Guten abend!
“Sticking together, shoulder to shoulder
The three guards of the night
Between the shadows in Berlin
The new chapter is now open“
Originally, this verse was written in Lithuanian, so we did our best to translate it. It’s not the best translation though, but we’ll do better next time. XD
16th to 20th February.
The chairs are empty once again as the people who should be sitting in them are in Berlin!
P.S. You may be interested in reading about our other trips.
From Betrayal to Adventure: Exploring Berlin with Unexpected Travel Buddies
The idea of visiting Berlin was not originally ours. One of our friends suggested going to Berlin together, but we eventually found out that he was not planning to go on the trip with us. His initial plan was to gather a huge crowd to have fun, but he did not even mention this to us! How dare he be so selfish! Anyway, we bought tickets for the three of us and decided to go – why not?
On January 16th, our plane to Berlin took off, and we began yet another adventure in our lives.
The flight was very early (Ryanair – low fares made simple :p), so we arrived in Berlin around 11 o’clock. Trains from Berlin Brandenburg airport to Berlin Centrum run every half an hour, but we missed one because of the strong wind that blew us straight to the smoking area. How unexpected! The next train arrived 30 minutes later.
Wind-blown travellers make a mad dash to McDonald's during the city break
After the wind blew us straight to the underground for the train, we almost missed it because it didn’t stop where we were waiting – what a great start to the trip :). But being warriors, we fought, ran, and managed to get on it. Good news 🙂
Despite the sunny day suggesting we head straight to the city centre, the strong wind of hunger blew us straight to McDonald’s. We stopped at a station with an unknown name, and the train was just sitting there. Then we saw the McDonald’s logo. YEAH SURE, LET’S GET OFF THE TRAIN BECAUSE, HELLO, McDONALD’S IS HERE!!!!!
If you have a McDonald’s app that works throughout Europe, don’t bother trying to use it in Germany. They have a separate one, so there are no deals this time. We settled for a regular Big Mac, a not-so-regular wrap, and curly fries.
Getting to the castle
Food, of course, made us feel better, so we left McDonald’s and headed to the city centre, specifically Primark :D, and Alexanderplatz, which is home to the TV tower. We had a few hours left until our hostel would allow us to check in, so we decided to wander around a bit, maybe get some souvenirs, and of course, we were lucky enough to find some cool stuff :D.
Later, we started walking towards the hostel because the backpacks were more than annoying, and we just had to put them down already. When we arrived at the hostel, we quickly filled out the necessary paperwork and received our key to the room.
Hostel stuff
Before moving on, I would like to mention that we stayed in a very good hostel with a reasonable price – a&o Berlin Mitte. We paid €317 for a quadruple room for four nights. Additionally, we had to pay the city tax when we arrived, but it was only €13.77, so not a big deal. It was crazy, right?! Maybe the hostel could have been a bit cleaner, but we are not spoiled people who need everything to be perfect… It was a cheap palace near Kit Kat, which unfortunately we didn’t get to visit. But more on that later!
Adventures continue
After checking into the hostel, the receptionist told us that we should not go to our room before 3 o’clock, but we could not wait because we had to be at the parliament by 4 o’clock! So, we quickly left our belongings, ran to the U-Bahn, and fortunately, we managed to reach the building even earlier.
The visit to the Reichstag Building was really nice. If you also want to visit it, you can find the registration link here.
After the visit, we went to see the Brandenburg Gate and the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe, just strolling around the city.
Afterward, we returned to our hostel to change our clothes and freshen up, but our wandering continued.
We didn’t set any specific plans or goals for ourselves, so we were just enjoying a leisurely stroll without any set agenda. That was the best part of it!
Three knights getting some rest (or not)
After walking so much, we were exhausted and decided to head back to the hostel to rest. Sitting around doing nothing seemed too boring, so we decided to buy playing cards since we had forgotten to bring them from home. We both love playing cards, and can spend hours playing. It’s such an enjoyable activity.
Once we finished playing cards, we did some random stuff and chatted before finally settling down to get some rest. And then…
Friyay and review of a Döner
But first things first! My dearest friend and I wanted to buy the best thing from Lush – the Twilight body spray, which we would definitely recommend buying!!! As broke backpackers, we couldn’t bring it home since it’s more than 100ml. So we were not dumb and sent a package to Lithuania with our wonderful sprays :D. So Friday, at least the start of the day, was about the package. We also bought some stuff from the previously mentioned Primark and put everything we could into the package. It cost 20€ for the parcel, but it was definitely cheaper than buying a 10kg bag for the plane!
