20 Unusual Places, Activities & Cool Things to do in Berlin

What can you do in Berlin off the beaten track and, above all, a thousand miles away from the recommended activities for tourists? Between drinking tea with a parrot, strolling through a ghostly amusement park and admiring canopic vases in a bunker - discover our tips and our selection of 20 most unusual activities, unique places and cool things to do that will allow you to experience Berlin differently!

1. Explore the city's underground with Berliner Unterwelten

Berliner Unterwelten organises guided tours of the city's abandoned underground locations: bunkers, disused underground stations, air raid shelters and even a tunnel that used to be used to exfiltrate people from the former GDR (post WWII therefore). Each visit immerses you a little more intensely into the history of the depths of Berlin.

Address: Brunnenstraße 105

2. Entering a bunker to admire contemporary art: Boros Collection

Typical Berlin and unique: a bunker the size of a building converted into a contemporary art gallery.

Address: Reinhardtstraße 20, 10117 Berlin

3. Visit a former Stasi prison accompanied by a former prisoner

Interesting, shocking, frightening... Here, former prisoners tell you, in the very place where these horrors took place, what they experienced and what the methods of repression and torture (physical and psychological) used by the political police of the former East Germany (Stasi) looked like.

Address: Haus 1, Ruschestraße 103, 10365 Berlin

4. Stroll on the runways of the former Tempelhof airport (and visit the old terminal)

Go windsurfing on airport runways, having a barbecue and a beer while enjoying the sunset (in the evening you can see the stars very well, even in the city centre!) or get lost through the city gardens of the former Tempelhof airport: here, everything is possible. You can even visit the old terminal that served as a base for the American army during the Cold War.

5. Marvel at the thousand-year-old vases from the Feurle collection

An unusual and confusing experience! Welcomed in the dark, you enter the bunker where Désiré Feuerle's private collection is on display: Asian objects and sculptures, modern and antique creations - it's a truly timeless place waiting for you.

Address: Hallesches Ufer 70, 10963 Berlin

6. Take a walk in the Street Art Alley: Haus Schwarzenberg

A very small passage that you hardly notice in the lively Hackescher Markt district, which is full of graffiti and beautiful murals! Once you've converted to urban art, you can explore Berlin's 25 most impressive murals.

7. Eat a Pad Thai at the Street Food Market in the Thai-Park (in summer)

In the summer, you can take refuge under the colourful umbrellas of the Preußenpark, known as the Thai Park, to discover the thousand and one specialities of Thai cuisine: chicken curry, duck with spices, egg rolls, tofu, noodles with exotic sauces, fruit cocktails... For a moment, you feel like you are in a small street market in Bangkok.

8. Back to the future at the Teufelsberg (former Nazi military school, former NSA listening station)

Yet another place steeped in history - situated next to the Grunewald forest, this hill was artificially created to make use of an old school that was impossible to blast. During the 1950s, the Americans set up a spy station here so that they could listen to everything that was said in the East! Now abandoned, this timeless place has been covered with graffiti and murals that we enjoy exploring every nook and cranny.

9. Visit the abandoned Spreepark amusement park

Formerly a thriving amusement park in East Berlin in the 1970s and 1980s, the site was bought after the fall of the Berlin Wall by a certain Norbert Witte who, leading the park into bankruptcy, left in 2002 for Peru, taking with him some twenty rides and leaving a debt of 11 million euros. Left abandoned since then, the site exudes an atmosphere worthy of an apocalyptic film: an old ghost train, rusty swans, dinosaurs whose heads rolled on the ground. Entrance is paying and visits are organized.

Address: Kiehnwerderallee 1-3, 12437 Berlin

10. Visit the David Hasselhoff Museum

Unlikely! Is it to honour his role in the history of Berlin (some say he would have put an end to the Cold War and reunited Germany - see our 50 anecdotes on Berlin) or is it German love for the absurd that motivated the creation of this museum paying tribute to the American actor of Baywatch and K2000?

Address: Weinbergsweg 1a 10119 Berlin

11. Lounging in a futuristic spa: Liquidrom

With its unique architecture, sleek design and soothing atmosphere, the Liquidrom luxurious spa is the perfect place to relax after a long day's work. An almost meditative place to warm body and soul and forget all your worries.

Address: Möckernstraße 10, 10963 Berlin

12. Going for a swim in a pool in the middle of the Spree

On sunny days you can sunbathe on a sun lounger and take a dip in the Badeschiff's floating swimming pool on the Spree, while enjoying the fantastic view!

13. Take a drink upside down at Madame Claude's bar

At Madame Claude's bar, everything is upside down: chairs and tables are on the ceiling! Be careful not to spill anything!

Address: Lübbener Str. 19, 10997 Berlin.

14. Drinking a Whisky Sour in a clandestine cocktail bar: Buck & Breck

A small door, seemingly innocuous. Is it there? The doorbell. Someone opens the door and leads us through a dark corridor. A dark room, a magnificent counter all in length, an octopus under a glass bell observing, barely a dozen seats. As in the time of prohibition, we have the feeling that we are doing something illicit and we enjoy our Whisky Sour with even more pleasure.

Address: Brunnenstraße 177, 10119 Berlin

15. Drink a coffee in the jungle of Café Blumen and go in search of the Parrot

In contrast to the incessant hustle and bustle of the city and cars, Café Blumen is a flower shop whose vegetation has invaded the space and creates a peaceful and restful setting. As if that wasn't enough to give you a change of scenery - make sure the parrot in the shop doesn't come and steal your cookies!

16. Drink a beer on the rooftop of the Klunkerkranich bar

One of the most beautiful views of Berlin! The roof top on the top floor of the Neukölln Arcaden shopping centre gives way to a beautiful terrace full of greenery in summer. It can be reached by entering via the car park and then taking the lift up to the 5th floor - the atmosphere is exceptional.

17. Enjoy a pop experience in an independent cinema: Delphi Lux

Experience a cinematic experience unlike any other at Delphi Lux: small, intimate rooms with a unique pop style and mesmerizing lighting effects.

Address: Kantstrasse 10, 10623 Berlin

18. Eat a Currywurst and drink a glass of Dom Perignon

Ambassadors, Bundeskanzler, opera singers will be your table neighbours as you enjoy your emblematic currywurst with a glass of champagne in your hand.

Address: Kurfürstendamm 195

19. Take a Kaffee Kuchen in the Prinzessinengarten gardens (in summer)

Take a Kaffee-Kuchen break in a bucolic setting in the heart of Berlin, in the middle of a birch forest. For lunch, the restaurant serves dishes based on vegetables grown just a few meters from your table.

20. Admire the memorial church and its open-air ruins

Experience the unusual and wander through the ruins of a memory. Built in honour of the first German Emperor, the church was practically destroyed by bombing during the Second World War. Condemned to be razed to the ground, it was saved by the protests of the Berliners who succeeded in having it preserved as it was so that it remains a reminder (visible to all) of the horrors that shook the city. A few years later, a new church with a rather strange appearance was built right next to the old one and contrasts with the square.

Address: Breitscheidplatz, 10789 Berlin