In the summer of 2023 after a week in Helsinki, we arranged a transfer to Berlin for the second leg of our trip. Berlin is somewhere we’d been to as a couple, as part of an interrailing trip in 2008 and I’d been there again in 2022, meeting up with a friend, with a plan to see the band Pavement play.
Due to a slight mix-up with the dates, we spent the first night of our trip at a hotel in the on the River Spree in the Moabit locality, just north of the Tiergarten. We then moved to an Airbnb apartment located in an old block half way down Rosa-Luxemburg-Straße, just short walk from Alexanderplatz, for the remainder of the trip.
During my 2022 trip, I largely got about using the Nextbike bike share and I planned to do the same on this trip. While I’d be riding, the others would make use of Berlin’s extensive public transport network, largely using the U-Bahn and S-Bahn, but also the odd tram.
While I’d been to Berlin twice before, I felt I’d barely scratched the surface in terms of exploring the city. With having a full week there, it felt like we’d have opportunity to see a lot more. While we certainly did a lot, we left the city feeling like there’s definitely more we wanted to see, so I suspect we’ll be back for another trip sometime soon!
During our trip, there was a definite theme around visiting some of the key Cold War related memorials and museums, including Berliner Fernsehturm, Berlin’s TV Tower, the Stasi Museum, the Berlin Wall Memorial on Bernauer Straße and the DDR Museum. We also covered more during a Fat Tire Tour of Berlin.
Additionally, we explored some of the more recent developments in the city, such as Holzmarkt 25, an urban village cooperative, which we returned to again, and Tempelhofer Feld, the old airport that’s been converted to a public green space, which we returned to again as well.
In addition to all that, I got to experience what cycling in Berlin is like, both good and bad. Given my previous trip was in November, it was quite a different experience riding there in the summer and I got to explore far further than I did previously.
While there’s plenty of examples of decent cycling infrastructure in Berlin, it’s a very different story to what’s happening in Paris, where a pro-cycling Mayor is actively making improvements for walking and cycling, while reducing the dominance of cars.
In Berlin, measures to reduce car use and enable more walking and cycling have been slashed by the pro-car ruling local government coalition that came into power in 2023, which has unsurprisingly triggered protests. This is really disappointing, as Berlin has the potential to be a great city for cycling.
Back again in Berlin
In the summer of 2023, after our week in Helsinki, we arrived in Berlin for the second leg of our trip. Having done a fantastic job of selling Berlin to the rest of the family after my trip to the city in 2024, they were all really keen on going there. I fancied Copenhagen myself, but we’ll save that for another year!
Top of Berliner Fernsehturm, Berlin’s TV Tower
As with the Brandenburg Gate, Reichstag and the wall, Berlin’s TV Tower (Berliner Fernsehturm in German) is definitely one of the city’s most iconic landmarks. If you’re in and around the central Mitte area, it’s pretty hard to avoid. Indeed, we had a running joke during our visit that it was following us.
A rainy Sunday in Mauerpark
Following our trip to the top of the TV Tower, we decided it’d be good to spend the afternoon visiting one of the many flea markets in Berlin. Having looked at the different markets running on Sunday, we thought the ones in Mauerpark looked interesting, especially the location and opportunity to see some remnants of the Berlin Wall.
Riding around Mitte and Tiergarten
After a few days in Berlin with no cycling, I was feeling the need to get on a bike and explore. So on our third proper day in the city, I headed out with our eldest to find some Nextbikes and go for a ride.
Stasi Museum
High on the list of places we were keen to visit was the Stasi Museum, once the headquarters of the infamous Ministry for State Security, commonly known as the Stasi. It is now a research and memorial centre concerning the political system of the former East Germany, officially the German Democratic Republic (GDR).
Holzmarkt 25
Having seen about the urban village cooperative that was once home to the famous Bar 25 before going, we were really keen on visiting Holzmarkt 25 during our stay in Berlin. We ended up liking it there so much, we went twice!
Riding around the Brandenburg Gate, Potsdamer Platz and Ku’damm
After a morning at Holzmarkt 25, we decided to go for a wander to a few places in the afternoon, starting with a return visit to the Brandenburg Gate, then over to Potsdamer Platz and finally to Kurfürstendamm, or Ku’damm for short.
Berlin Wall Memorial on Bernauer Straße
One of the key places we wanted to visit during our trip to Berlin in 2023 was the Berlin Wall Memorial on Bernauer Straße. The memorial is a 1.4 km preserved section of the former border strip, as it was at the end of the 1980s.
Fat Tire Tour of Berlin
Since we did our first Fat Tire Tour of Berlin back in 2008 before we had kids, I’ve often recommended doing a bike tour as a way getting familiar in a new city. Not only do you become familiar with the city’s key tourist destinations and history, you develop a certain geographic knowledge you can only get on a bike.
A long wait for a kebab and a ride on an old runway at Tempelhofer Feld
Following an enjoyable afternoon riding round Berlin on a Fat Tire Tour, we were keen to find something to eat. While researching places to eat, we saw about Berlin’s most famous kebab shop, Mustafa’s Gemüse Kebap. The only thing is, it’s also famous for long queues.
DDR Museum
Keen to see more about the old DDR / GDR days during the Cold War, we decided to visit the DDR Museum. The museum describes itself as ‘an interactive journey into the past’ and one of the most visited museums in Berlin, covering everyday life from the Wall to the Stasi.
Back at Tempelhofer Feld
After my ride around Tempelhofer Feld the previous evening, I was keen to return there with the others. So after we’d been to the DDR Museum, we arranged to head over there, stopping for lunch and a visit to the Urban Nation contemporary art museum on the way.
Back at Holzmarkt 25 and a wander along the Landwehr Canal
For our final day in Berlin, we decided to do something familiar and something new. After having such a pleasant time on our previous visit to Holzmarkt 25, we decided it was well worth another visit.
Dom Cycling 