SHOPPING:
Due to federal liberalisation, shopping hours are theoretically unlimited. Nevertheless, many of the smaller shops still close at 8 p.m. Most of the bigger stores and nearly all of the malls are open additionally until 9 or 10 p.m. from Thursday to Saturday. Sunday opening is still limited to about a dozen weekends per year, although some supermarkets located at train stations (Bahnhof Zoologischer Garten, Friedrichstrasse, Innsbrucker Platz and Ostbahnhof) are open also on Sundays. Many bakeries and small food stores (called Spätkauf) are open late at night and on Sundays in busier neighbourhoods (especially Prenzlauer Berg, Kreuzberg and Friedrichshain). Stores inside the Hauptbahnhof central station have long opening hours (usually until about 10 or 11 p.m.), also on Sundays.
The main shopping areas are:
Ku'damm and its extension, Tauentzienstraße remain the main shopping streets even now that the Wall has come down. KaDeWe (Kaufhaus Des Westens) at Wittenbergplatz is a must visit even if just for the vast food dept at the 6th floor. It's reputedly the biggest department store on Continental Europe and still has an old world charm, with very helpful and friendly staff.
Friedrichstrasse is the upmarket shopping street in the former East Berlin with Galerie Lafayettes and the other Quartiers (204 to 207) as main areas to be impressed with wealthy shoppers. The renovated Galeria Kaufhof department store at Alexanderplatz is also worth a visit. The main shopping area for the alternative, but still wealthy crowd is north of Hackescher Markt, especially around the Hackesche Höfe. For some more affordable but still very fashionable shopping there is Prenzlauer Berg, Kreuzberg and Friedrichshain with a lot of young designers opening shops, but also lots of record stores and design shops. Constant changes make it hard to recommend a place though, but the area around station Eberswalder Strasse in Prenzlauer Berg, around Bergmannstrasse and Oranienstrasse in Kreuzberg and around Boxhagener Platz in Friedrichshain are always great when it comes to shopping.
FLEA MARKETS:
You can find dozens of flea markets with different themes in Berlin (mostly on weekends), but worth checking out is the big one at Strasse des 17. Juni:
Strasse des 17. Juni, in front of Ernst-Reuter-Haus (S-bahn: Tiergarten). Sat Sun 10AM-5PM. Mostly antique and mixed old stuff, but also some artistic goods. Not cheap though, keep in mind that most of the traders are professionals who know what to get for their goods. But you can nearly always bargain.
Other flea markets are a bit more secluded, try Boxhagener Platz in Friedrichshain, Arkonaplatz in Mitte and at Mauerpark in Prenzlauer Berg for instance. Have a look at the district pages for more information.
FASHION:
Fashion from Berlin is getting more and more popular, it's mostly known for spontaneous and experimental/underground fashion, which is affordable. Some notable Berlin fashion streets:
Wühlischstr. in Friedrichshain (get off at S-Bahn Warschauer Str.)
around S-Bahn station Hackescher Markt and U-Bahn station Weinmeisterstrasse in Mitte
Oranienstrasse in Kreuzberg.
Kastanienallee/Oderberger Strasse (station Eberswalder Strasse)
The more conservative and expensive big brand stores (Armani, Gucci, Joop, Boss...) are located at Friedrichstrasse and Kurfürstendamm.
Boxoffberlin (a/k/a bob), a new boutique near Checkpoint Charlie, is worth checking out for unique, eclectic, design-oriented fashion and gifts.
RECORD SHOPS:
Berlin is known for its vast number of record stores. Especially techno record shops can be found at many places in the centre (Mitte, Prenzlauer Berg, Kreuzberg, Friedrichshain). If you want to get the latest techno and house productions from around the world, Berlin is the place to shop. The main areas for shopping records are around Mehringdamm/Bergmannstrasse, Oranienstrasse and Schlesisches Tor in Kreuzberg
around station Eberswalder Strasse in Prenzlauer Berg
around Simon-Dach-Strasse and Boxhagener Platz in Friedrichshain
Maaßenstrasse in Schöneberg
northern Mitte (Torstrasse, around station Weinmeisterstrasse and Rosa-Luxemburg-Platz)
EATING:
Eating out in Berlin is incredibly inexpensive compared to any other Western European capital or other German cities. The city is multicultural and many cultures' cuisine is represented here somewhere, although it is often modified to suit German tastes. Vegetarians can eat quite well with a little bit of research and menu modification even if Berlin seems like a carnivore heaven with all the sausage stands. Many kebap restaurants have a good selection of roasted vegetables and salads. Falafels are also tasty and suitable for vegetarians.
