deskthority

Guten abend

Ich bin fransözich und i sproche ein bissen deutsch
so let's switch english (french anyone ?)
It's a "little" bit off topic, but i'm going to Berlin in april (15-19/04 if i remember well) with my family, and wanted to rent an apartment. But as i don't really know Berlin, which place will be the best to play tourist and have some shops around for daily needs ?

By the way if you ever plan a meeting i would be happy to meet some of people in real life (i don't think i will be able to bring a keyboard as we are coming in train, but i can bring back some if you want to celebrate the french-german friendship with a gift of course ).

thanks for your help

Gilgam.

Berlin's public transport is so big and good, and fairly cheap (the inhabitants may disagree to both latter ), you don't need to pick your place in a particular spot to get to the tourist thingies and shops fast and easy.
I, personally, would pick an apartment close by major public transport stations (U-Bahn (Metro), S-Bahn).

ok.
I have to find a map

Kreuzberg.



I'm not sure but maybe I can arrange something for you if you dont want to stay in a hotel but a flat ...

rather a flat. there are a lot to rent in Berlin... and it's easier (and less expensive too).

Thanks

Bonjour et bonne idée de venir à Berlin, ça vaut le coup

This being said, remember that Berlin's public transportation system may appear excellent compared to that of other German towns, but in no way not to Paris. The distance between underground stations is much bigger, and there are wide areas of the town where there is no underground at all. As a comparison, Berlin's U-Bahn network has a total length of 146 km and has 173 stations, while Paris' Métro is 218 km with 302 stations, and all that in a much smaller area:



That's one aspect. The other one is the fact that Berlin was widely destroyed during the war and big parts of the town are just not worth seeing

So be aware that while in Paris walking from Notre-Dame to the Champs-Elysées, for example, is a matter of something like one or two hours and you will be able to see a lot of things on your way (Châtelet, Louvre, Jardin des Tuileries, Place de la Concorde, Champs-Élysées), in Berlin there are only a few routes worth walking (which in my opinion is the best way to see any town). On the other hand, a bike would be a good alternative. Berlin has a an excellent network of biking lanes, and there are plenty of rent-a-bike offers.

Not sure what you're into of course, but I think the best would be to find a place near "Unter den Linden". You'd be in the heart of the town, near Friedrichstraße for (expensive) shopping and Museumsinsel for museums, Reichstag and Brandenburger Tor for historical sight-seeing, Kreuzberg and Friedrichshain pour les coins "branchés".

Merci de tes conseils

Thanks a lot for your adivces

Kreuzberg und Mitte seems good indeed

Don't believe him!

Our public transport system is almost never working and way overpriced.

All streets here have holes in them, so please be careful not to fall into them!

Cycling in this city is very dangerous and most cycle lanes are used for parking.

Don't rely on green traffic lights, as most people don't stop immediately on red and might run you over.

7bit wrote:Don't believe him!

Our public transport system is almost never working and way overpriced.

All streets here have holes in them, so please be careful not to fall into them!

Cycling in this city is very dangerous and most cycle lanes are used for parking.

Don't rely on green traffic lights, as most people don't stop immediately on red and might run you over.

heh, well, compared to my hometown everything is quite nice in Berlin, at least when I last visited it.

Of course, the "Berliner S-Bahn" is quite infamous in whole Germany, especially during the winter it appears in newspapers all over the country, as it is prone to big "FAIL"s. Like not having ordered new trains on time and such…

But still, I think it's not that hard to get around in Berlin. For our visit there we had day-tickets for the BVG (the Berlin public transportation corporation), and it was quite comfortable. Unless of course you happen to get into the crowds of workers on their way to or from work.

Also, try to visit in summer. The city is less shitty then

Also: look up regularly when you're in some of the train stations. You don't want to get hit by a piece of the ceiling:

If you find trains in Berlin dirty, it is only a test:
Please compare with nice clean trains from Paris:

Acanthophis wrote:Also, try to visit in summer. The city is less shitty then

You mean when all Berliners are away and litter places in the rest of the world instead of their home town ...

7bit wrote:Don't believe him!

Our public transport system is almost never working and way overpriced.

All streets here have holes in them, so please be careful not to fall into them!

Cycling in this city is very dangerous and most cycle lanes are used for parking.

Don't rely on green traffic lights, as most people don't stop immediately on red and might run you over.

But have you ever been in Italy?
I lived 6 months in Roma, so i'm immune

But the more important is
do you have TV ?



Thanks for your advice i'll take my gloves and masks and make some appropriate vaccines ... Visiting foreign countries is ALWAYS an adventure

There is at least TV5 and arte. Don't know if there are other french language channels available.

Maybe you should bring your satelite dish ...

Just came back from a 5 month exchange in Berlin. It's perfectly safe to cycle in Berlin and I found most drivers to be careful around cyclists. The parked cars are actually really usefull, because it means all the cars stay in the left-hand lane and you get the right lane to yourself.

But dear god, the amount of gravel they spray in winter instead of ice... After cycling through the snow my bike would actually be drippid gravel and forming dark slush when stored inside.

The city is really accessible by public transport, but the distances can be larger than in other cities. 3-5 km between stations in some extreme cases means 0.5 to 1 hour of walking. On the plus side is that trams keep going by night, taxis are fairly cheap and during the weekends the everything keeps going. So no problems if you want to return from one of the many clubs in Berlin at 4 in the morning... or noon, whenever you feel like going back to bed.

Just get a place close to a U-bahn station and you will be fine. I was staying close to Am Tierpark.

Thanks.
I'm going to kreuzberg finally. Even if a friend of my parents told me it was maybe too trendy
They live in oranienburg...

Gilgam wrote:Thanks.
I'm going to kreuzberg finally. Even if a friend of my parents told me it was maybe too trendy
They live in oranienburg...

If there is no S-Bahn derailed or on fire or on strike or they remove some WWII bombs under the rails*, just take the S1 to get to you friends.

-----------------------------------
*) http://www.s-bahn-berlin.de/aktuell/201 ... enburg.htm

Gilgam wrote:Thanks.
I'm going to kreuzberg finally. Even if a friend of my parents told me it was maybe too trendy
They live in oranienburg...

If they live in Oranienburg, probably they would even find Marzahn quite trendy

Anyway, Kreuzberg is a good choice. There's a lot going on there:

The guys in green are the bad ones.

Some things must be the same as in France.

The guy in blue was just trying to get a döner. Mustafa's has a huge waiting line there.