Autumn in Berlin – 21 awesome Things to do 2019

Since August 2019 there’s a new neighborhood café in Schöneberg: the Schöngrau along Eisenacherstraße. The coffee comes from Flying Roasters in Wedding, the cake is homemade and the breakfast menu offers you everything you could desire: open-face sandwiches and bagels, organic scrambled eggs with various toppings, porridge, müsli, smoothies and more. There’s also a shop in the backroom where you can buy vases, flowers and living accessories.

Ai Wei Wei was never happy in Germany. That’s why he traded Berlin for Cambridge in the search for more openness. First though Neugerriemschneider is showing “Roots”, a series of iron sculptures that Ai Wei Wei made in Brazil of different roots of endangered trees. The artwork has even more political impact against the background of the current catastrophic fires in the Amazon.

13 kilometers of countryside, forest, meadows, little towns and tasty restaurants: If you’re nimble you should try hiking the Poetensteig in the Märkische Schweiz. You start in Buckow at the town center, go through the Schlosspark, along the lakes Schermützelsee, Großer Tornowsee and Kleiner Tornowsee, past the Pritzhagener Mühle (they have traditional German food) and the lake Großer Klobichsee and across the Dachsberg back to Buckow. You need about three hours for it in total, but plan with a bit more time in order to enjoy the views and the amazing air. And in order to stop for a bite to eat at the various restaurants, of course.

Have you guys heard of it? Since the 15th of June Holzmarkt25 has been hosting the weekly market Holzmarkt Markt every Saturday. You can get regional fruits and vegetables, homemade jams and honey, cheese and meats, bread and more. There are also snacks and drinks for anyone who’s slightly hungry.

The kids just don’t feel like simply wandering around Naturpark Nutz-Nieplitz? Then you’re just where you need to be at Glauer Felder. This exhibition shows how biotopes work in a playful way. Aside from various mini landscapes there are playgrounds for climbing or that incorporate sand and water – and are perfect for boisterous frolicking. And if that’s not enough, then go and relax by petting the sheep and goats that are roaming around.

Sharlie Cheen along Torstraße has a new little sister since August 2019, and her name is Emi Wynehouse – and she comes with a slightly more complex, but no less fancy menu. The location itself is relatively small, nicely dimly lit, and you can admire lovely art on the walls and the most beautiful barkeepers of the city behind the bar. You should definitely try “I’m in love with the Coco” – it really tastes phenomenal! We’re looking forward to our one-year-romance with Emi and can’t even fathom that the pop up bar will be over in summer 2020.

The Frenchman Didier Canet has been providing us with French pastries such as croissants, baguettes, fruit tarts and co. since 1995. One of the now eight locations of Aux Délices Normands is in the landmarked four-sided yard in Stahnsdorf. This is also where they bake and produce the pastries. The backyard including the café is a popular excursion destination. Besides bread and cake they also have jams, wines and other delicacies.

The common Berliner doesn’t just drink anything anymore. Most now prefer high-quality spirits from Berlin manufactures instead of mass-produced products. It doesn’t matter whether gin, vodka or liqueurs – it tastes better when made with love. The thirsty minds from Deutscher Spirituosen Manufaktur adhere to this motto as well: you can get exclusive spirits and also create your own in workshops. You get to take the results home with you, of course.

The birch forest Grumsin is so beautiful and enchanting that it would be the perfect setting not only for any scary episode of Tatort, but also for romantic love scenes in nature, where the new couple goes skinnydipping in the forest lake. Four hiking trails go through the dreamy birch forest that hasn’t been used in over 20 years – and are each marked with either red, yellow, orange or green birch leaves. You can start the between 2,5 and 8 hour long trails either at the Infozentrum Altkünkendorf or the Infozentrum Geopark Groß Ziethen. Pack something to eat and enjoy the wonderful nature.

Berlin Beiboot thought up something really great together with the Van-Loon ships: culinary boat tours. But not like with grandma and grandpa as a day trip, but rather hip and in the style of Berlin: with rum tastings, during a romantic full moon trip including a four-course-menu and wine pairings or as Sunday brunch. We like.

