Berlin - Another Cheap Holiday

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€.

Berlin - More Beer Spots Part 1

In my last post, I pointed out a few Craft Beer spots in Berlin as well as cheap places to drink. I thought I would post about a few other places that we visited last June too.

• Brewdog Berlin

So we have a Brewdog Bar here in Norwich but we were intrigued to see what Berlin had to offer. It's situated in Mitte so pretty central, not that far from Rosenthaler Platz. The bar is really light and spacious. We sat on tables out the front of the bar but I think there was also seating at the rear of the bar too. I had Brewdog Blitz Saison when we visited but their menu was quite exciting. They are a Untappd verified venue so you can check their up to date tap-list on the app or alternatively check the Brewdog website here. They also do pizzas which I am excited to try when we visit in a few weeks.

 

• Hops & Barley

We did a little crawl around Kreuzberg area and came across Hop & Barley. Its a really great little brewpub. When we visited I had their cider which was delicious and a little sour. I also tried some of Nate's IPA which was also really good.

 

• Hopfenreich

Another great craft beer bar in Kreuzberg. Its quite small but has an amazing selection of beers. I enjoyed a glass of Sour Monkey by Victory Brewing Company, Nate had Backbone Splitter by Hanscraft & Co. Once again Hopfenreich is a verified venue on Untappd so you can see their up to date tap list. Who can resist a pub where their mascot is a Hedgehog!?

 

• Kaschk

Kaschk is a cool hipster bar that serves craft beer and coffee and has shuffleboard tables downstairs. It's located not that far from Mikkeller on Linienstrasse. I love To Øl beer so I had to have By Udder Means, Nate had Bitter-Sweet Double IPA by Berliner Berg Brauerei. It was a really nice evening so we sat outside, its situated on the corner of a street opposite a tram-stop so it is perfect for people watching! 

• Pfefferbräu

This place is a lovely brewpub. It is surrounded by other restaurants and is near a theatre. We stopped by after meeting up with a friend who lives in Berlin before heading to the BRLO Brewfest. We all had a pint of their Pilsner which was really refreshing on a hot day. Pfefferbräu has a large courtyard but it gets really busy, 

• The Muted Horn

We found out about this place through the BRLO Brewfest and it was a great find. We went on a Sunday during the day so it was quiet but we got to sit at the bar and chat with the staff. They had a great selection of beers from around the world. Between us, we had a couple of beers from Dugges, a Cloudwater beer and sampled some local beer from Heidenpeters. The pub is in the heart of Kreuzberg so is a must if you are in the area!

So that was an overview of a few of the places we visited last June. This year we are heading back and our list is even longer! So watch this space for more great beer spots in Berlin!! 

Beers in Berlin on a budget!

So, we love visiting Germany and last summer we did a 10 day trip to Europe spending 5 days in Prague and then 5 days in Berlin. I had never been to Berlin before and had planned loads that I wanted to do but actually ended up doing only a couple of things on the list because of the budget we were on. That said we still had an amazing time on a budget.

• Stone Berlin

So we did go to a few places that are a must for any craft beer fan! We spent a lovely day at Stone Brewing World Bistro and Gardens. We had a brewery tour and then chilled at the bar having some beers for an afternoon. It's a little further out from the city centre but it was easy enough to find. We got a bus from the City centre and then it was about a 15-minute walk from the bus stop, The amazing location has 50 taps in the main bar and additional 25 taps in the Library bar. The food looked amazing but was pretty pricey so we opted for a Maccy D's on the way back to the bus stop!!

• Mikkeller

So I love Mikkeller beers having had a few in BrewDog bars in the UK. Their bar in Mitte has the feel of a nice neighbourhood local but with big tasting and interesting beers. We visited on our first night and found out that they were having a Northern Monk tap take over the next day so we had to go back! The beers are smaller pours to what we are used to in the UK but worth visiting for the atmosphere. Its just a small bar and it gets really busy in the evening. 

• BRLO

We visited BRLO which is another brewery and tap room for their BRLO Brewfest. They had invited other Breweries from around Europe for a mini-festival and we were able to taste some amazing beers and got a free tour of the Brewery. They are doing this event again in 2018 8th-10th June. The beer garden is amazing if it's a lush day. 

 

• Budget Spots

So it's legal to drink on the streets in Berlin so we spent a lot of the time just getting a beer and walking around. There are kiosks and little convenience stores everywhere where you can get a bottle opened up to go. We also visited a lovely Biergarten called Prater Garten which is around 3.50€ for a Pilsner. They also do typical German bar snacks like wurst, pretzels and currywurst. It is cash only though. I would recommend always having some cash on you in Berlin as not everywhere takes credit card. There are loads of parks and green spaces in Berlin and if it's sunny you will see locals chilling with a crate of beer.

The Mauer Park is a great spot to visit. On a Sunday there is a flea-market which sells mainly tourist keepsakes and second-hand goods. There are some amazing food stalls and a couple of beer stalls. We got some beers from a Franconian wine and beer stall that was really cheap and took them to watch live music at the bearpit karaoke. The weather was really amazing when we went and there isn't a lot of shade so I would recommend taking a hat. Loads of people bring their own beers and make an afternoon of it listening to all the great music for free!

Also during our visit, there was an African Festival on at Alexanderplatz. There were food and drink stalls and a stage set up for music. The beers were quite reasonably priced and there were printed plastic cups for the festival that you could take home as a souvenir.

We are off to Berlin again in June this year so I will do a follow-up blog if we find any more spots that are worth a visit. If anyone reading this has any other hints or tips please comment below.

