Berlin work and personal trip in December - location and what to do?

Hades

Hades

Hades

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Early to mid December I will be visiting two of our offices in Berlin. The work trip will be 2 or 3 days but having never been to Berlin I plan to stay a couple more days for some holiday afterwards. Below is a map with the approximate office locations marked. I'm interested in people's opinions of where would be best to stay. For the work days I will probably just pick a location between the two sites unless anyone can recommend otherwise. But I would also appreciate any opinions on where to stay for a couple of days after the work trip. What would be the must see things if staying there two days? I'll probably pop along to Checkpoint Charlie (I appreciate there is almost nothing left of it now) and take a look at a part of the old wall as both were so iconic when I was growing up in the 1970's.

Thank you.

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I stayed recently here: https://rosenthal-residence.com/en/ and found it to be really lovely. I was with the family, so as a solo traveller you might try Hotel Zoe where we stayed a few years ago that was also nice (although far too cool for me):- https://www.amanogroup.de/en/hotels...EBrq0SwKbMpT6uJW9WKckmV_uCevVEGIaAriuEALw_wcB

Berlin is a brilliant city, full of artists and wonderful places to eat and drink. I would recommend getting some takeaway at curry 61 (https://maps.app.goo.gl/Bw1GCrbYEMCA5xQR6) after some beers at one of the outside areas around the station:- https://maps.app.goo.gl/uSXt3F1K1f9GrCaZ7

Don't forget to eat at bakeries each morning - they are fantastic in Berlin. You can look up bakeries and just pick the one with the highest rating on google. There's a fancy donut shop somewhere there as well, I think this one from memory: https://maps.app.goo.gl/qZh1t1X8AzmWppG17. It was pricy for donuts mind!

I would try and avoid too much war related stuff - can be a bit depressing to be honest. The city is amazingly alive and full of life, wonderful food and a great party atmosphere, so that's what I'd lean into. Nice green open spaces as well to enjoy (although it's a bit cold this time of year!).

Make sure you always have some €1 coins on you for public toilets when out and about!

Hope you have an epic time :-)
 
How are you getting to the work site in Stresow?

There's a Pullman and Intercontinental a few minutes walk from the Zoo, basically across the road from each other on Budapester Strasse. Waldorf Astoria directly opposite the Zoo as well.

So you could easily use that area as a base and get the S-Bahn to where ever in Stresow and equally the U-Bahn or 200 bus into the city for attractions / other office.

If you like chocolate you have to go to Rausch Schokoladenhaus
 
Your Checkpoint Charlie office is on the outskirts of/near Kreuzberg, which has a reputation for being quirky and multicultural. Plenty of choice for streetfood, restaurants, watering holes, art and culture etc. Lots of advice online but I link here a solo traveller article as a starter. If it's of interest, there are a number of Christmas Markets dotted around the city that will be in full swing.

Berlin is a vibrant city, lots of choice. It's a while since my visit though and it was relatively short, so I'll leave specific recommendations and 'hidden gems' to others.
 
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I a few years ago I stayed at Holiday Inn Express Berlin - Alexanderplatz, it's a very short walk to all the sightseeing places, Christmas markets and evening entertainment. At the bottom of the road is a Christmas entertainment square (potsdamer platz) with beer and warm apple cider etc, Brandenburg gates were a 15 minutes walk I think from memory. Check point Charlie is a 10 minutes ish walk aswell, me and the wife managed to walk everywhere, but there is plenty of taxi ranks and the metro system is really good
 
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Great city to walk around, was there last year for a long weekend break. We stayed in the Potsdamer Platz area, ideally located by the really good underground system (over the road) and surrounded by decent shops and places to eat I believe on the border between old East and West Berlin. Be aware that on Sunday's Germany does shut down pretty much with much of the shops and restaurants closing down. From this location you can walk to everything but Berlin, after our WW2 'work' is very new in lots of places with some odd historic stuff.
 
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