All prices must include VAT by law. The upmarket restaurants may ask for a further service surcharge. Note that it is best to ask if credit cards are accepted before you sit down -- it's not that common to accept credit cards in some parts of the city. Most likely to be accepted are Visa and Mastercard, all other cards will be only accepted in some upmarket restaurants.
One of the main tourist areas for eating out is Hackescher Markt / Oranienburger Strasse. This area has dramatically changed during the years: once full of squats and not-entirely-legal bars and restaurants, it had some real character. It is rapidly being developed and corporatized, and even the most famous squat - the former Jewish-owned proto-shopping mall "Tacheles" - has had a bit of a facelift. There are still some gems in the side streets, though: the "Assel" (Woodlouse) on Oranienburger Strasse, furnished with DDR-era furniture, is still relatively authentic and worth a visit, especially on a warm summer night. Oranienburger Strasse is also an area where prostitutes line up at night, but don't be put off by this. The area is actually very safe since several administrative and religious buildings are located there.
DRINKING:
Pub crawling is popular in Berlin, especially among backpackers. There are several tour companies but the best known pub crawl for backpackers is organised by New Berlin Tours. Keep in mind that you won't get into the cooler bars that way as they try to keep the doors closed for pub crawl tourists.
At Warschauer Straße (which you can reach via S-Bahn and U-Bahn station Warschauer Straße) and more specifically Simon-Dach-Straße and around Boxhagener Platz you can find a wide variety of bars, from lunch bars to cocktail bars to sport bars to alternative bars to comfy waterpipe bars. It is common for locals to meet at Warschauer to go to a bar there.
Cafe Einstein is one particular example of a home grown coffee chain which has nice staff, great coffee and is fairly priced. In particular, the Einstein on Unter den Linden is as far from "junk coffee" as it's possible to be.
There are lots of Irish bars all over the city, as there are in all European cities. If you like off-the-shelf Irish bars or watching the football in English then you won't be disappointed, but in a city with new cool bars opening pretty much daily and a huge range to choose from, you'll find that these cater mostly to the Irish construction workers and Germans attracted by Irish music, which is often played in them. The Irish pub in the Europacenter at Tauenzien Strasse is famous. Located in the basement of a skyscraper, you will find a big Irish pub and a rowdy crowd on the weekend.
If you want to get some tap water in a bar ask for "Leitungswasser" (if you just say "water" (Wasser), you will receive mineral water), it is common if you drink coffee. They should not charge you for it but you should order some other drink as well.
Astro Bar is a slice of hipster San Francisco/New York and is surrounded with other restaurants, bars, and shops.
BARS:
Berliners love to drink cocktails, and it's a main socialising point for young people. Many people like to meet their friends in a cocktail bar before clubbing. Prenzlauer Berg (Around U-Bahnhof Eberswalder Str., Helmholtzplatz, Oderberger Straße & Kastanienallee), Kreuzberg (Bergmannstraße, Oranienstraße and the area around Görlitzer Park and U-Bahnhof Schlesisches Tor), Schöneberg (Goltzstraße, Nollendorfplatz, Motzstraße for gays), and Friedrichshain (Simon-Dach-Strasse and around Boxhagener Platz) are the main areas. There aren't as many illegal bars as there was in the 90s but bars open and close faster than you can keep up with - check out the bar and cocktail guides in the bi-weekly magazines Tip or Zitty. For recommended bars, have a look at the district pages.
CLUBS:
The club scene in Berlin is assumably one of the biggest and most progressive in Europe. Even though there are some 200 clubs in the city it's sometimes difficult to find the right club for you since the best ones are a bit off the beaten track and most bouncers will keep bigger tourist groups (especially males) out. Entrance is cheap compared to other big European cities, normally from 5 to 10 euro (usually no drink included).
TALK:
Most people under 40 in Berlin are able to speak English in a varying degree of fluency, but it might not be as widely spoken as you might expect, so a few key German phrases are worth having, especially in the suburbs and generally in non touristic places. Some people are afraid of speaking English due to their limited experience in talking to foreigners. So a lot of people pretend not to speak English but might understand your intention if you explain your desire with some gestures. Basic French and Russian is partly spoken because French in West Berlin and Russian in East Berlin were taught in schools.
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