first used as an air raid shelter during the Second World War, the French, who ran this zone of occupied Berlin, tried to convert it into a nuclear shelter in the 1970s before deciding to store emergency food supplies here. Only accessible via a guided tour, the bunker hides behind an anonymous door near the Gesundbrunnen U-Bahn station. Inside is a giant steel airlock door that opens to reveal a hidden shelter. The tour takes nearly two hours, costs €9 ($10.58 USD) and is a unique insight into Berlin’s rich and diverse past.
Bauakademie
Architectural Landmark
The Berlin Bauakademie (building academy) looks like a rather unremarkable building from the outside but was originally designed and built by one of the city’s most recognised and renowned architects, urban planner and painter Karl Friedrich Schinkel. Responsible for much of the city’s early 19th-century redesign, Schinkel’s remaining work includes many of Berlin’s most beautiful buildings and photographed monuments. While his influence can be seen around the city, head over to the Bauakademie for a truly unique experience. Tucked away down a quiet street behind Unter den Linden you’ll find Schinkel’s door, an isolated entrance and stunning insight into the building’s former glory.
Take a photo at a Photoautomat
Architectural Landmark
The vintage photo booths of Berlin take black and white photos and make a perfect souvenir of the city. Take the challenge and fit inside with your friends, make funny faces and have fun with the photos. Recommended by Inês Cortez.
Mustafa’s Gemüse Kebab
Restaurant
Although currywurst is a famous Berlin dish, what the locals really love is a good kebab. You can find kebab spots easily, the most famous one being Mustafa’s Gemüse (vegetable) Kebab, you’ll have to wait in line, but it will be totally worth it. Recommended by Inês Cortez.
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