Berliners don’t like to be tourists in their own city. But, conveniently, there are Babelsberg and Potsdam. These towns are Disneyland for all Berliners who want to see a nice castle up close. There are as many castles as there are lakes. And neither seems wrong for a Sunday outing in the first place. A few weeks ago, we decided to check out a few of the highlights for you and write up a little tour for you.
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The Berlin Pride Week is finally upon us, and we’re ready to celebrate! If you’re looking for fun activities beside joining the parade on Saturday, we’ve got just the list for you. Together with Airbnb, we’ve singled out 5 fun and slightly unusual experiences that will let you embrace the upcoming celebrations and learn something new while supporting the local community. Check them out!
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With our brand new tour, we’re going to explore something we’ve talked about already in many of our history-themed pieces before, but we’ve never actually created a guide for: The Berlin Wall. That one element of Berlin’s past that has shaped the cities in endless ways and continues to do so.
But we’re not doing just any tour, we’re doing a tour with one of the new e-scooters that have been popping up on the streets recently: Circ.
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The Deezer Music Tours, the new project from the streaming service Deezer, is definitely right up our alley! Experiencing a guided audio tour of the city with the right soundtrack in your ear sounds like a great idea to start with! They’ve asked unique personalities from the music industry – Marcus Staiger, DJ Westbam, und Bela B – to share their first-hand insights on Berlin’s recent history and combined those with iconic songs that take you right back in time. Nothing left to do but hop on a Deezer nextbike and listen to three awesome audio guides that will give you musical trivia no Berliner should miss – and all of that completely for free!
photo: Urte Kaunas
There are so many stories written about Berlin: a city of inspiration, creativity, lost and found spirit, art and music, crazy dance floor love fairytales and never ending discoveries. In the end, every story reflects its personal angle and puts a different color pallet to fill the page. Berlin is made of many different routes – so let’s ride.
Getting into the streets by a city bike, having a cup of beautiful coffee on the way, observing the people in the streets, having spontaneous chats and exploring the local cafes and restaurants sounds like a perfect idyll of a day in Berlin.
For our brand new guide we got together with the charming Edoardo, head barista of Refinery High End Coffee in Mitte and Kreuzberg, and teamed up with Creme Cycles and the bikecitizens app to create a bike tour that unites the spirits of Berlin, delicious coffee and beautiful bikes.
Our tour starts in the most beloved and diverse districts of Berlin: “Kreuzberg is purely bizarre: you never know what to expect from the people, it’s ever changing and there is always something odd to discover,” says Edo before we start our tour…
You know the drill: Someone is coming to Berlin for the first time, and you, with them, have to visit the same typical, commonplace “Berlin musts” for the thousandth time, along with flocks of tourists who push you in order to make their 13th shot of the same angle of the Berliner Dome. To save us all the distress of touring around what everyone is expected to see in the city, we gathered their alternatives one can visit instead, through which the real Berlin is revealed. (disclaimer: maybe your mom will not enjoy it).
Have you ever wished you could travel back in time and experience different eras in history, that have always fascinated you and you have been constantly watching films or reading books about? Well, this tour will definitely satisfy your wishful thinking. Whereas the usual tours consist of a guide narrating stories about the place you are visiting, a collaboration between When in Berlin Tours and Time Rift Tours offer you the opportunity to experience Berlin and the division of the city through the Berlin Wall with the help of virtual reality tour in an impressive 360° stereoscope experience. History comes at the forefront, as it does not remain in the constraints of memory, but unravels in front of your eyes at an unprecedented pace. We have a little video for you that gives you an impression of the tour and how it works.
Read on…
photo: The Drummer
I always like to refer to Berlin as a playground for grown-ups. Here you can easily try out new things, start new projects and experiment with crazy ideas. You will find lots of enthusiastic people willing to get involved, the resources are amazing and diverse and since Berliners are so curious to discover new things you will quickly find a willing and attentive audience. People here have a certain understanding that some things are a work in progress. Some experiments will thrive, others might not work out, but you won’t fall very hard, because the playground has a very soft floor made of sand.
Last week I met one man here, that totally takes advantage of the playfulness of Berlin and its curious audience. He woke up one day with the dream that he wanted to be a drummer. He was often involved with musicians and rock bands, spending time with them backstage, but in terms of his own musical skills he is a complete novice. Let’s face it: Playing the drums is really difficult to learn. But he saw it as a challenge and decided to make a project about it: The Drummer was born. The Drummer is not simply a nickname for him, it’s also the quest of learning this instrument in only one and a half years, and it’s going to be the name of his band that he is about to form.
photos: Sascha Wolters
Berlin is no place like others when it comes to special corners and Sightseeing. No wonder here, Berlin has a lot of history. With its many Sightseeing possibilities and countless historical buildings, there is probably no corner in the capital that is not worth knowing about. Which is why there are many city guides, leading foreigners through the capital. But also for locals it’s great to get to know one’s own city better. And there is one guide in particular that offers tours around the city with a special twist.
Tobi Allers is the founder of Berlin Kultour and offers around 15 tours through Berlin with different topics, interesting for anyone who is interested in art, culture and history – or just the city he lives in. We met up with him to take an exclusive, intimate version of his tour “Refugees in historical perspective” and got to know a lot. Get some impressions and see some pictures after the jump. Read on…
photo: Sandra Semburg
Germany is a biking nation. Probably everyone you would randomly ask on the street has a bunch of personal and emotional stories to tell you connected with their bikes. Regardless of the weather or personal fitness biking through the city is the most beloved way of transportation in Berlin. But besides practical reasons, biking can be quite some fun if you know the good streets and bike lanes and avoid busy and narrow boardwalks. What brings biking pleasure to a new level? Having a great bike which is adapted to the needs of the urban dweller. We gathered some shops where you can finde a good bike for your needs in this article. When you found the right bike I would suggest you to use it not only in the city but also to get out of the city. I collected some great biking spots and routes for you to explore the city on your beloved bike. Since I am not a bike-expert I asked my friends who are doing Komoot to help me out a little bit. Komoot is a great bike app that helps you create the perfect bike tour for your needs. This is how I could put together some really great places to have your summer bike adventure. Read on…