As a current Berlin resident, I ought to say something, but KM is who you really want to hear from. I think you’re coming at a great time of year—everything is back in full swing after summer vacation (fall break starts Oct 5) and it’s still warm enough to sit outside at cafes. We don’t do tourist things (although there are enough to keep you busy for a year or more!), so some of my suggestions may be a little off-beat.
There are gourmet markets indoors on the next-to-the-top floor of KaDeWe department store (I went on about that in a recent post, will dig it up if you want) and in the basement of Quartier 25 on Friedrichstraße. I prefer the latter, because it’s less overwhelming (you can only eat so much) and because when I lived here in the 90s, Friedrichstraße was a mess. Lots of construction sites and post—DDR boringness. So the collection of glitz there now amazes me*.
There is a food market on Winterfeldtplatz that’s famous; I was there recently and thought that a lot of the things there are available in stores, so not that exciting. But there are some unique clothes that are made in Berlin, like these bags.
The Turkish market on Maibachufer is well-known. If you want to go, check the days and times first. On Fridays and one other day, it’s Turkish food. Other days it’s sort of a crafts/flea market. Personally, I like the “off” days better. There are lots of Turkish supermarkets in the borough where that market is located (Kreuzberg) where you can pick up various kinds of olives, goat and sheep meat and cheese, and the like.
Here is a listing of markets: https://www.zitty.de/events/handel-markt-berlin/ “Wochenmarkt” means weekly market and will be basically produce, meat, and dairy. “Trödelmarkt“ is a flea market. I love them. We went to one on my birthday and I got an old fan blade to use as a candlestick. “Stoff” is fabric—that market has clothing and art. Let me know if you need any translations (and excuse me if that’s too much translation—you didn’t say if you know German). If you like markets and want help getting to one, let me know what kind you like and where you’ll be staying.
If you like being outside and doing physical things, you can rent bikes all over the city—there are lots of different companies, and lots of bike riders. The bike paths aren’t exercise paths—they are practical commuting routes that will get you where you need to go. If you want a break from relentless touristing (my head wants to explode after a few days of sight-seeing, museums, and tours) that won’t leave you as guilty as if you’d stayed in your hotel room, you could rent a kayak at the Prinzenstrasse Bridge to tool around the Landwehr Canal. There are also boat tours that do a loop around the city.
For the depressing site-seeing portion of your visit, Topography of Terror, near Checkpoint Charlie, is really good. That area is crawling with tourists and copies of the USSR military gear that was being sold off last time I lived here, but this exhibition is worth it.
Alexanderplatz is bustling. It is right next to where the original settlement that grew to be Berlin is located, and the Fernsehturm (tv tower, aka Honneckus Erectus) is there. It was built in the 70s (while Erich Honnecker was leader, thus the nickname) and has the classic rotating restaurant on top. I think it would be a fun place to end your stay, if you are able to enjoy a little nostalgic kitch. The food isn’t amazing, but it’s good, and you can really see the different parts of the city and recollect where you went.
I’m going to watch your post. There is a job in Brussels that I might apply for, and in any event I’d like to go there for my son to use the one year of French he took.
*the assemblage of high end retail on Friedrichstrasse duplicates a lot of the stores on Kurfürstendamm/Tautzienstrasse. It amuses me that this has happened, because during the separation there were two of everything. The East got Humboldt University with the state library, the Museum Island and Unter den Linden with the philharmonic and opera. The West built the Free University in the SW part of the city, with associated museum complex, and a new state library and philharmonic/performance space near Potsdamer Platz. There is another tv tower in the West. The East had S-Bahns, the West had U-Bahns. But only the West had a department store built to feature the best retail goods in the capitalist system. So instead of any of the above closing down, the opposite has happened; another high end shopping area was built, so there are two of those now too. (The S- and U-Bahn both operate as part of the united city wide public transit system now, as do street cars and busses. It is easy to get anywhere you need to go. Download either the BVG or VBB app. They will give you step-by-step directions, in English, for where ever you need to go, from where ever you are.)
Have a good trip!
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