We wandered around the East Side Gallery to explore the east side of the city. But our phone batteries started to run low, so we decided to get the most famous Döner in Berlin – Mustafas ‘Gemüse-Kebab‘. The line, as always, was crazy – we had to wait for an hour for the food, IN THE RAIN! But we waited… And the Döner was indeed awesome! Although we may not wait for an hour again to get it… But it felt like every ingredient had to be in the food, and it melted perfectly in our mouths…
Tresor Club Berlin
What a trip to Berlin would be without going to a rave? It’s not possible! On Friday, we decided to visit Tresor, which is a “must” for all ravers, as stated by the writers at visitberlin.de (a great site that contains a lot of nice suggestions for your trip to Berlin; we would recommend checking it out). Well, it was quite an experience! The atmosphere was hot, and there were lots of people dancing and being themselves. We danced and left a bit of ourselves but took a lot out of this experience. It wasn’t the techno that we expected as there was more DnB music playing there, but duh, it is Berlin, and let the music be!
Saturday - 0% in the battery
After two intense days, Saturday was a much-needed day off. We were so exhausted that we couldn’t move, so we had breakfast in bed, which consisted of 20 bottles of beer. It was a vacation, so why not? (We were just joking and covering up the fact that we might have a problem… just maybe.) We didn’t do anything exciting, just three lazy and tired people drinking in bed on a beautiful day in Berlin.
Sunday Funday hehe
As the last day in Berlin approached, we realized that we had to get up from our lazy state and make the most of the day. We went to check out Tempelhof Airport and the park that is literally on the runway. Only in Berlin (correct me if I’m wrong).
There was nothing particularly interesting about it – we didn’t get inside the building, and all the tours were sold out that day… But it was a massive building where you could feel the spirit of the Soviet Union 😀 After that, we wandered around Kreuzberg and Neukölln once again. I apologize for using the same words a thousand times.
Experience in the most famous Techno club in the world
Dear reader, fellow wanderer, did you ask yourself where our experience of Berghain was in this blog post? Were we so foolish as to not even try to get in? Well, surprise surprise, we did try! Sadly, we failed.
After gathering information on what to do, how to behave, and when to go, we decided that Sunday evening was the best time to attempt entry.
After wandering during the day, we embarked on the Camino Berghainico at around 7 o’clock – a journey to the club that even Elon Musk was denied entry to. And so were we. But the best part was that the bouncers actually considered letting us in. After waiting for an hour and finally reaching the doors, we could see that the bouncers were discussing whether to allow us entry or not. This was better than a straight “no” to our faces. We think that we received two “yes” votes and one big “no” from the head bouncer.
Perhaps the problem was that there were three of us? Maybe we were talking too much in line? Perhaps we didn’t look “raver” enough (although we would gladly argue against that)? Who knows! But at least we tried…
For sure another wander and a random visit to Radisson
After receiving the rejection and realizing there wasn’t much time left in Berlin, we decided to return to our castle (aka hostel), change out of our beautiful Berghain outfits, and into something more suitable for the chilly weather, like “Baby, It’s Cold Outside” and “I Need Some Warmth.”
We went for one last wander around Berlin and considered going to Kit Kat (another techno club), but ultimately decided it would be best to end the trip on a more relaxed note.
However, we didn’t want to leave without one last memorable experience, so my friend suggested: My aunt always goes to Radisson because it has the best view of the city.
And we thought, why not? So we went to Radisson. The terrace, which cost 7€ per person, was already closed, but we managed to sneak into the elevator with another person and made it to the 32nd floor. Sadly, we didn’t get to see much, but the view was still pretty cool!
The end
After our wandering, we went back to the hostel, bought the last bottle of wine from an Arabic guy, drank it, and headed to the airport. It was so sad that the trip was over, but the worst part was that we had to drive from Riga to Vilnius, which was about 300km and took approximately 3.5 hours. I couldn’t continue driving, so my dearest friend took over from the Lithuanian border. And that was the end.
Berlin Travel Tips, Facts and Interesting Numbers
- A brilliant idea of 12 months of adventures was born in Berlin. So we already started with Berlin, then we go somewhere else, and let’s keep it up bitches!
- Entrance to Tresor – 20€, Bergain – 25€
- The total count of steps from my phone – 106863, which is 65 km!
- Aldi is the best shop ever for a broke person
- NEVER BUY ALCOHOL FROM RANDOM SHOPS – GO TO ALDI! A random shop will have 3 times higher than Aldi :))
- In total, 3 of us spent approx. 1000€. Not a lot, but we could have saved some money, example above 🙂
- Keep in mind that the supermarkets and shops are not working on Sunday. It’s a law in Germany!
- 24-hour ticket for all the transportation in Berlin for zones A, B and C costs 10€, zone A and B only – 8.90€. Not a big deal
- Check the Berlin’s official tourist ticket website
Anything else should be added? Did you feel that we did not tell enough or told too much? Please leave a comment and I will get better, or maybe not.
Until another adventure!
Great tips for traveling to Berlin on a budget! The author’s personal insights and experiences provide some valuable information on how to explore this beautiful city without breaking the bank. I especially appreciate the accent on discovering not so well known hidden attractions. Definitely worth to read for budget-conscious travelers.
Great story! Thanks for sharing
very simple and useful information bout short-term trip in the city, thanks for the tips. Good luck 😉
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