Berlin is Best - Berlin - Things To Do Reviews

Berlin was probably my favourite destination in Europe!

Hunt down the organisation NewEurope (or you'll probably just find them as NewBerlin). My favourite experiences were with them. The FREE walking tour they do is excellent. The tour guide was so enthusiastic and once you have someone who knows what's what it is just incredible how much interesting stuff is on every corner of the city (though a lot of it seems unassuming at first).

I also went with them for a tour of Sauchsenhausen concentration camp. This was so worthwhile and although it was bitterly bitterly cold (my only advice here is that if you go anywhere during winter try not to lose your scarf as often as I did) the tour guide was excellent and made it so interesting. I also went to Auschwitz in Poland a week or so later, and it wasn't as good (it's hard to say that about a concentration camp ... maybe I shouldn't be "reviewing" somewhere like that). Don't get me wrong, Auschwitz is an incredibly sad and interesting place, but there are so many tourists there that you tend to get rushed through and the guides just aren't that good at what they do.

Anyway the most important thing to do with NewEurope is their PUB CRAWL! Ten Euros for ridiculous amounts of alchol. Unlimited shots of vodka as you walk from bar to bar (yay for legal street drinking!). 1 euro jagermeister at one place that has a dragon head shooting fire and a bus out back with giant weird images projected onto the side of a building. So, so good. I went three times in one week! But make sure you go on a weekday first. The weekends are just way too busy.

The walking tour will alert you to most of the attractions that you're interested in, but for a general idea make sure you see;
-Brandenburg gate
-The giant TV tower (well how can you miss it?)
-The East Side Gallery
-Museum Island (FREE entry at a certain time during the week, especially make sure you check out the museum toward the back which has peices of the Gardens of Babylon - incredible)
-Memorial to the murdered Jews of Europe

Plus I really enjoyed looking at some underground comic stores, a music venue called Bastard where they had a live band, marvelling at some great graffiti all around the place, entering a foozball tournament ... and most of all speaking to the very freindly locals and alot of nice foreigners.