Among the many beer garden options the city offers, these four stand out:

Prater

Kastanienallee 7-9, Prenzlauer Berg

The one and only Prater is a mandatory summer stop for locals and tourists alike. Said to be the city’s oldest beer garden (dating back to 1837), this Prenzlauer Berg institution can accommodate up to 600 guests in its garden and indoor restaurant. Forget Oktoberfest–this is the real deal.

Schleusenkrug

Müller-Breslau-Str. 1
www.schleusenkrug.de

Located near the Tiergarten, right on the river, this small bar/kiosk fires up the grill in summer for brats and other goodies. Cold beer, good views, nice people–it doesn’t get much better than this.

Come to Golgatha after the sun goes down. Photo: Eugene Kim

Golgatha

Viktoria Park, Kreuzberg
www.golgatha-berlin.de

Kreuzberg’s answer to Prater, this beer garden inside a public park really gets going later in the evening. Beach chairs complement picnic tables. If you’re feeling anti-social, they offer Wi-Fi. But if you feel like mingling, there’s also dancing.

Loretta am Wannsee

Kronprinzessinnenweg 260, Wannsee
www.loretta-berlin.de

For a day trip, Wannsee, one of the largest and most popular lakes around Berlin, offers a sandy beach, shallow water and Loretta–a beer garden with a good wine selection. Watch the sailboats (or nudists, depending on where you’re looking) pass by as you kick back with a drink.

Other beer gardens

Have another beer garden in Berlin to recommend? Tell us about it in our comments section. Prost!

Also on EuroCheapo: If you’re planning a trip to Berlin and looking for affordable places to sleep, swing by our city guide to read reviews of our recommended hotels in Berlin, all of them visited, inspected and reviewed by our editors.

The post Berlin: The city’s best beer gardens appeared first on EuroCheapo's Budget Travel Blog.

Finding affordable Kaffee und Kuchen is… well, a piece of cake in Berlin. But if you’re looking for something extra special, here are a few suggestions:

1. Albrechts Pâtisserie
Rykestraße 39 (Prenzlauer Berg near Kollwitzplatz)
Tel: +49 (0)30 440 172 73
Hours: 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. (Monday to Friday)
Web site

As the name suggests, Albrechts Pâtisserie draws from the best of France and Germany. Combining “German traditions with French finesse,” Albrechts offers up to 20 different kinds of sumptuous cakes and pies on any given day.

The owner’s personal favorite? Stephanie Albrecht recommends the Schokodom, a tower of fluffy sponge cake and two kinds of mousse au chocolat, topped with more chocolate. In addition to the Prenzlauer Berg location, there are shops in Schöneberg and Charlottenburg (see the Web site for details).

2. Koriat
Pannierstraße 29 (Neukölln)
Tel: +49 (0)30 288 791 79
Hours: 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. (Monday to Thursday), 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. (Friday to Sunday)
Web site

Israeli baker Aviv Koriat doesn’t bother delivering. Instead, folks from no less than 16 cafés personally pick up pastries from Mr. Koriat’s eponymous bakery in Neukölln.

The spartan shop has no seating inside, but it does offer a sidewalk bench. Try to look nonchalant as you balance your peach and pistachio cake on your lap while sipping espresso. You are on hipster-filled Pannierstraße, after all.

3. Der Kuchenladen
Kandtstr. 138  (Charlottenburg near Savignyplatz)
Tel: +49 (0)30 310 184 24
Hours: 12 p.m. to 7 p.m. (Tuesday to Friday), 12 p.m. to 5 p.m. (Saturday and Sunday)
Web site

If you want to feel special without spending a fortune, check out this little shop. Der Kuchenladen serves handmade delicacies to a select few customers—that is, those who battle it out with young families and gay couples to grab one of the four tables in this tiny, pink-walled café. You’ll find all the usual suspects of German bakeries here, but always with a twist.

4. Alles Gute…
Simon-Dach-Straße 3 (Friedrichshain)
Tel: + 49 017 814 432 45
Hours: 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. (Tuesday to Friday), 10 a.m. to 5 pm. (Saturday), 12 p.m. to 5 p.m. (Sunday)

Follow the smell of freshly baked brioche and you’ll find yourself at Alles Gute. Whether you like your latte with organic or soy milk, this café on fashionable Simon Dach Straße caters to your whimsy. Plus, you won’t find a cheaper slice of artisan cake in the neighborhood.

5. Opernpalais
Unter der Linden 5 (Mitte)
Tel: + 49 (0)30 202 68-3
Hours: Open daily from 9 a.m. to 12 a.m.
Web site

If you feel like splurging, you can mingle with the well-heeled dames at Opernpalais, which boasts “Berlin’s biggest selection” of over 65 cakes (including some for diabetics). The servers can be a tad impersonal, but you can’t beat the location on magnificent Unter der Linden.

