Winter in Berlin 2015 – 21 Awesome Things to do

Tadshikischen Teestube is a beautiful tea room in Mitte. On Monday evenings it transforms into a beautiful fairy tale parlor, with two lovely ladies who narrate fairy tales for you. Relax, sip a cup of tea and listen while they tell their great stories (in German, though). Even if you don’t understand much of the tales head there to simply enjoy the food, drinks and the cozy atmosphere.

During the summer months, people were dancing in front of Monbijoutheater, now they continue moving at Clärchens Ballhaus. Most nights of the week you can learn to dance swing, tango or set-pattern dance here. The best day to go, however, is on Mondays when they give an introduction to Salsa for free. They also host classic concerts in a really pretty room, called Spiegelsaal. Fancy!

Ice skating is a true winter classic. No matter where you live in Berlin, you’ll probably have a chance to ice skate somewhere nearby. Always a good choice: ice skating in Charlottenburg on top of Bikini Berlin’s roof or at Eisstadion Neukölln.

If you’re the Sunday afternoon cookies and cake kind of person you will pretty likely fall in love with Baklava, a traditional Turkish desert. Baklava is a really, really sweet little pastry piece, filled with nuts and honey. If you’re still a Baklava virgin head to Antepliogullari Baklavacisi in Neukölln and change this immediately! Yumm!

Admit it: You hate the coldness outside. The best way to heat things up is by visiting a Turkish Hamam – a Turkish Spa, for example in Kreuzberg. The Hamam at Frauenzentrums Schokoladenfabrik e.V. is for women only, Sultan Hamam is open to men as well.

Your mother probably always told you “fresh air is good for you!” We agree. Don’t be afraid to leave your cozy bed (we know it’s hard). The cool (pun intended) and fun things are waiting for you outside. Get your coat, scarf, put on your hat, and head into the cold to visit the Jewish Cementry Weißensee which is the perfect spot for a lazy walk. It’s beautiful there. Promise.

If the snowy weather ever returns to Berlin to cover this city magically in white over night, you should be prepared. Get a bottle of mulled wine, a sleigh and make your way to Teufelsberg, Volkspark Friedrichshain or just any hill around the corner. No, this is not an activity for kids only. In case you don’t own a sleigh, you can rent one in Kreuzberg.

You love to dance? You enjoy eating unhealthy food? You admire The Dude in The Big Lebowski? There is only one right answer to those three questions: bowling. Meet up with some friends at Kugelbahn Wedding. In addition to its fancy bowling alley Kugelbahn also has a great bar.

If you like beer but want to learn more about its different flavors, a beer tasting might just be the right thing for you, for example at Bierlieb, a beer store in Friedrichshain. If you want to get into the Scottish or Irish winter mood whisky tasting might also be an option for you. Try Cadenhead, a whiskey store also located in Friedrichshain, for some whisky tasting and a Hemingway feeling.

Did you know that Berlin’s ice hockey team, Berliner Eisbären, won the German ice hockey championship three years in a row? Sounds impressive? It is impressive! If you want to watch them play and enjoy a good cold party time at the game, check out their homepage.

Visiting a botanic garden in winter might seems a little crazy at first but it’s actually a pretty charming idea. Even if the lawns are not covered in flowers and the bushes don’t bloom, yet, it’s a great place to be. Spend hours between exotic plants in the green houses and pretend that you live on a tropical island. Berlin’s botanical garden is over 100 years old and a great place to escape to when you yearn for some summer feeling.

It’s been a couple of weeks since the new C/O Galerie has reopened – a good couple of weeks. The new gallery is definitely worth a visit for all of you photography lovers out there. But go see it for yourself – we promise the exhibitions will be better than spending a Netflix afternoon on the couch. (If you haven’t been there yet we strongly recommend to go for it.)

You are probably a great gourmet but the crucial question is: are you also a good cook? If your signature dish is spaghetti with tomato sauce there might be some room for improvement. So face it – now is the perfect time to improve your skills to be able to impress people during the summer. You can learn how to create tasty meals at Kochhaus for example, Veganz offers cooking lessons focusing on vegan meals. If you prefer being cooked for, invite a chief to your place via Kitchensurfing.

If you plan to go out with friends, why not go to a bar that organizes pub quizzes? While you’re drinking, you can show off your smartness and – if you are lucky – even win a pint of beer. Places to go are the Dicke Wirtin in Charlottenburg or Fahimi Bar (English quiz!) near Kottbusser Tor.

Yes, Berlin is a big city but sometimes it feels good to get out. Potsdam is not that far away (you get there easily via S-Bahn) and therefore the perfect spot for a day trip. You can either take a tour at Studio Babelsberg or you go for a nice walk to Babelsberg, passing over the bridge Glienicker Brücke. Need more inspiration? We’ve already collected 11 activities in Potsdam during summer.

Fuck detox diets and gluten free meals: Pizza will always make you happy. Pizza is your friend. Especially at Trattoria Venezia in Kreuzberg. Bring a couple of friends when you head there, the portions are h-u-g-e. You won’t regret it.

If you think you have seen all of Berlin, be assured: you have not. There are lots of places from the past, nowadays abandoned, that want to be rediscovered. Fortunately the blog abandoned berlin collected them for us (in English, yeah!). Get your flashlight, camera and Indiana Jones attitude ready to discover a different Berlin.

Winter is the perfect time to stay at home, to watch a movie or to go to the movies. Somewhat different from the usual cinema dates are the sneak previews that many movie theaters in Berlin offer. On those days they show films that are not in cinemas, yet. The fact, that you don’t know which film they are going to show, spices the whole thing up.

If you are able to sing along any Miley Cyrus, Rihanna or Robbie Williams song, a karaoke bar is the perfect place for you. Don’t worry if your voice is not Lorde’s, in the end, it does not matter. With enough Schnaps everyone will sing/scream/howl along. At Monster Ronson’s Ichiban Karaoke you can even rent a whole cabine for you and your choir only.

During winter, you might feel like you are not doing enough to keep in shape. Conquer your weaker self (we call that the “Schweinehund” in German) and head to the indoor climbing center. Boulder away (that’s how the serious climbers call their sport) and see the world from a different perspective, there might be a Spider Man inside you. There are a couple of bouldering gyms in Berlin and you can spend a whole afternoon there, either alone or with company.

Only few Germans admit it, but a lot of them watch a daily soap called “Gute Zeiten, schlechte Zeiten” every evening. People apparently love simple stories about love, family and drug problems. Prime Theater in Wedding adapted the idea and set up their own soap “Gutes Wedding, schlechtes Wedding”. All episodes have a solo story and are shown 5 weeks in a row. In the beginning of a new episode, they summarize what has happened up to that point.