We have just returned from another budget break away in Berlin. We always travel on a budget but end up having a great time. Here's an account of our trip to help you save money!
This time we stayed in the Ibis Budget Berlin Ost which worked out at around £40 per night for a double room (room only you can add on a Continental breakfast but we go to the supermarket daily) when booked and paid for in advance. Ibis and other Accor hotels offer a book now pay when you stay policy but this often works out more expensive.
Our hotel was quite far out of the centre, in East Berlin so we needed to take a tram or the S-Bahn to get into the centre each day. The tram stop was right outside the hotel and the S-Bahn was a 5-minute walk. One thing to remember is that you can buy your tickets on the day but you need cash and when I say cash I mean change. There are ticket machines on the trams and on the platforms for the S-Bahn and U-Bahn but ones that take cards and notes are few and far between. To get around this issue we purchased a Berlin Welcome Card in advance. This was about £48 per person for 6 days which covers transport in zones ABC (which covers both airports and Potsdam) and it gives you discounts to a lot of attractions in Berlin and Potsdam as well as tour discounts. This works out a lot cheaper than buying travel cards daily. You can collect your card at the airport too which is really handy, then you just validate it at the station.
So here in Norwich, we have bikes that you can hire called OFO bikes. You just download the app and top up money to use them. They are like Boris and Noris bikes in other places. Berlin has loads of these bikes but we found that our UK OFO app worked on the bikes in Berlin. Sadly I didn't have any credit on my account but Nate had a cycle around whilst I was at Topography of Terror on Tuesday. He said that cycling in Berlin isn't too daunting as there are cycle lanes, its a case of keeping your eyes peeled for tourists crossing in front of you!
Another money saving tip is to eat where the locals eat. We love Imren Grill which is a chain of proper Kebab shops that sell authentic Berlin Kebabs. Nate ate 3 this trip, whereas I tend to go for chicken or veggie options so I had a chicken wrap one night and a Peta another night which is a Pitta Pizza. They have about 5 shops all over Berlin and have about 60 dishes on the menu. A Kebab will set you back about 3.50€. You could go to Mustafa's and queue for over an hour with all the other hungry tourists or you could try something even better! We also love a currywurst and again the most popular with tourists is Curry36 which is near Mustafa's stall. They also have a quieter stall near the Zoological Gardens Station which we took full advantage of. We had never had Curry36 on previous visits, it was an alright Currywurst but quite expensive. The best Currywurst in Berlin, in my opinion, is at CurryMitte. It is only 5.40€ for Currywurst, fries and a beer or soft drink! Bargain! Another amazing find was HühnerHaus 36 where you can get 1/2 a chicken and chips or salad for around 5€.