The post Berlin: 5 great bakeries for coffee and cake appeared first on EuroCheapo's Budget Travel Blog.

In February 2009, Irish expat Joe Hatchiban plugged in a karaoke set at Berlin’s Mauerpark Flea Market in Prenzlauer Berg. A bicycle courier by day, Hatchiban toted the necessary equipment on his vehicle: a laptop with karaoke mp3s, a microphone, mixer, two speakers, an umbrella, and a lawn chair. The stage was open to anyone with the gusto to sing and dance on stage. It was a huge success.

Enter the Bearpit

Bearpit Karaoke now draws about 1,500 people on an average Sunday afternoon. It’s open from 3 p.m. to 7 p.m in the summer and 1:30 p.m. to 5 p.m. in the fall. Performers range from kids to adults, metal heads to opera singers, and average Joes to best friend trios.

“It brings a whole new activity to the flea market,” says Donald Burke, a professional Berlin guide, bartender, and Bearpit Karaoke regular.

Burke is a loyal fan, admitting that two favorite performances he caught recently were the Spice Girls’ “If You Wanna Be My Lover” sung by a French girl who barely knew the lyrics, and Lady Gaga’s “Bad Romance” performed by a 13-year-old boy “with perfect choreography.”

Razzle dazzle them

It’s all about picking a tune that’s both a crowd-pleaser and that falls in line with the three-and-a-half-minute song limit. In the end, perfect pitch isn’t necessary when you’ve got killer moves, high enthusiasm and audience interaction.

The beauty of Bearpit Karoake lies in its communal aspect, as the crowd acts as a giant support group for all performers. The seating area in Mauer Park’s stone amphitheater fills quickly with onlookers ready to spend an entire afternoon clapping, dancing, and shouting lyrics to singers in need of assistance. The event is also a magnet for tourists, who are offered a special look inside Berlin’s summer scene.

Sing for your supper

“It’s also a new outlet for food and drink businesses to set up and accommodate the 1,000 people watching karaoke,” Burke said. About a dozen refreshment vendors line the area ready with water, beer, and soft drinks at dirt-cheap prices.

There is no cost to watch or sing at Bearpit Karaoke, though donations are happily accepted. The whole event doesn’t aim to make money; it’s simply a fun way to spend an afternoon.

Bearpit Karaoke runs during the warm months of summer and fall.  Check out the Web site for more information.

The post Berlin: Bearpit Karaoke at the Mauerpark Flea Market appeared first on EuroCheapo's Budget Travel Blog.

A network of leafy lanes and avenues perched on a barely perceptible hill (“berg”) just northeast of the center, this district offers such a perfect mix of cafés, restaurants, boutiques and charming architecture that it sometimes has a “this-is-too-good-to-true”, movie-set vibe to it. If Woody Allen were to make a film in Berlin, this is where he’d shoot it.

“Prenzlberg” emerged as a bustling, working class industrial hub in the 19th century—and still has the rows upon rows of (now-restored) tenement houses, complete with ornate stucco details and flower-bedecked balconies, to prove it. Also adding a historic touch are the restored and repurposed red brick factories studding the area. (The Kulturbrauerei cultural center, a former beer brewery, is an essential stop on a tour of the district.)

Ideal city living in the Kollwitzkiez

One century later, the district gained fame as the home base of East Germany’s poets, novelists, dissidents and intellectuals, who gathered around Köllwitzplatz, a triangular park named after the leftist artist and anti-war protestor, Kathe Köllwitz. (Her work is honored over in western Berlin’s Kathe Köllwitz Museum.) The district was grimy then, but the apartment buildings had survived the war relatively unscathed.

Fast forward to this century, and an over-sized bronze statue of Kollwitz is still watching over the park. But now, instead of gray, rundown façades, she faces swing sets and awning-shaded tables marking the cafés and bars along Kollwitz Strasse, Knaack Strasse and Wörther Strasse, the district’s three most genteel streets.

On Saturdays, a market, the Markt am Kollwitzplatz, takes over the square. Overflowing with gourmet food and hand-crafted clothing, it makes this corner of Berlin an urban paradise. After a stroll through the market, it’s practically mandatory to stop at Kaffeehaus SowohlalsAuch, a café-bakery famous for its cakes. Sit outside, even if it’s a bit chilly—blankets draped over the chairs will keep you warm.

This idyllic square is just one indication that this once-rundown neighborhood has morphed into the reunified city’s most appealing “Szeneviertel” (scene). Some Berliners grumble that well-to-do yuppies—many of whom add stylish little tykes to their brood—transformed the once-bohemian, left-leaning district into a pretentious playground for affluent, western German transplants, but the area retains a touch of alluring grittiness, especially along wide avenues like Schönhauser Allee, Prenzlauer Allee and Danziger Strasse.

