A Berlin Travel Guide: Where To Shop

A Berlin Travel Guide: Where To Shop

Berlin is such a huge city so it's important to do some research before embarking on your travels so you know where's worth visiting, and where it actually is. Luckily my super organised friend likes making lists and kindly put one together of all the shops we wanted to see during our trip including many vintage stores and bookstores - here are my favourite of the lot!

Fashion, clothes & vintage shops

Sing Blackbird - Sanderstraße 11

Sing Blackbird was everything I'd ever hope for in a vintage shop - beautiful interiors, a lovely owner, vintage clothes galore, chilled background music AND a cafe serving hot and cold drinks - all in one, making for a totally enjoyable shopping experience. I bought a vintage Mango jacket (pictured above,  yep, the photo where I have my eyes shut) but fell for many other things in the shop. They had a room at the back with even more vintage clothes from coats, to dresses to Levi jeans and flannel shirts. L-O-V-E!

Kaufladen - Friedelstraße 28, Neukölln

If you're after some unique jewellery, accessories or clothes, then Kaufladen is the place to go. Kaufladen supplies pieces from lots of different designers making each item special. I loved having a wander round this beautiful boutique and lusting after the gorgeous garments.

Kreuzberg Buyers Club - Friedelstrasse 38

Similarly to Sing Blackbird, Kreuzberg Buyers Club combines vintage clothing with a coffee shop. So before or after shopping you can take a chill out and enjoy a tea or coffee in the lovely interiors of Kreuzberg. The shop has a sweet shop feel with bright pink and blue pastels all around with the walls dripping with jewellery pieces and accessories. A shopaholics dream.

Books and 'Zines

Die gute Seite - Richardplatz 16

A cute little book store just a 2 minute walk away from our air b n b where you can get English books as well as of course, German and enjoy browsing over a hot or cold drink (apparently Berlin put cafés in all their shops?).

Soda - Weinbergsweg

If you're into magazines and the 'zine' then Soda will not disappoint. There's a magazine for everything from fashion to photography to tattoo art to travel and much more. They sell those one of a kind, hard to find zines that will inspire and look great on your coffee table.

And music...

Heisse Scheiben - Ohlauer Strasse 44

Music lovers will love Heisse Scheiben even more. Tucked away in Neukölln is this quaint record store with everything from vinyl's to cd's and tapes. You can have a little listen of the record in store and while away some time here getting lost in the music (cheesy I know).

That's all for my guide on shopping in Berlin - next and last of the guide, where to eat in Berlin!

A Berlin Travel Guide: What To See & Do

A Berlin Travel Guide: What To See & Do

As promised, here is the first in three parts of my Berlin guide! I went for a week last November with a friend which was a bit of a spontaneous trip as we both have wanted to visit for a long time and just bit the bullet and booked. It's really easy to find somewhere to stay in Berlin with hotels, apartments and b&b's scattered all over the city - in the end, we settled on Jean Louis' Air B n B (check it out here) situated on Richard Platz in Neukölln, perfectly located in walking distance of shops and supermarkets and the metro station. Jean Louis and his family (and adorable cat!) were accommodating and friendly and his home was clean and stylishhh.

The kitchen/dining area in our b&b 

We wanted to cram in as much as possible during our stay and tried to see as much as we could, which wasn't hard as all of Berlin is brimming with colour and culture. Here are some things I recommend to see and do in and around one of Germany's best cities.

The Berlin Wall

Though it may seem like an obvious one, the Berlin Wall is a must if you want to visit a really interesting place and absorb yourself in Berlin's history. There are several parts to visit but we chose the Gedenkstätte section where you can also visit the small museum for free and go to the top for a panoramic view of the wall.

The East Side Gallery & a trip to an Photoautomat booth

The East Side Gallery is located along the river Spree in Friedichshain which is the longest stretch of the Berlin Wall still standing. This part of the wall is covered in different paintings from around 100 artists including the famous "My God, Help me to survive this deadly love" by Dmitri Vrubel and others. It's a must to explore to see one of the most colourful and creative parts of Berlin.

A Berlin Bucket List Must is getting your photo taken in the famous Photoautomat booth. They are all over Berlin and are only 2 € for a strip of four black & white photos - a cheap and cheerful memory to take home from your travels.

Neukölln & it's surroundings

Neukölln (which I still can't pronounce properly) is a great place for travellers wanting to explore a bustling area of Berlin with plenty of shops, cafes and bars. Walking around the area alone is enough to entertain you with street art a plenty and many things that will catch your eye and give you some creative inspiration.

The Ramones Museum

For all music lovers, this is a must visit. The museum is quite small and easy to get around. It's covered from head to toe in Ramones memorabilia and merch from their clothes, old concert posters to photographs and more. You can watch a documentary on the band as well as snippets from gigs and interviews. Afterwards you can enjoy a drink and cake whilst Ramones tunes are played throughout and, you also get a free badge with your entry fee - win!

Museum für Kommunication Berlin

We hadn't actually planned to visit this museum but failed on finding the place we wanted to go so spontaneously 
went here instead.

The entry was only about 3 € if I remember right and we both really enjoyed it. 

It was interesting us both being communications students

so we enjoyed learning about the evolution in telephones and post. 

I think the museum might actually be designed to entertain kids, but hey

we're big kids at heart and it was a lot of fun!

Checkpoint Charlie

Similarly to the wall, this is one of those must-visit parts of Berlin if you like a bit of history! There are several other Berlin Wall memorial areas surrounding, a Checkpoint Charlie museum and gift shops. 

The Christmas Markets & The Fernsehturm de Berlín 

Obviously you need to visit around the Christmas period to experience the Christmas markets so if you do plan to visit any other time of the year, I understand this may not be relevant. Nevertheless, if you do get the chance to go around then, the markets are a must! It was bitterly cold during our visit so there's nothing better than walking round a market where you can get mulled wine, beer, hot crepes and waffles and hot chocolates - is there? Nah. You can also take a spin on the ferris wheel or go ice skating and get some cute souvenirs to take home. Perfect to get you in the festive mood.

Fernsehturm de Berlín

Situated near Alexanderplatz, the tower is the tallest monument in Germany and can be seen from all over Berlin. You can also take a trip up the tower where you can be wined and dined with an epic view over Berlin, which sadly we didn't do - but seeing it is pretty amazing in itself!

Music @ West Germany Venue

On our last evening, we were lucky enough to catch Weyes Blood accompanied by some amazing talent and jamming inc. Aldhous RH & Sean Nicholas Savage followed by a dj playing all the good tunes. I was so thrilled to discover Weyes Blood, from California (who has the voice of an angel) and Sean Nicholas Savage from Canada as they are so different to anything i've ever heard before, and were true performers. Shout out to Weyes Blood who gave me a free CD!

That's a wrap for today's post - I hope you liked it. I'll be back tomorrow with where to shop in Berlin!