Berlin - good/bad?
Discussion
Well,
going away for a lads 40th birthday bash in June (group of 6 of us all turning 40)
Somehow, we have ended up with a majority vote for Berlin (bearing in mind this started off as a last hurrah opportunity for a good drinking weekend with a bit of sun and checking out the talent thrown in)
Apparently moy original "best of both worlds" idea - stay in Palma (for a bit of class away from too much madness) and get a taxi one night to Magaluf didnt hit the spot and I was away with work Berlin popped up out of thin air
I see Berlin as more a couples weekend than a lads weekend but I'm prepared to be proven wrong!
So, for those that have been (on a lads break rather than couples!)- would you recommend it?
If so, where's good to go?
Thanks for your input
AA
going away for a lads 40th birthday bash in June (group of 6 of us all turning 40)
Somehow, we have ended up with a majority vote for Berlin (bearing in mind this started off as a last hurrah opportunity for a good drinking weekend with a bit of sun and checking out the talent thrown in)
Apparently moy original "best of both worlds" idea - stay in Palma (for a bit of class away from too much madness) and get a taxi one night to Magaluf didnt hit the spot and I was away with work Berlin popped up out of thin air
I see Berlin as more a couples weekend than a lads weekend but I'm prepared to be proven wrong!
So, for those that have been (on a lads break rather than couples!)- would you recommend it?
If so, where's good to go?
Thanks for your input
AA
By far the best city i've ever been to.
So so many things to do and see, transport is excellent so you can get anywwhere within minutes very easily. Loads to do in the day and a very lively nightlife.
Best thing to do would be to go on a pub crawl type thing (of which there are many) which show you where the best bars are and usually take you to a club at the end, also a great way to meet people...
So so many things to do and see, transport is excellent so you can get anywwhere within minutes very easily. Loads to do in the day and a very lively nightlife.
Best thing to do would be to go on a pub crawl type thing (of which there are many) which show you where the best bars are and usually take you to a club at the end, also a great way to meet people...
Berlin is a great place. I've been there 3 times now and have loved it every time. I stayed in the H2 Hotel by Alexanderplatz and can strongly recommend it. It is quite new and is in the same building as the Ramada (I think it is their no-frills brand). The facilities are basic but it is very clean, comfortable and the showers are awesome. The beauty of it is it's location - there's loads going on in Alexanderplatz and it is easy for the trains/metro as the central station is there.
If you go, have a go on this:
The fat bloke plummeting off the side is me! It is the Radisson Park Inn hotel in Alexanderplatz. We had seen people jumping off it everyday and I said I might have a go if I got the chance. There is a kebab house at the bottom where we were stopping on our way back to the hotel at night. On our last night, I was looking up, beer in one hand - kebab in the other, saying 'I'm jumping off that tomorrow'.
The following day, we had a few hours to kill before we had to leave for the airport. I had bottled it but nobody seemed to remember me saying I would do it so I just kept quiet. One of the lads asked me later if I was doing it. I casually said I was and went inside the hotel. One of the lads rang me and told me to come outside as there was somebody selling cheap tickets. If you have a go, look out for them outside the hotel. They will be wearing shirts with 'Jochen Schweizer' on them - this is an extreme sports organiser who operate the 'base flying' set-up. It is much cheaper to go to them than to pay at the desk in the hotel.
I was calm when I was filling out the disclaimer but I shat bricks when she told me to take the lift to the 42nd floor. When you get out of the lift, you go up some steps and onto the roof. They put you in overalls and fit your harness. When you are in, they clip you to a bit of steelwork and get you to crouch down so you are hanging a foot from the floor face down. This is to check you are comfortable in the harness and you are in the correct position. Next they take you onto the platform and you walk out to the edge. He clips you onto the main line and un-clips your safety line. You squat as you did earlier and you are now face down over the walkway. He leaves you and a crane moves you out over the edge. They give you a countdown and drop you.
The speed you drop at is phenomenal! As you approach the bottom. the line slows down and you are brought to a controlled stop at the landing platform on the roof of the lower building. The whole rig is basically a massive seatbelt reel.
Video of some Scottish lad who is too calm for my liking: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Aa1I_lOKIOI&lis...
If you go, have a go on this:
The fat bloke plummeting off the side is me! It is the Radisson Park Inn hotel in Alexanderplatz. We had seen people jumping off it everyday and I said I might have a go if I got the chance. There is a kebab house at the bottom where we were stopping on our way back to the hotel at night. On our last night, I was looking up, beer in one hand - kebab in the other, saying 'I'm jumping off that tomorrow'.
The following day, we had a few hours to kill before we had to leave for the airport. I had bottled it but nobody seemed to remember me saying I would do it so I just kept quiet. One of the lads asked me later if I was doing it. I casually said I was and went inside the hotel. One of the lads rang me and told me to come outside as there was somebody selling cheap tickets. If you have a go, look out for them outside the hotel. They will be wearing shirts with 'Jochen Schweizer' on them - this is an extreme sports organiser who operate the 'base flying' set-up. It is much cheaper to go to them than to pay at the desk in the hotel.
I was calm when I was filling out the disclaimer but I shat bricks when she told me to take the lift to the 42nd floor. When you get out of the lift, you go up some steps and onto the roof. They put you in overalls and fit your harness. When you are in, they clip you to a bit of steelwork and get you to crouch down so you are hanging a foot from the floor face down. This is to check you are comfortable in the harness and you are in the correct position. Next they take you onto the platform and you walk out to the edge. He clips you onto the main line and un-clips your safety line. You squat as you did earlier and you are now face down over the walkway. He leaves you and a crane moves you out over the edge. They give you a countdown and drop you.
