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Okay, Berlin. I’m going to organize things roughly according to area, so you can figure out what’s close by to each other.
PART 1 - FOOD
Friedrichshain
Friedrichshain is in the former east part of Berlin. There are a lot of students living there, and it’s a bit more punk than other areas of Berlin. The area around Hot Dog Soup, Caramello, and Cupcake has a ton of really neat shops and thrift stores, and on Saturdays there’s a nice flea market in the square somewhere around there. (Wander around a bit, you’ll find it.)
Cupcake - has vegan cupcakes, but they’re often sold out. When they’re there they’re good though.
Krosserer Strasse 12, 10245 (Walk from U-Bahn Station Frankfurter Tor or Warschauer Strasse- Warschauer Strasse is a bit further, but connects to more stuff)
Hot Dog Soup - has some vegan hot dogs and soup. Not all vegan. I had a hot dog with onions and sauerkraut, it was pretty good and it felt weird to be walking down the street eating a hot dog!
Grünberger Straße 69, 10245 (Walk from U-Bahn station Frankfurter Tor or Warschauer Strasse)
Caramello - vegan ice cream! They usually have a bunch of different kinds of fruit ice creams, and then a couple soy ice creams as well (though the last day I went there they had no soy ice cream, sadly!). The soy ice creams are sometimes typical flavours like vanilla and chocolate, but they also sometimes have stuff like chocolate cocoa chunk and vanilla with raspberry swirls. Note that the fruit ice creams say “100% vegan” and the soy ice creams say “100% soy”- this confused me at first, but the soy ice creams are also 100% vegan.
Wühlischstrasse 31, 10245 (Walk from Frankfurter Tor or Warschauer Strasse)
Vöner - vegan donair! The Kräuter (herb) sauce is not vegan, but the spicy sauce and the garlic sauce are. Get both the vegan ones, it’s better that way. You can also totally walk to Caramello & co. from Vöner, it’s maybe a 15ish minute walk? I don’t remember exactly how long, but it was the perfect amount of time for me to eat my vöner while walking (a word of caution- this is incredibly messy to attempt).
Boxhagenerstraße 56, 10245 (Walk from U-Bahn Station Ostkreuz)
Yoyo Foodworld - vegetarian fast food. It’s pretty new, and I haven’t been there personally, but I have a friend who works there, so I have to recommend it! I don’t think it’s all vegan, but they have vegan pizza with soy cheese, vegan tiramisu, and vegan cake (eta- along with the typical fast food burgers and wieners and such). It’s also right in between Cupcake and Caramello.
Gärtnerstraße 27,10245 (Walk from Frankfurter Tor or Warschauer Straße)
Kreuzberg
Kreuzberg is, I think, my favourite part of Berlin. It’s really Turkish, and there’s a fabulous open-air market there twice (I think?) a week (definitely on Saturdays, possibly also on Wednesdays). I unfortunately never made it out there, but I’ve heard good things. Oranienstrasse is a fabulous street, with a ton of cool shops.
Veni Vedi Vegi - an all-vegan grocery! It’s really tiny, but it has a ton of cool stuff. It’s also right around the corner from a vegan ice cream place. Its opening hours are a bit short.
Pücklerstrasse 32, 10997 (Walk from U-Bahn Görlitzer Bahnhof) (I wandered around forever trying to find this before I knew my way around Kreuzberg, it’s behind the church you can see from the U-bahn station)
Café V - an almost vegetarian restaurant (they have about two fish dishes. I don’t know, I haven’t figured that one out yet) with a pretty good selection of vegan options. The food was really nice, it’s a little bit “fancier” (and by fancy I mean you sit at a table and someone comes to take your order) than a lot of the other places. It’s also right around the corner from the ice cream place.
Lausitzer Platz 12, 10997 (U-Bahn Görlitzer Bahnhof) (also behind the church)
Eissalon Tanne B - more vegan ice cream! The vegan kinds have the green labels. Again, flavours vary, but they usually have a couple of the following: plain, vanilla, chocolate, almond, nut, walnut, hazelnut, and a bunch of different fruit ones. Maya says that they sometimes have snickers or stracciatella or something, but I never saw it. The nut kinds are usually really good. And the chocolate. The cones aren’t vegan, so just get it in a cup.
