Food and Drink
Xaver’s for slightly dressed up Bavarian food that is locally sourced (they list their bakers & butchers on the menu)
KANSO serves gorgeous pour over coffee, you select your bean based on flavor profile (your mood and taste, really) and they expertly prepare it, serving in a ceramic cup
Haufbräuhaus München is a 16th century beer hall that serves massive pretzels, giant steins of beer, pork shanks, and schnitzel. It IS touristy but the food is quite good and they have a traditional Bavarian band playing live music while you eat.
Café Cosmos is a bar/cafe that has one of the best patios I’ve ever seen. Everyone at the bar is cool.
Museums
Pinakothek der Moderne for their permanent collection, especially the design exhibitions on the lower level
Museum Brandhorst for the stellar Cy Twombly site-specific painting installation and their amazing selection of Warhol’s
Lenbachhaus for cool conceptual art exhibitions, Blau Reuter collection, and old house museum in the middle.
Glyptothek for Egyptian art in a highly contemporary building.
Shopping
SODA has an incredible selection of zines, art, design, and architecture books, as well as limited print edition magazines.
Alois Dallmayr is a gorgeous splurge-worthy upscale food market with a number of sections. Might be a nice place to grab edible souvenirs like tinned fish, rillettes, and candy. We had a very good pretzel and a raspberry jelly donut.
Docks LP & CD is a solid used record store.
Viktualienmarkt is a giant central food market with stalls that carry produce, olives & pickled delicacies, cheese, bread, etc. Since it’s summer, you could totally shop for a picnic then bring it to the river to dine outside.
Misc. Tips
Go to a movie! We saw a movie at the City-Atelier Kinos which had the coolest interior design! Double check that the movie you’re seeing is in the language you speak if you don’t speak German.
If you are there on a Sunday, everything is closed aside from museums, coffeeshops, and restaurants.
A lot of the museums are 1 Euro on Sunday. And you might want to check your bag, carry change for the lockers.
Stock up on Weleda skincare products while you’re there.
There aren’t a ton of free public bathrooms. Carry change for getting into bathrooms.
Mar 21, 2025
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@WORLDONFIRE purchased from a gal wearing a dirndl selling pretzels out of a box like one of the old-timey cigarette gals !!
Related Recs
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Hey there, here are some cool things to do in berlin that are not too touristy :)
Activities
~ Herzberg Golf (really pretty minigolf place in Neukölln, if you go in the evening the lights are amazing)
~ Prachtwerk Neukölln (small venue where local artists perform)
~ Berlinische Galerie (museum for modern art in a nice neighborhood)
~ Tempelhofer Feld (used to be an airport, now its just a giant field where you can skate, picknick or just walk around - i think you can rent skates or bikes there, not sure tho)
~ Humboldt Forum (art museum in an old castle, very impressive structure and they have changing exhibitions - this one is not very unknown but worth a visit)
Food
~ La Maison (french bakery in Kreuzberg, a little hipstery but they have amazing pastries!)
~ La Bolognina (handmade pasta, very delicious :))
~ La femme (turkish cuisine, they have multiple restaurants in berlin - the food is heavenly, especially the pide)
~ Sahara Imbiss (for a quick snack, sahara has amazing falafel/halloumi etc. for 4-5€)
Bars
~ Villa Neukölln (cocktails and sometimes livemusic, can get pretty crowded tho so come early)
~ Zum starken August (amazing interior, they have good cocktails and sometimes burlesque performances)
I think thats it for now, hope you have a nice time in berlin :)
Sep 16, 2024
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super cozy and cheapish. I used to come there all the time! some other good stops:
- Space Meduza (funky vibes)
- Sameheads (even funkier and has cool events in the daytime)
- Wohnzimmerbar (cozy + in a nice location)
- Mein Haus am See (classic!)
- Am einen Sonntag in August (quintessential Berlin)
- Kapitalist (cute)
Apr 28, 2024
Top Recs from @salad_valet
i canceled my Spotify account over the summer and have spent the last few months rebuilding my digital music library on a refurbished iPod Touch. reading critiques of the app (and it’s enshittification), i realized i wasn’t even sure of my own musical tastes and preferences. i had stopped picking for myself, stopped seeking out new music, ceasing to know how to choose what i wanted or articulate what i like.
breaking free from the algorithm has been such a joy! i’m borrowing gobs of music from the library, rebuilding my old playlists, and consuming more music than i have in years. and better yet, my data isn’t being tracked by Spotify and i own what’s in my personal library. further, my receptors are more open when i’m out in the world exposed to music, searching for recommendations in an organic way.
Jan 16, 2025
i’ve been trying to articulate why i enjoy this space so much. yes, the UX is reminiscent of Tumblr and the early days of the internet. and there’s genuine sincerity and vulnerability on here that makes it feel really cozy and real, which i haven’t felt online in at least a decade.
but i think what’s undergirding my love of this space is how anti-capitalist it feels. most of the recs everyone shares are vibe-checks, quality of life shifts, meditations and offers, music and movies, just plain good art. i don’t feel compelled to buy anything when i come here. i feel excited and pumped to be a cheerleader, find connection, find common ground. and FWIW the recs i’ve shared that have gotten the most traction are my suggestions for leading a less capitalistic / consumerist life (quitting Amazon, getting off of Spotify, building community to take care of you and your things).
all of this is to say, i love it here and i love you guys.
Feb 7, 2025
hear me out—this one might feel impossible, but i quit purchasing items on Amazon in 2018 and cancelled my GoodReads account shortly after.
i did some serious reflection and realized i’d become super reliant upon, and frankly, quite used to the instant gratification of purchasing something and knowing i’d have it within a day. that’s not normal. the labor practices, economics, and environmental impacts of getting what you want from the internet delivered quickly and right to your door are skewed. i was filling a void in myself with mindless purchases.
i’m aware that they service a huge swath of the internet (Amazon Web Services), own Whole Foods and Abe Books, and will likely take over more businesses we like and rely on. weaning off and avoiding entirely is very very hard, but it can also be a measured decision. that said, i know that it is a privilege to abstain from Amazon. i am able bodied, i don’t have kids, i have access to a car, i live in an urban environment with access to a lot of stuff at my fingertips. but making the choice to break out of the Amazon loop has ultimately been better for my pocketbook and better for my relationship to these mega-tech-companies that have their fingers in everything.
in contrast, i’m becoming more interested in alternate economies, like bartering and sharing. i love the idea of having commonly shared tools and items (tool libraries are very cool). we don’t need to own it all, we have each other.
interested in exploring more? the zine pictured below is a great start, and summarizes a much larger book by the same author on how to resist the leviathan that is Amazon.
Jan 22, 2025