Summer in Berlin – 21 awesome things to do 2016

There’s a little cozy corner hidden in the middle of Wedding: you forget where you are for a moment at the community garden himmelbeet. The adjacent café offers bread baked with marigold, garden tea with fresh herbs or other tasty treats made with ingredients from the flowerbeds and vegetable patches.

Take a RE to Potsdam main station, than Tram 93 to Ludwig-Richter-Straße and walk about 300m to the water. There you'll find a great spot to have a picnic or go for a swim.

If you like horses and if you like races, the race track Hoppegarten is the right place for you. Bet and win!

Experience an excellent selection of films from Wednesday to Sunday at this quiet and idyllic location. Those who love horror movies will get their money’s worth on Wednesdays, on Thursdays they show old DEFA-movies from the GDR and every Sunday afternoon they have a kid’s program. There’s something for everyone.

The Holzmarkt is one of the best adult playgrounds of Berlin and it’s easy to get lost here after dark. But its fine if you want to stay and look out at the Spree a bit longer during your after-work drinks.

Usually, you go to Badeschiff to swim and/or party. During summer time, however, they also offer yoga classes twice a week. A great way to start your day!

No, you don’t need a butler for it, it’s way easier. As soon as the temperatures reaches 18 degrees, it’s technically summer and therefore picnic time. Grab your friends, a blanket and get your guitar ready because it’s time to spend the day outside. We highly recommend the Spreeufer in Moabit, the Volkspark in Friedrichshain or the Körnerpack in Neukölln for the perfect Berlin picnic expedition. If you don’t want to fill up your picnic basket yourself check out “Picnic” at Tempelhofer Feld and Kreuzberg or “Proviant” in Friedrichshain, who will happily fill them with all the treats you need for a perfect day in the park.

The Landwehrkanal’s Kreuzberg shore’s outdoor season is in full bloom. There’s nothing better to do on a warm summer’s night than to sit along the water with a beer, feeding the swans and listening to guitar sounds from the other side of the water. If you want more then jump into a kayak and paddle along the canal during a two-hour tour at sundown.

The weekly Genter market, situated directly behind the old Wedding Rathaus at the corner of Genter Straße and Ostender Straße, has been taking place for over 80 years. There’s always a lot going on and the prices are cheap and good. Get ready for “pitchmen“, pushy grandmas and a colorful array of fruit, vegetables and knick-knacks.

Clubs in Neukölln are still few and far between but Griessmühle near the S-Bahnhof is a particularly magnificent specimen. In the summertime, time flies between the DIY wood towers that you can go into, Trabi wrecks and repurposed silos. From live concerts or pingpong sessions to straightforward techno and cosmic disco on the weekend, Griessmühle offers a great variety.

The “Café am neuen See” is not a secret tip anymore but that doesn’t matter because it’s still a nice place to visit. Take a stroll through the Tiergarten and enjoy an ice cold German beer at the café. There are a couple of more places in the Tiergarten we highly recommend: the “Schleusenkrug” and the wonderful teahouse in the English garden.

Nom nom nom, the little ice cream parlor eisbox from Moabit has opened a second location in Charlottenburg. Their ice cream: all handmade, all organic. The ice cream flavors change with the seasons, summer at eisbox tastes like cucumber-melon, ginger-lemongrass, cherry or black currant. Dreamy!

Bölschestraße is the heart of lively Friedrichshagen. Little boutiques, bookstores and artist’s ateliers, where you can search for lovely gifts and souvenirs, are strung together. Foodies have to go to the chocolate store Chocolat, where you can drink an afternoon hot chocolate in their little café and pick from their crazy flavors (mint-lemon, anyone?). Across from Chocolat is a wonderful little store that sells products from around the region, where you can buy natural cosmetics, fresh fruit and vegetables and real Berlin-Brandenburg specialties. All of their products have been made sustainably or artisan ally.

At the parking level of the shopping mall Neukölln Arcaden you can find not only a chill-out-café-bar called Klunkerkranich but also one of the best views over Berlin. You should definitely go there in case you are – by chance – one of these people in Berlin that are NOT blessed with their own gigantic roof terrace. You are not alone if you are one of them. Not alone at all.

If the rides with tourist boats are too boring for you we recommend renting your own boat at Spreeboote. You won’t even need a driving licence for most of the boats and you can even rent a BBQ or picnic basket for your little boat ride. The renting season starts on the 3rd of April, so get your striped sailor shirt ready!

If you want to get outdoors and need a bit of a break from the city life, go out to the Müggelberge (Müggel mountains). Although they’re not particularly high at 114 meters, they’re still great for some trekking, climbing and (insider tip) sledding in winter! If you want to reach for the skies, go up the Müggelturm. 126 steps take you up to an all-round view of southeast Berlin and you can see all the way to Alexanderplatz in clear skies.

At Spreewald it’s all about pickeled cucumbers and tradition! But we promise you there is more to this area than that! You can actually enjoy a super nice day renting a canoe and paddling around in on of the many lakes or canals of the Spreewald. A typical day at spreewald means beer, paddeling, enjoying some pickled cucumbers, jumping in the lake, drinking more beer and returning back to the city as a happier person. To get to the Spreewald take the train from Berlin mainstation to Lübben or Lübbenau and have some fun. You can find more day trip recommendations over here.

Usually you only go to Wuhlheide when they’ve planned another big concert at the Kindl-Bühne stage. And yet it’s a great place to pedal around the alternating forest and clearings. This is also the hiding place of the Modellpark Berlin-Brandenburg, where you can see replicated places of interest in a scale of 1:25. Continue on to Köpenick if you want, where it is also lovely – check out our tips here.

Regardless of whether you like or hate Tegel Airport, watching airplanes is somehow exciting and soothing at the same time. Over the years the little hill along the A111 has become a popular observation spot. You can get there by walking along the Meteorstraße (Meteorstraße 58/Uranusweg) and then the beaten path in the direction of the Autobahn. Enjoy!

You’ve probably been to open-air festivals at  ://about blank or  Sisyphos already. But it does not always have to be all electronic beats for crazy dance moves. At Monbijoutheater for example, you can learn to dance mambo, tango or swing. Feels like Dirty Dancing!

If you’re craving quiet relaxation and the tub at home isn’t doing it for you (or if you don’t even have one), Spa Vabali will make you happy. Wellness, a sauna, pools and a fantastic outdoor area - not just in St. Peter-Ording, but now also in Moabit. In the summertime it feels like you’re on Bali.