Eisenbahnstraße 48, 10997 (Görlitzer Bahnhof)
Prenzlauer Berg
Maja’s Deli - all vegan, home-style cooking (lasagnas, vegetable stews, cakes, etc). I have to admit I wasn’t really all that impressed. I had a vegetable stew sort of thing, which was okay but not great, a piece of cake that really wasn’t very good (the cake itself was dry and chewy, and the buttercream was a bit too sweet and overwhelming), and a cookie, which again was not bad but a little bit dry and crumbly. I may have just been there on an off day. It’s a really cute and comfortable place.
Pappelallee 11, 10437 (U-Bahn Eberswalder Strasse)
Hans Wurst Vegancafe - I really wish I’d come here sooner. It’s a really nice, relaxed, all vegan place (with free wifi), and there are apparently concerts there from time to time. They have a fabulous buffet brunch on Sundays, which I highly recommend.
Dunckerstrasse 2a, 10437 (Eberswalder Strasse)
When I get a chance I'll post more info on where to go, stuff to try, etc.
Last edited by Sarahbean (Thu 10/9/08 5:54 pm)
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This is awesome thank you sarahbean
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you rule, madame! thank you!
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go sarah!
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Berlin vegan List of vegan/vegetarian restaurants, most of them were already mentioned by sarahbean. Unfortunately, this site is only in German.
Museums in Berlin
more on museums in Berlin
There are many interesting exhibitions in November. Featured artists are Beys, Jeff Koons, Klee, Andy Warhol,...
Sightseeing tours
virtual tourist guide, things to do in Berlin
List of tourist attractions
eg. Alexanderplatz, Dorotheenstädt cemetery, Hackesche Höfe, the wall, new synagogue,...
Last edited by mihl (Mon 10/13/08 7:03 am)
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Dang Sarah way to go on the Berlin tips.
I agree that the Vöner/Carmello combo in one meal is amazing. Once you figure out how to get there, it is very easy to walk to Carmello from Vöner.
Maja's Deli really is a hit or miss. I got quite a few desserts from there, but some where a bit dry. They have a cold case now, and even though I know that cool cakes aren't as good, the stuff that I got from it was usually pretty good. There is actually a fun vintage store next door if you like that sort of thing.
Hans Wurst was really good. Unless you just want to hang out and drink a coffee/enjoy free wifi, I would just go for the brunch. I have never stuffed myself so much in my life.
Non-food related, on Thursday evenings from 6-10 the museums on Museum Island are free EXECPT if there is a special exhibit. Check beforehand, but there are several so if you can't get into one you will have other options.
ETA: Depending when in the week you are there, you could always try hitting up this club that people from my school went to all the time. It is called Kaffee Berger. It looks a little shady sometimes, but it is just dating itself back to its' East-Germany roots. Cover is only one Euro when I went on Monday nights. Apparently they have a Russian Disko on the weekends (whatever that means).
Other cool places to just have out or hear local music is at Lokal or Schokoladen. I'll get the addresses and stuff when I have time to pull out my map later.
Last edited by simplybecause81 (Fri 10/17/08 3:47 am)
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this thread is just so awesome, and making me look so forward to berlin! bump.
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I can highly recommend YoYo if you are looking for fast food type food- super friendly staff, yummy, reasonable prices. Even the fries are really good! I had the southern fried 'chicken' type dish on the menu, and I keep wishing that I could go there again to eat it. We were so full after going to YoYo that we couldn't face Caramello, even if we had been able to find it! Bis Auf's Messer (I think that's how you spell it!) is an awesome record store in the same area as Cupcake, Voner and YoYo.
In short: Berlin is AWESOME! this is a really useful guide for when we go again, thanks Sarahbean
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Yay, I'm glad yoyo's good! My friend works there! If you see Maya say hi!
And I promise I will post more. But not now, I'm late for class.
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sarahbean or anyone else: are there any places to find vegan shoes and/or winter coats in berlin? If I need new shoes and a warm coat, it might as well come from Berlin, if they are to be found there...
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Not that I know of. Veni Vedi Vegi has shoes, but only like one size of every style. Otherwise you can look at a department store/mall (Kaufhaus), but it'll be similar to the states. At Alexanderplatz there's a mall (Alexa) (it's pink) with a bunch of familiar stores, they might have coats (but I don't know). You can also look at department stores like Karstadt or Kaufhaus Galeria or KaDeWe (a huge department store, on the Kurfürstendamm). There are a ton of H&M's there, and also a lot of C&A's (clothing department store). Otherwise, there are a ton of thrift stores around all the restaurants in Friedrichshain.
