a guide to the districts of Berlin

Before you get to Berlin you may want to research into the types of areas and sightseeing you would like to focus around. Berlin is a big place, although it is walkable if you would like to fit in everything you want to in your short stay it is best to focus around the different districts (kind of like suburbs for us. In Berlin there are six main districts offering different things, from people, culture, history and activities, there is something for everyone and if you get stuck just start in Mitte (the central hub) and work your way out and you can't go wrong. 

Mitte (Mitte)

The historical center of Berlin, the nucleus of the former East Berlin, and the emerging city center. Cafes, restaurants, museums, galleries and clubs are abundant throughout the district, along with many sites of historic interest

City West (Charlottenburg, Wilmersdorf,Schöneberg, Tiergarten)

Ku'Damm (short for Kurfürstendamm) is, along with Tauentzienstraße, one of the main shopping streets in former West Berlin, especially for luxury goods. Many great restaurants and hotels are here and also on the side roads. The district also contains the Schloss Charlottenburg, Tiergarten and the Olympic Stadium. Schöneberg is generally a cozy area for aging hippies, young families and LGBT people.

East Central (Friedrichshain, Kreuzberg, Prenzlauer Berg)

Associated with the left wing youth culture, artists and Turkish immigrants, this district is somewhat noisier than most, packed with lots of cafes, bars, clubs and trendy shops, but also with some museums in Kreuzberg near the border to Mitte. These districts are undergoing gentrification as they are popular with students, artists and media professionals alike.

North (Spandau, Reinickendorf, Weißensee, Pankow, Wedding)

Spandau and Reinickendorf are beautiful old towns which feel much more spacious than the inner city. Pankow was once synonymous with the East German government, and the villas the SED leaders inhabited still exist.

East (Lichtenberg, Hohenschönhausen, Marzahn, Hellersdorf)

The museum at the site of the 1945 surrender to the Soviet army is of interest, as well as the former Stasi prison, an essential visit for anyone interested in East German history. Marzahn-Hellersdorf has a not entirely deserved reputation for being a vast collection of dull high-rise apartment blocks, as it contains the "Gardens of the World" [2], a large park where various ethnic styles of garden design are explored.

South (Steglitz, Zehlendorf, Tempelhof, Neukölln, Treptow, Köpenick)

South is a mixed bag of different boroughs. Zehlendorf is one of the greenest and wealthiest districts in Berlin, while Neukölln is one of the poorest of the city. Köpenick's swaths of forest around Berlin's largest lake, Müggelsee and the nice old town of Köpenick itself beg to be discovered on bikes and using the S-Bahn.