Hey friends,
Berlin was amazeballs and the four days we spent there were pretty good to explore the city, soak up the culture and enjoy the few days off. In this post Exploring Berlin: East Berlin we will explore Prenzlauer Berg, Friedrichshain and Mitte neighbourhoods and will share some nice places to eat, drink coffee, shop and visit while in Berlin.
We stayed mostly in East Berlin during our trip since our hostel was located in the heart of Mitte – Generator Hostel Berlin Mitte. It’s pretty cool, quite big and definitely a central location where everything is just around the corner! The reason why we decided to stay in a hostel? Cause we haven’t stayed in one in ages and this one seemed pretty nice!
Coffee Shops in East Berlin
We looooooove coffee (is that even newsworthy?) and love stopping in a nice coffee shop, seat down and enjoy the free WiFi free time so here are some our favourite coffee shops in East Berlin.
The Barn Coffee Roasters
Röststätte Berlin
Father Carpenter Coffee Brewers
KaffeeMitte
Shops and Bookshops in East Berlin
We didn’t spend much time shopping as there are far better things to do when visting a new city however we are suckers for books, magazines, everything stationery and pretty shops that have all of the above (plus coffee). We popped for some coffee at the The Store at Soho House – such a beautiful concept store with pretty decor, awesome-but-can’t-afford nice clothes and plenty of books and magazines.
Other nice places where – Soda Books, as the name suggests, to buy books and magazines with a selection to die for and Granit a homestore full of nice things and since we love buying kitchen goods we had to control ourselves (we couldn’t fit all in our luggage even if we wanted!).
Soda Books
Granit
Places to Eat in East Berlin
We never make big plans about on where to eat since we like to explore a city and discover new places along the way. So, we stumbled across a few nice places that caught our attention. The first one was Bäckerei und Konditorei W Balzer – a pretty and very much like the old Portuguese bakeries so we decided to go and try some one of their baked goods. That ‘palmier’ was pretty delicious (yeah!, we came for more the very next day!).
The second time was Bun Bao – a nice Vietnamese restaurant in Prenzlauer Berg where we sat outdoors on a sunny Sunday and had an A-M-A-Z-I-N-G vegetarian bao <3. After that we went all for vegan ice cream at Tribeca Ice Cream and our choice of flavours were hazelnut (always hazelnut, always!) and blue coconut. We don’t even know why it’s called blue coconut but was one of the best ice creams ever.
Bun Bao
Tribeca Ice Cream
We didn’t go on a night out so can’t talk much about it but we did go for a few drinks twice. The first time to Strandbar – which is by the river with such a beautiful view and the perfect place to end a Sunday. The second time was to a café-bar in a corner near where we were staying just because it was open until late – Keyser Soze.
Places to Visit and Things to Do in East Berlin
There are millions things we could have done but we combined things we love to do with things to visit such as a Sunday in the park and playing a visit to the most remarkable monuments, otherwise it’s just simply boring.
Things do Do in East Berlin:
Watch the sunset by the river at James-Simon Park (facing Berliner Dom)
Exploring the (Flohmarkt ) Flea Market at Arkonaplatz
Relax in Mauerpark on a Sunday
Places to Visit in East Berlin:
Berlin Wall at Gedenkstätte Berliner Mauer (our favourite and less touristy) and East Side Gallery;
Explore Alexanderplatz and Berliner Fernsehturm
Visit the Berliner Dom and Museum Island
We hope you are enjoying this Exploring Berlin: East Berlin and next week we will bring you part two – Exploring Berlin: West Berlin. If you want more tips and nice places to check while in Berlin visit We Blog You (only in portuguese, sorry #notsorry :D), Stil in Berlin and Monocle Guides.
See you guys next week,
Ta-ta!
My White Mornings 