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BERLiN

Berlin has been one the finest cities for the urban generation for the last ten years and will continue to do so for some time, as in the grand scheme of things Berlin is a total infant as it has only been one city since 1989. The streets are plastered with graffiti and street art (only recently outlawed) and the Kreuzberg, Friedrichshain, and Prenzlauer Berg areas are where it’s at for street life. This is where the young and the restless hang and the great-quality, cheap places to eat, sleep and drink are in abundance.

Because of the number of youth in the city there is a lot of cheap entertainment on offer. There are too many clubs and venues even to think about listing and every genre of music is catered for. In the Kreuzberg and Friedrichshain neighbourhoods there are many small bars that open up and attract boho crowds that are seriously unique. This is the place where the doner kebab was invented. Forget what you know about the doner, in Berlin they are one of the most delicious things you can eat.

A short walk from the Ostkreuz station is a really great street called Sonntagstrasse, which is a great place to spend an evening. A lot of students live in this area as it is cheap and not-yet developed. There are a few hostels and cheap hotels here and many bars and restaurants.

The Mitte area has been almost completely rebuilt since 1989 as this was where the wall ran its course with large parts mainly no-man’s land between East and West Berlin, and a lot of the fashion industry and boutique hotels are situated here.

One thing that is interesting about Berlin is the courtyards behind the tall apartment buildings. There is a whole world waiting to be explored and most courtyards are accessible to the public. You can be on the most urban street and wander through the heavily graffiti’d arch, then step into another world: ponds, trees, timber yards, artists’ studios, kindergartens, communal eating and living spaces, indie cinemas. There are some great independent festivals and events in and around the city, especially in the summer when the city comes alive. The Berliners love their independence and when the 02 stadium was built recently there was much protesting at the homogenization of their culture, with a lot of the city promising to boycott any concert there. Here here! I say. Fight the power and commercialization of culture.

There isn’t much left of the wall except for the tourist area in the Potsdammer Platz and the West Side gallery along the river in Kreuzberg. The latter is the one to visit as a lot of the original wall art is still visible and this tells its own story of the wall.

BERLiN ON LESS THAN 40 EUROS A DAY

Berlin is one of the cheapest western European cites. The figures below will change slightly with inflation, but this is what you can live off:

Dorm bed in decent hostel	€16
Continental Breakfast	€2
Lunch (doner/pizza)	€2.50
Supper (quality)	€7
Travel Card	€6.10
Drinks (ten bottles of beer/soda)	€5