Circuit training: that does sound kind of old school, admittedly sort of like gym class at school and not much fun. But circuit training is actually pretty cool, because you’re able to get fit quite quickly and easily by exerting pressure on your body evenly and through the short intervals. The Berliner Leichtathletik-Verband (Berlin track and field association) hosts free circuit training every Tuesday at 7.15pm and on Thursdays at 6pm and 7pm in front of Hangar 1 on Tempelhofer Feld. Only 20 participants are allowed per round so be punctual.

The names Gal Ben Moshe and Jacqueline Lorenz are not unknown in the Berlin gastronomy scene. He ran the restaurant GLASS at Hotel am Steinplatz until 2018, she is one of the 50 best sommelières in Germany. Together they have now opened Prism in Charlottenburg, a levantine restaurant. The food is, in comparison to Glass, more approachable. But no less quality and raffined than the predecessor. Guests have the choice between 6, 7 or 8 course meals (95–125 euros). During the week there’s also the “prism social”, a sharing menu made up of 8 courses for 55 euros per person.

You’re a big fan of escape games or exit rooms? You’ve probably never played them this way: the climbing park Bad Saarow offers outdoor variations of games for four to ten participants in the forest: "You and your friends wake up tied up in the forest and have no recollection of what happened the night before. The only thing you know: you have one hour to free yourself before you fall prey to an imminent danger.” Exciting!

Mushroom foraging is like going hiking: back in the day you “had to” go with your parents and didn’t really want to – but now, years later, you always pick out a couple of nice hiking trails during every vacation. Or you go mushroom foraging in the forest. But since that can also go terribly wrong, we recommend taking part in a mushroom seminar. That doesn’t sound that sexy, admittedly, but it’s pretty cool. The meeting points are different forests near Berlin, you can find the exact dates and places here. The group size is a maximum of 20 people so that the experts can answer all of your questions while you discuss and identify each finding. They can also tell you when and where it’s best to go mushroom foraging. Then nothing can get in the way of your tasty mushroom menu!

Whiskey made in Germany: at the Spreewood distillery, which has set up camp in Spreewald. Not only can you buy the tasty whiskey, you can also go for a tasting or tour to find out more about the secrets of the liquid gold. The premises is a great place to spend a whole day when the weather is a bit warmer: you can sip on tasty fairtrade coffee in the café and satisfy your hunger in the summer in their courtyard garden with barbecued morsels. Besides whiskey they also have different liqueurs – our favorite is Oma’s Apfelkuchen (Grandma’s apple cake) – or you can try the tasty Gurkengeist (“cucumber spirit”) that has over 40% alcohol content and packs quite a punch, but is made with real Spreewald cucumbers.

Nearly everyone has been to Tempelhofer Feld, and a couple have probably been in one of the hangars at the Berlin Festival, for example. The same probably doesn’t go for the tours of the former airport building. During a two-hour tour you can find out about the history of the airport: between national socialist ideology and a symbol of freedom during the German partition.

Vegetarians, vegans and omnivores all all get their money’s worth at han west. It is highly recommended to order the whole menu: then you can try two different kinds of dumplings, one of the baos and one side (salad or homemade fries). A highlight is definitely the sauces, which are also homemade. Since han west is more of an imbiss than a restaurant and only has a few places to sit you can also easily take your dumplings with you – in biodegradable packaging, of course – and eat it on Tempelhofer Feld.

The SteinTherme in Bad Belzig is very modern and has six swimming and geothermal brine pools and seven (!) different saunas and herbal steam baths. There are various wellness and massage offerings as well – what else could you want?! You can allow for an entire day and thoroughly enjoy yourself in the swim-sauna-cooldown-sleep-repeat rhythm. If you don’t have enough time you can still treat yourself with the 2-hour evening deal – for example after a stroll through Bad Belzig or a hike through the green, peaceful surroundings.

Every book at this little bookstore on Stuttgarter Platz has been hand-picked. You can find an array of literary insider’s tips along with current best sellers and new releases. You can come across titles here that you (unfortunately) won’t find anywhere else.

The Tante Lisbeth is a true allrounder – you can not only watch Tatort here, but also drink a cup of coffee or play skittles. And exactly as it should be: in a 70's style basement with wood panelled walls where our parents probably already played. You can basically hire the whole basement for 15 euros an hour for two skittles alleys and a cozy room to hang out in. And if you're clever and book the alley until 10pm you can sit around for a bit afterwards without noticing the hustle and bustle from above.