What is the best area to stay in Berlin?
By Alex Bird. January 17, 2024
For historical depth, transport links, and big landmarks, Mitte is the best area to stay in Berlin. Even more if you’ve never been before and want to cram as many typical sights and experiences as possible. That could mean walking up the Reichstag’s glass dome, contemplating the Iron Curtain at the Berlin Wall Memorial, gazing at the Brandenburg Gate, or soaking up the historical artistic wonders at Museum Island. There’s enough in Mitte for multiple visits, from the pulsating heart of East Berlin at Alexanderplatz to Berlin Palace, reworked as a museum in the 2020s.
Progressive, cool and fun-loving, Berlin is a city at the tip of modern culture. It’s a place that has been shaped by world-changing history from the recent past. In just eight decades Berlin has been practically destroyed, ripped in two and reunified, and visitors can discover every aspect of this story. There are world-renowned sights that everyone has to see, but all of Berlin’s various districts need to be explored. With an exciting urban edge, these are some of the best places in the world to go out, eat and shop.On the map, which shows the most convenient area to stay in Berlin, you can see a selection of some of the best located hotels.
If you are interested in where to stay in Berlin, you may also be interested in where to stay in Munich, where to stay in Hamburg or where to stay in Frankfurt.
Mitte, the best area to stay in Berlin
Sightseeing / Museums / First-Time Visits
Base yourself in Berlin’s historical core at Mitte to check off the many sights that make this city famous.
There’s a dizzying choice of things to see and do in Mitte. It might be the energetic, sweeping Alexanderplatz in the shadow of the Soviet Space Age Fernsehturm. Or it could be a walk along the ceremonious Unter den Linden to the proud Brandenburg Gate.
The UNESCO-listed Museum Island is a cluster of five astonishing museums. Here you’ll come face-to-face with the bust of Nefertiti or marvel at the 2,200-year-old Pergamon Altar.
Close by, don’t miss the theatrical Berlin Cathedral, or the newly completed Humboldt Forum, with its wide spectrum of galleries at the historic Berlin Palace.
Elsewhere the big sights keep coming, from old to new and everything in between. There’s resplendent architecture at Gendarmenmarkt, the grim power of the Holocaust Memorial, the reborn Reichstag and Potsdamer Platz, and the sprawling Tiergarten.
Other Areas to Stay in Berlin
Prenzlauer Berg
Shopping / Dining / Nightlife
Stay in picture-perfect Prenzlauer Berg for independent shops and cafes by day, and for truly unique nightspots after dark.
A tram ride from Alexanderplatz, Prenzlauer Berg is a fashionable district bursting with character. This comes from a rare concentration of Neoclassical tenements. There are hundreds of these refined tall buildings, untouched in an area that was unchanged between the war and Reunification.
Now they set the scene for inviting little shops, restaurants for all cuisines, and a lot of places to go out at night
Berlin’s Bohemian side is always near the surface, at congenial beer gardens, contemporary cafes, galleries, and avant-garde cinemas. There are also fantastic weekly markets to pore over, at Kollwitzplatz and Mauerpark.
On a summer evening, Mauerpark is a hangout of choice, with hip young people lounging on picnic blankets as the sun goes down. On weekends you can check out live music at the amphitheatre here.
Kreuzberg
Dining / History / Museums
With a central location and urban feel, Kreuzberg is an artsy district of galleries, restaurants, and plentiful cafes.
Berlin’s creativity shines through in this young and fast-changing district. Near the very centre of the city, Kreuzberg is popular with creative types, and the base for many start-ups.
It’s also a place to dip into darker aspects of Berlin’s past. In that vein, Topography of Terror chronicles the events of 1933-1945 at the site of the Gestapo headquarters. Elsewhere, the Berlin Story Bunker and Jewish Museum shine a light on difficult topics.
Kreuzberg may be Berlin’s prime food district, with an international pick of restaurants by the Landwehrkanal on Paul-Lincke-Ufer and along Bergmannstraße. The Markthalle Neun covered market is a multisensory treat, and cafes abound in laid-back Graefe-Kiez.
Unwind at Viktoriapark, famed for its man-made waterfall, and get a rare taste of 19th-century Berlin at Chamissoplatz, with its gas lamps and handsome tenement buildings.
Friedrichshain
Nightlife / Shopping / Dining
Young visitors will love the urban edge in Friedrichshain, as well as the many bars, clubs, restaurants, cafes, and stylish shopping.
Bordering Mitte to the east, this trendy area has been on a journey since Reunification. A blue-collar district in East Berlin, it became the haunt of students and epicenter of Berlin’s techno scene in the 1990s. Over time Friedrichshain has mellowed, but hasn’t lost its cool credential.
For ultra-hip nightlife, begin at Warschauer Straße S-Bahn station and work your way towards Frankfurter Allee. The grid of streets around Boxhagener Platz pack a world of cuisines and independent shops. On Saturdays the square hosts an excellent culinary market, and then a flea market on Sundays.
Reminders of the GDR are all around, especially in the fearsome Stalinist architecture along Karl-Marx-Allee. Don’t miss the East Side Gallery, where 1,300+ metres of the Berlin Wall capture the spirit of 1989/90 and Berlin’s creative flair.
Charlottenburg
Sightseeing / Shopping / Dining
There’s upscale shopping along Kurfürstendamm, and a 17th-century palace for a sightseeing trip.
In the 20th century this area was the very heart of West Berlin, and has the sights to prove it. One building that tells a story is the Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church. The Romanesque Revival tower is preserved as a WWII-era ruin, and accompanied by Modern elements built after the war.
The church is on Kurfürstendamm, Berlin’s premier shopping street, boasting department stores like KaDeWe and flagship locations for luxury brands, from Dior to Louis Vuitton. Things become more opulent the further east you go, with restaurants, cafes, and cinemas in the mix.
Sitting by the Spree is the Charlottenburg Palace, with theatrical Baroque architecture and genteel formal gardens.
For all this splendour, here’s a more down-to-earth side to Charlottenburg. You can find it at street markets and along Kantstraße, renowned for its Asian cuisine, be it pho, sushi or Thai curries.
Tiergarten
First-Time Visits / Sightseeing / Culture
Many Berlin and German icons are in this portion of Mitte. If you’re in Berlin for a short time Tiergarten is a fine place to be.
Start with the famous and historically-charged Reichstag Building, seat of the German federal parliament. This Neo-Renaissance landmark was reworked in the 1990s, and has a stunning glass dome that you can scale to look across the park.
There’s more 21st-century architecture nearby at Potsdamer Platz, a dynamic entertainment district, with fragments of the Berlin Wall around. Then for world-class culture head to the Gemäldegalerie, loaded with Old Masters, or see what’s on at the Berliner Philharmonie concert hall, a mid-century wonder.
The namesake park is a sightseeing hotspot thanks to the famed Victory Column (Siegessäule) and a stunning view towards the Brandenburg Gate from the top. Within the park’s boundaries are the Berlin Zoological Garden and Aquarium Berlin.
Our recommended hotels in Berlin
Use the interactive map to navigate through our recommended hotels in BerlinNote: Hotel prices can change daily due to promotions, seasons, and demand. Our $ - $$$$ scale shows the overall cost range rather than exact prices.