A laid-back itinerary

The best way to tour the district is to start at the U-Bahn Senerfelder Platz. Walk north on Kollwitz Strasse to reach Kollwitzplatz. Continue north onto Knaack Strasse to reach the Kulturbrauerei (nearby, on Schönhauser Allee 44a, underneath the U-bahn tracks, is the famed Currywurst kiosk, Konnopke’s).

If you have time, keep heading north, across Danziger Strasse, to explore the mellow streets surrounding another classic Prenzlauer Berg square, Helmholzplatz. Bordered by Lynchener Strasse, Raumer Strasse, Duncker Strasse and Lette Strasse, it’s well stocked with shops and café-restaurants.

In addition to the Kulturbraueri, the district’s Cheapo-friendly sights include the redbrick Wasserturm (Watertower, between Knaack Strasse und Belforter Strasse), which served as one of the city’s first concentration camps, and the Jüdischer Friedhof (Jewish Cemetery, Schönhauser Allee 22-23), one of Germany’s largest historic Jewish resting places. The Zeiss Grosplantarium ( Prenzlauer Allee 80) offers inexpensive tours of the stars.

The post Favorite Place in Berlin: Prenzlauer Berg appeared first on EuroCheapo's Budget Travel Blog.

Let’s do breakfast!

Berlin-style breakfast is a jackpot for Cheapos, especially on weekends, when cafés roll out all-you-can-eat buffets. Laden with German breakfast basics—cheese, cold cuts, vegetables, fruit, jam, butter, hard-boiled eggs, and crusty rolls—the best spots offer extras like Sekt (sparkling wine), exotic fruit, and homemade spreads. Coffee, tea, and the Berlin favorite, Milchcafé (coffee with milk), usually aren’t inclusive.

We recommend showing up before 11 AM, when the buffet is freshest, the staff is alert, and the crowds are thin. (Most spots serve breakfast from 10 AM to 3 PM) Once you’ve occupied a table, take your time—read a newspaper, people watch, and make plenty of trips to the buffet. Do it right and you won’t be hungry until dinner.

Where to go?

The cozy neighborhood favorite Schwarze Pumpe (Choriner Str. 76, one block east of Kastanienallee) is a Cheapo hit. For €4.90, you can graze the basic but high-quality buffet with great scrambled eggs. Order a Milchcafé, load your plate, and have a seat in the rustic-cozy interior or on the tree-shaded sidewalk. (Breakfast à la carte is available the rest of the week.)

Vegetarians, leftists, and budget travelers are also fans of the vegan-friendly buffet (available Friday and Saturday from 11 AM to 2 PM) at the grungy café-bar-collective Morgenrot (Kastanienallee, 85). A colorful spread laid out on the bar in this dingy, art-filled space features tofu cream cheese and fruit-studded yoghurt. In keeping with its leftist mission, the café asks for €4¬–8, depending on your income.

If you prefer breakfast à la carte, try the Kiezkantine (Oderberger Str. 50). Operated by a non-profit organization for the mentally challenged, this homey place is beloved for its bargain breakfast. Ample enough for two hungry travelers, the Grosses Frühstück (big breakfast), a composition of cheese, ham, salami, fruit, hard-boiled eggs, vegetables, warm rolls, and seed-studded bread, is only €4.20 (students pay a reduced rate of €3.30). Gourmet it isn’t, but filling it is.

Snap up a flea market bargain

Walk off breakfast while exploring two of the city’s best flea markets, which get going around 11 AM. The Mauerpark Flohmarkt (Bernauer Str. 63-64, at the western end of Oderberger Str.), a maze of stalls next to a scrubby park that once bordered the Berlin Wall, is well stocked with chic and cheap souvenirs hand-crafted by local designers. Look for photographs of Berlin, silk-screened T-shirts, glass bead jewelry, and trendy clothing. Pick through the junkier stands to find retro teapots, vintage leather purses, and LPs.

Afterwards, stroll south on Wolliner Strasse to reach the Flohmarkt am Arkonaplatz (Arkonaplatz). It’s small, but the items on display in this picturesque square are more valuable—and more expensive. Expect vintage sunglasses and retro vases in groovy shades.

Check out the Wall

Cap off your tour with a stop at the admission-free Gedenkstätte Berliner Mauer (Berlin Wall Memorial, Bernauer Str. 111), which is hidden five blocks east of Arkonaplatz (take Anklamer Str., then make a right onto Acker Str.) Study an original stretch of the Berlin Wall up close and from the top of a lookout tower across the street.

From there, pick up a tram on Bernauer Strasse or walk west to the Nordbahnhof S-bahn station to continue your Berlin adventures.

The post Cheapo Morning Out Berlin: Sunday brunch, flea markets, and more appeared first on EuroCheapo's Budget Travel Blog.