Wool = Wolle
Cotton = Baumwolle ("tree wool")
Leather = Leder
Silk = Seide
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I think most good quality vegan shoes are imported from the UK or the USA. There's no German company that sells good vegan shoes. You can often find cheap ones at Deichmann, but they aren't produced very fair. So it might be better to buy them in the UK.
As sarahbean said, vegan coats can be purchased at many places. Retail stores like Esprit often sell wool, down, but also cotton coats. Jack Wolfskin may have good quality (and pretty expensive) vegan coats, too:
http://www.jack-wolfskin.com/jw_catalog … x?catId=47
Kurfürstendamm 38
10719 Berlin
If you look for clothing, most of the labels are in English. They do list which fabrics are used.
Last edited by mihl (Sun 11/2/08 12:24 pm)
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Okay, considering many of you are there/almost there right now, I figure it's about time I add some more to this thread.
PART 2 - WHAT TO DO
Museums - Berlin has tons of really great museums. As simplybecause mentioned, many of them are free on Thursday evenings from 6-10 (though not if they have special exhibits). A couple recommended museums:
Jewish Museum- this is a really interesting museum on Jewish history. It's really really well done, and I highly recommend it.
Pergamon Museum - probably the best museum on Museumsinsel (Museum Island). It's got some really cool really old things, like the Ishtar Gate (which is amazing to see in real life).
Long story time: I worked at the Museum at Checkpoint Charlie for two weeks. After those two weeks, I was fired without warning or reason. I was told this was because I was still undergoing a probationary period; however, after speaking with a lawyer, it was confirmed that this probationary period only occurs if you agree to it, which I did not. As well, several coworkers were also fired without notice or reason, one of whom had been there for seven months (long after any probationary period would have expired). Many of the workers there are from other countries, which makes it difficult to take legal action if we are not in the country long enough. The museum is a private, for-profit museum that charges more than many other museums. I will not say not to go, only to ask you to make up your own minds (and be reassured that you are not missing any essential part of Berlin if you don't go). If you decide to go anyway, please note that most of the pieces of painted concrete for sale in the shop don't actually say they are pieces of the Berlin Wall.
What to See
East Side Gallery - the longest of two remaining sections of the Berlin wall, the East Side Gallery is famous for its graffiti. It hasn't handled tons of visitors and car exhaust all that well, but it's still definitely worth a visit. (U/S-Bahn Warschauer Strasse)
Hackesche Höfe - a series of interconnected courtyards, with some really neat shops and architecture. (S-Bahn Hackescher Markt)
Walking tours - New Berlin has a really nice free walking tour that I found really interesting. They do it year round, and it's a good way to see more of Berlin.
Reichstag - You can enter the Reichstag for free and go up on top and look out over the city. Last admission is at 10:00, you can stay up there until midnight. I recommend going around sunset, it's really cool to watch the sunset and then look over the city at night. (U-Bahn Unter den Linden)
Kurfürstendamm - long famous shopping street. There's the Kaiser Wilhelm Gedächtnis Kirche, which has a new church built right next to the bombed shell of the old one. There's also the KaDeWe (Kaufhaus des Westens, store of the west), which is an enormous department store.
Brandenburger Tor (Brandenburg Gate) The famous gate on Pariser Platz, also featuring the American and French embassies and the Hotel Adler, where Michael Jackson dangled a baby out a window. Yep. (U-Bahn Unter den Linden)
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PART 3 - OTHER INFO
Getting Around
Berlin has a really great transit system. For the most part, you can get around just by taking the U-Bahn and S-Bahn (underground/metro) and then walking, anywhere under a couple stations is usually relatively walkable as well. There are also a lot of buses and trams, but I don't really bother with them unless an U/S-Bahn line's down (The U1 was down during the summer, and I can't remember if it was going to be down until October or December...) At any rate, if you go to www.bvg.de and click "english" and type in where you want to go to/from, it'll tell you how to get there. I would recommend buying a day pass, as the bvg are not kind if they catch you riding without a ticket (they check frequently, and are not uniformed. Tickets are €40, and there are no exceptions. If they catch you and you don't have a ticket, your best bet is to not understand them at all.)
Other stuff
Many people in Berlin speak English, especially in stores and such, but please always ask if they speak English first. Ask in English if you don't know how in German, as long as you ask! My friends in Germany hated it when people just started speaking English (it's really hard to switch languages so quickly, and not everyone speaks English!).
I'll add anything else I can think of... Let me know if you have any questions!
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Sarahbean - thank you so much for all of your help! you made the trip so much better!
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You're welcome! I'm glad it helped!
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