+ 7 bars and lounges +
beer, cocktails, etc.
There are so many lounges, clubs and bars that listing only a few is almost stupid. These are just the ones we really like.
For your general orientation: most of Berlin's nightlife is in the (former) districts Mitte (middle), north of it in Prenzlauer Berg, Friedrichshain (east) and Kreuzberg (south). You can have breakfast anytime before sunset. The rule is: the later, the cooler. Most pubs and bars don't get very crowded until 9 or 10 pm, but stay open until 3am or so – unlike in other German cities (like Munich), where most close at 1am – a ridiculous thought for Berliners. Don't go to any clubs before midnight (unless you want to take advantage of happy hours) – some won´t even be open so early. Pah!
You will soon note that many Berliners look spectacularly underdressed. They aren't – they spend hours with carefully deliberating about what to wear to make them look as if they wouldn´t care about it at all – it´s the local chic.
Our hostel blog also has an article with more things you should know about nightlife in Berlin.
ACUD
Daily from 20. The ACUD is one of the last remaining alternative cultural centers founded in the revolutionary days of 1989/90. It moved into this new building in 2004. There is a theatre, a concert hall, a café with live music every day (Jazz and Blues), two ambitious cinemas, an art gallery, the “Fire Club” and a restaurant. Check what´s going on before you go – www.acud.de
(Veteranenstrasse 21)
BAIZ
Daily from 17. The sort of place you usually only find in Kreuzberg. Disgusting toilets and punkrock posters. Cheap booze and foosball table. No-nonsense people go there to drink and talk nonsense politics (or vice versa). Movies on Sun.
(Christinenstr 1)
White Trash Fast Food
Daily from 18. Combining the trashiest furniture of an old Irish pub and a Chinese restaurant, serving fast food (=mostly burgers) upstairs and some punkrock downstairs to help burn the excess calories. We say: unique enough to be considered “cool”.
(Schönhauser Allee 6/7)
Kulturzentrum Pfefferberg
Daily from noon. Located in a former brewery, this is a mix of clubs, bars, a huge beer garden, theatre, open-air cinema and art exhibitions.
(Schönhauser Allee 176a)
Scotch & Sofa
Daily from 14 (17 in winter). Cocktail bar with living room ambience (lots of sofas, flower wallpaper), tiny dance floor, unintrusive music, fair prices.
(Kollwitzstr 18)
Kulturbrauerei
Another former brewery turned into a massive cultural center with clubs, bars, cafes, restaurants, cinema, theatre, exhibitions and all imaginable sorts of events. Some like it that it offers something for every taste, others dislike exactly that.
(Schönhauser Allee 36)
Hard Rock Café
Open daily from noon. Did you really come all the way to Berlin to go to a Hard Rock Café? Well, the question where it is is a frequently asked one, so we´ll tell you where it is. Although we think we shouldn´t, really.
(Meinekestrasse 21)