"The New Berlin" Berlin by Niekie

Berlin is one of my favourite citytrip destinations. I've been there three times now and every time I come back some part of the city has been altered to such an extend that I hardly recognize it. It's constantly changing and developing. So there are buildingsites everywhere (especially in the east) which doesn't make the city any prettier. But because everything is moving so much, you see new restaurants, shops and cool bars popping up everywhere. Also, the economic centre of Berlin has shifted from the west to the former east so that part of Berlin is bustling with new opportunities and energy.

Berlin is known for its nightlife; I've never experienced better nightlife than in Berlin. There are no rules regarding closing hours in Berlin, so the night can go on until the early morning hours.

Happy hour is another defining quality of Berlin nightlife :-). Some places have have their happy hour from 1:00 till 3:00, others have cocktail happy hour starting at six and going on all night. But happy hour isn't just restricted to drinks, it's not uncommen for sushi places to offer discounts during happy hour.

Clubs are spread throughout the city but because the city is so large they can be far apart. This makes clubhopping somewhat of a challenge, but my experience was that once I was in a club I had no desire of leaving anyway ;-).

Berlin doesn't have a single city centre where all nightlife is concentrated. Instead, nightlife is pretty much spread out through the city, with a few hotspots. A few area's that are especially good to spend your night are:
Prenzlauer Berg: trendy, artsy, cool, bohemian
Mitte: lots of tourists, in general a bit more mainstream, but also some very cool and loungy places.
Kreuzberg: relaxed, multicultural, loungy, many places have a livingroom style, few tourists.
Friedrichshain: haven't been there myself, but people always mention this area when recomending nightlife so I didn't want to leave it out.

Das Altes Museum on Museum Insel

Besides its nightlife Berlin is also known for its worldclass museums. Museum Insel, where some of the most important ones are located, is on the UNESCO list and undergoing extensive renovations. The museums are still open though.

Another great museum is the Jüdisches Museum. What makes it so special is the architechture of the building, which was designed by Liebeskind (the same one who's doing the new WTC in New York).

• Pros:Cocktails, dinner and dancing! Also, history and museums.
• Cons:Possibly the ugliest big city in Europe.
• In a nutshell:Berlin is happening