Museums in Munich and Albrecht Dürer Haus

In the last year (2017) my boyfriend Nate and I visited Munich, Nuremberg, Bamberg, Berlin and Prague. We both love Germany and the Czech Republic and tend to visit more than one place each year.

In February we flew into Nuremberg airport for our holiday in Munich. We thought we would take the opportunity to visit Albrecht Dürer Haus. We had passed the building before but as I had just written a paper on Dürer for my Masters. I was excited to see some original artworks…. I was very disappointed, there are no original artworks in the building just reproductions of originals. His self-portrait we were told was on display in a museum in Munich so at least we would see one of his artworks on the trip (seeing an original Dürer in Germany, his homeland, is harder than you think!). The Museum was set out how historians ‘thought’ it might have been when he lived there although they weren’t really sure, the only certain thing was that he had a toilet in his upstairs kitchen! It was cheap enough admission (6€) and had a free audio-tour but I was a little disappointed.

We travelled to Munich from Nuremberg on the train. It’s a relaxing journey travelling through the lovely Bavarian countryside. Once we arrived into Munich we did a bit of sightseeing and drinking. We had planned that Sunday would be our ‘cultural day’ as most of the Museums in the city are just 1€ entry on a Sunday. We also spent one day going to the Residenz which was great value for money (13€) as the ticket also allowed you to get into the Residenz Theatre and covered the cloakroom cost (a fraction of the price you would pay to go to a National Trust house in the UK!). This is an amazing palace type building and it took us over an hour to get around the whole house. Some of the rooms were breathtakingly beautiful.

    

Also whilst visiting Munich we visited the BMW World and Museum which was an amazing experience. On arriving from the U-Bahn at Olympiazentrum station we walked towards BMW Welt. This is a showroom complex with shops and restaurants (including high-end fine dining), its open from 730am-midnight Monday to Friday and 9am-midnight on Sundays. The BMW Weld exhibition is mainly new cars as it is essentially a showroom but there are some classic cars and other cool things to look at like a bubble car and one featured in a James Bond Movie. In order to get to the BMW Museum, you walk over a really cool bridge over the motorway towards a space-age looking building. Entrance to the museum is pretty reasonable considering what you get – just 10€, cheaper if you’re part of a group or a family.

The layout of the Museum takes you through chronologically from the early days of BMW through to modern day. The exhibition is also done by series and style of vehicle. There was a whole wall of motorbikes and an amazing display of series badges from over the decades. There was also a cool use of technology one of the rooms had engines in them and when you stood on the sound pad set into the floor it made the sound of that particular engine. Most of the exhibits had touchscreen information where you could pick your language but most information boards were bi-lingual.

I wasn’t sure that I would enjoy a car museum but it was really good fun! The location is about a 20 minute underground ride from Munich Hbf so easy to get to. We in February and the weather was icy cold but it is situated in the Olympic Park so would be great to explore the site more in the summer months.

 

Other Galleries that we visited in Munich were the Alte Pinakothek, the Neue Pinakothek and the Pinakothek der Moderne. All three galleries are just 1€ entry on a Sunday and are really close together, the perfect activity for a wet and windy Sunday in Munich. The Alte Pinakothek is a very sombre institution, classical in design with long corridors full of over 700 masterpieces from the 14th to the 18th centuries. We were hoping to see Dürer’s self-portrait but sadly the German corridor was closed for refurbishment. Other famous artists on show here include Titian, Raphael, Leonardo, El Greco, Rubens and Rembrandt. The Neue Pinakothek is much more modern in its exhibition curation. It is a labyrinth of small rooms each from a different period or school of painting. I really enjoyed this gallery it was interesting to see some of the lesser known paintings placed in the same rooms as Max Liebermann, Edouard Manet, Claude Monet, Vincent van Gogh and Paul Cézanne. The final gallery of the trilogy was the Pinakothek der Modern, as the name suggests a modern art gallery. It’s a really confusing place as it is based around a central circular atrium. I think we missed several of the exhibits. Downstairs is an area used for temporary exhibitions. The permanent collection is housed upstairs it spans surrealism, expressionism, cubism, futurism, to pop-art and loads, loads more. Famous artists on show here include Pablo Picasso, Max Ernst, René Magritte, Salvador Dalí, Joseph Beuys, Andy Warhol, Georg Baselitz and my personal favourite Anselm Kiefer.

I would recommend visiting some of the galleries in Museums in Munich, it is a culture rich city with loads more to explore. To make the visit cheaper you can get a City Tour Card, this offers discounts to loads of galleries and museums and you can get travel included. We didn’t use one during this visit but we have used the Nuremberg Card before. This is really great value, we used it for transport, the Zoo, the Documentation Centre of the Nazi Party Rally Grounds and Nuremberg Castle. All these I will write about in another blog.

About Me

My name is Sammie, and I’m passionate about a few things in life:

• Beer – drinking, reviewing and checking into Untappd
• Food – trying new things, learning new recipes and chatting all things food
• Galleries & Museums - visiting museums and galleries in the UK and abroad
• Travel - I try to go abroad as much as possible. I love Germany and the Czech Republic in particular. 

In this blog, I will review museums and galleries that I have visited, particular exhibitions that I found interesting, as well as adding posts about holidays, food and beer. 

I have got another blog which concentrates on more of the gallery and museum side of things you can find it here.

If anyone fancies getting in touch for me to do a particular review do not hesitate to get in contact via email travelfoodandmuseums@gmail.com.

I hope you all enjoy my blog

Sammie