The speed you drop at is phenomenal! As you approach the bottom. the line slows down and you are brought to a controlled stop at the landing platform on the roof of the lower building. The whole rig is basically a massive seatbelt reel.
Video of some Scottish lad who is too calm for my liking: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Aa1I_lOKIOI&lis...
I posted these things in another Berlin thread a couple of weeks ago:
Berliner Unterwelten - a choice of tours, we did Tour 1 (Dark Worlds). An informative 90 minutes of an underground shelter within an underground station. Cost €10 and worth every cent. Unfortunately some of the tours close in October so missed out doing them.
Stasi Prison - a bit out of town but easy to get to via Tram 5 or 6 from Alexanderplatz. A bargain at €5 for a tour that lasted about 75 minutes.
Topography of Terror, so much to read, so little time.
Berliner Unterwelten - a choice of tours, we did Tour 1 (Dark Worlds). An informative 90 minutes of an underground shelter within an underground station. Cost €10 and worth every cent. Unfortunately some of the tours close in October so missed out doing them.
Stasi Prison - a bit out of town but easy to get to via Tram 5 or 6 from Alexanderplatz. A bargain at €5 for a tour that lasted about 75 minutes.
Topography of Terror, so much to read, so little time.
Matt, Berlin is awesome! It is easily the best place I've been. See my comments here:
http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...
http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...
Planet Claire said:
Topography of Terror, so much to read, so little time.
This, 100 times over. It's free and amazing.Kudos said:
A lads weekend you say?
We found it very spread out, weren't overly impressed.
The strippers weren't the best. Those that wanted hookers were disappointed. (not that I can condone that type of behaviour you understand)
If you want hookers, they are on Oranienburger Straße. There are some pretty good normal bars down there too. There is a titty bar that the hookers congregate around outside. We found it very spread out, weren't overly impressed.
The strippers weren't the best. Those that wanted hookers were disappointed. (not that I can condone that type of behaviour you understand)
We were in there one night; when you pay to go in, they give you a 'dollar' to pay for a dance. There was a big fat woman in very glamorous clothes with a pug wearing a sparkly harness (proper stereotypical madame). One of the lads was being a bit weird about having a dance. I saw the dog walking about and I grabbed the dollar and tucked it in the harness. I heard a table full of lads erupt into laughter as they spotted the dog. The dog legged it and the same thing happened at the next. The madame realised something was going on and got up to investigate. When she found it the whole bar was roaring laughing and the dog had picked up a couple more dollars.
Great city and best enjoyed when you immerse yourself in its unique history and also its unique nightlife.
But it is spread out and lonely/dark between districts (not like walking round the west end !) so work out exactly where you want to be and go.
We went to Mein House (or something like that), weekend and white trash amongst others. Highly recommend a bike tour from alexanderplatz. Did a ton of other stuff bit prolly not that applicable to a lads weekend.
Funnily enough i was in palma a few months ago and we drove through magaluf with a view to having a bit of a laugh but it honestly wasnt a laugh at all. Horrible place and if you want to go somewhere like that for the sheer spectacle of it all then choose somewhere else IMO.
But it is spread out and lonely/dark between districts (not like walking round the west end !) so work out exactly where you want to be and go.
We went to Mein House (or something like that), weekend and white trash amongst others. Highly recommend a bike tour from alexanderplatz. Did a ton of other stuff bit prolly not that applicable to a lads weekend.
Funnily enough i was in palma a few months ago and we drove through magaluf with a view to having a bit of a laugh but it honestly wasnt a laugh at all. Horrible place and if you want to go somewhere like that for the sheer spectacle of it all then choose somewhere else IMO.
Take everyone to Klo: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Caf%C3%A9-Klo-Berlin... (that's the best link I could find for it, the website doesn't seem to be working)
I went between Christmas and New Year with the OH and my parents. My dad used to work in Berlin about 20 years ago so we were just going to places that he remembered and catching the ends of the Christmas markets but this place was great!
It's E7.50 for a beer but you get about 800ml in there and the vessel is..... interesting
I went between Christmas and New Year with the OH and my parents. My dad used to work in Berlin about 20 years ago so we were just going to places that he remembered and catching the ends of the Christmas markets but this place was great!
It's E7.50 for a beer but you get about 800ml in there and the vessel is..... interesting
I went on a lads weekend there last February and we all thought it was great.
The only issue we found was that as mentioned, everything is spread out - you will have to taxi it between the majority of clubs.
They dont like big gangs of english lads in some of the clubs we found (and there was only 6 of us!) so split up just in case and arrange to meet at the bar. Most places we had no problem though.
We did a couple of tours and they were great as well, I would highly recommend those. Avoid spending too long at checkpoint charlie - its touristy s
te now and doesnt resemble what it used to be. Pretty sure you can rent Trabants and go on a trabbi tour - my mates aren't into cars so weren't interested in that.
The only issue we found was that as mentioned, everything is spread out - you will have to taxi it between the majority of clubs.
They dont like big gangs of english lads in some of the clubs we found (and there was only 6 of us!) so split up just in case and arrange to meet at the bar. Most places we had no problem though.
We did a couple of tours and they were great as well, I would highly recommend those. Avoid spending too long at checkpoint charlie - its touristy s
te now and doesnt resemble what it used to be. Pretty sure you can rent Trabants and go on a trabbi tour - my mates aren't into cars so weren't interested in that.Gassing Station | Holidays & Travel | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff