Drinking and nightlife Berlin, Berlin & Brandenburg - Lonely Planet (2024)

Berghain/Panorama Bar

Friedrichshain

Only world-class spin-masters heat up this hedonistic bass-junkie hellhole inside a labyrinthine ex-powerplant. Hard-edged minimal techno dominates the ex…

Clärchens Ballhaus

Berlin

Yesteryear is now at this early-20th-century dance hall where groovers and grannies hoof it across the parquet without even a touch of irony. There are…

Berlin

Liquid maestro Gonçalo de Sousa Monteiro and his baseball-cap wearing team treat grown-up patrons to libational flights of fancy in their clandestine…

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Friedrichshain

At this gritty multifloor party pen with lots of nooks and crannies, a steady line-up of top DJs feeds a diverse bunch of revellers with dance-worthy…

Bar am Steinplatz

City West & Charlottenburg

Christian Gentemann's liquid playground at the art deco Hotel am Steinplatz was crowned 'Hotel Bar of the Year' in 2016 and 2017, and for good reason The…

Prater Garten

Prenzlauer Berg

Berlin’s oldest beer garden has seen beer-soaked days and nights since 1837 and is still a charismatic spot for guzzling a custom-brewed Prater pilsner …

Thelonius

Neukölln

Embraced by a mellow soundscape and complexion-friendly lighting, well-mannered patrons pack this narrow burrow named for American jazz giant Thelonius…

Schwarze Traube

Kreuzberg

Mixologist Atalay Aktas was Germany’s Best Bartender of 2013 and hasn't missed a step since. He and his staff still create their magic potions in this…

Briefmarken Weine

Friedrichshain

For dolce vita right on socialist-era Karl-Marx-Allee, head to this charmingly nostalgic Italian wine bar ensconced in a former stamp shop. The original…

Weinerei Forum

Prenzlauer Berg

After 8pm, this living-room-style cafe turns into a wine bar that works on the honour principle: you ‘rent’ a wine glass for €2, then help yourself to as…

Ritter Butzke

Kreuzberg

Ritter Butzke has origins as an illegal club but is now a Kreuzberg party circuit fixture. Wrinkle-free folk hit the four floors in a former bathroom…

Fragrances

Berlin

Another baby by Berlin co*cktail maven Arnd Heissen, Fragrances claims to be the world's first 'perfume bar', a libation station where Heissen mixes…

Bryk Bar

Prenzlauer Berg

Both vintage and industrial elements contribute to the unhurried, dapper ambience at this darkly lit co*cktail lab. Bar chef Frank Grosser whips unusual…

Club der Visionäre

Kreuzberg

It’s cold beer, crispy pizza and fine electro at this summertime day-to-night-and-back-to-day chill and party playground in an old canal-side boat shed…

Curtain Club

Berlin

Heavy drapes lead the way to this gentlemen's club–style bar with thick carpets, marble tables and leather armchairs. It's presided over by co*cktail…

Griessmühle

Berlin

Hugging an idyllic canal in Neukölln, Griessmühle is a sprawling indoor-outdoor space with a funky garden strewn with tree houses, Trabis (GDR-era cars)…

Würgeengel

Kreuzberg

For a swish night out, point your compass to this stylish art deco–style bar with lots of chandeliers and shiny black surfaces. It’s always busy but…

Sisyphos

Berlin

On summer weekends, an old dog-food factory about 2km southeast of S-Bahn station Ostkreuz turns into a hedonistic indoor-outdoor party village that…

Vagabund Brauerei

Berlin

American friends Tom, Matt and David became Berlin craft beer pioneers when they started their small batch brewery in 2011. In their earthy-chic taproom,…

Roses

Kreuzberg

A palace of camp and kitsch with pink furry walls that Barbie would love, Roses has been a glittery fixture on the LGBT-and-friends Kreuzberg booze…

Geist im Glass

Neukölln

Weekends wouldn't be the same without Aishah Bennett's soul-restoring brunches (killer pancakes, great Bloody Marys), but swinging by this seductively lit…

Suicide Circus

Friedrichshain

Residents and visitors hungry for an eclectic techno shower invade this midsize dancing den with its industrial warehouse feel, top-notch sound system and…

Luftgarten

Neukölln

On the northern edge of the vast Tempelhofer Feld, a former airfield-turned-public park, this is one of Berlin’s loveliest beer gardens. Kick back with a…

KitKatClub

Kreuzberg

This ‘kitty’ is naughty, sexy and decadent, listens to electro of all stripes and fancies extravagant get-ups (or nothing at all). Berlin’s most (in…

SO36

Kreuzberg

This legendary club began as an artist squat in the early 1970s and soon evolved into Berlin’s seminal punk venue, known for wild concerts by the Dead…

Diener Tattersall

City West & Charlottenburg

In business for over a century, this Old Berlin haunt was taken over by German heavyweight champion Franz Diener in the 1950s and became one of West…

Insomnia

Berlin

Expect a wild night of erotic partying in this 19th-century ballroom-turned-deliciously decadent Berlin nightlife fixture. With its international DJs,…

Mein Haus am See

Berlin

This 'House by the Lake' is nowhere near anything liquid, unless you count the massive amount of beverages consumed at its multitasking all-hours cafe-bar…

Friedrichshain

Conversation flows as freely as the unfiltered pilsner, malty Dunkel (dark) and fruity Weizen (wheat) produced right here at one of Berlin's oldest craft…

Golgatha

Kreuzberg

This classic beer garden in idyllic Viktoriapark draws a changing cast of characters all day long: families in the daytime (there’s an adjacent playground…

Badehaus Szimpla Musiksalon

Friedrichshain

This low-key club in a former workers' bathhouse on the RAW grounds delivers with eclectic bathhouse-themed decor (check out the golden tub), cheap drinks…

Sharlie Cheen

Berlin

Charlie Sheen finds his fictitious alter ego in the classily unpretentious Sharlie Cheen bar. Sharlie’s apocryphal story is told in cute anecdotes…

Lab.oratory

Friedrichshain

Part of the Berghain complex, this well-equipped ‘lab’ has plenty of toys and rooms for advanced male sexual experimentation in what looks like the engine…

Anomalie Art Club

Berlin

The 'dream factory' of Anomalie breaks down the boundaries between club, culture and food in a former car repair shop-turned-arty playground far off the…

Klunkerkranich

Neukölln

In the warmer months, vibes, views and sounds are the ammo of this club-garden-bar combo on the rooftop parking deck of the Neukölln Arcaden shopping mall…

Limonadier

Kreuzberg

A big stylised painting of Harry Johnson, whose 1882 bartenders’ manual is still the profession’s ‘bible’, keeps an eye on imbibers at this neighbourhood…

Fairytale Bar

Prenzlauer Berg

Once upon a time there was (is) a bar in Berlin that whisked you into a cabinet of curiosities with bewitchingly costumed staff and a 'talking' drinks…

Torbar

Berlin

This buzzy restaurant-bar combo owned by Dieter Meier, one half of the 1980s Swiss proto-techno duo Yello, is always packed with beautiful people keen on…

Eschenbräu

Berlin

Cradled by student housing, this earthy microbrewery is a beloved neighbourhood spot with a woodsy cellar pub and chestnut-canopied beer garden. Aside…

Haubentaucher

Friedrichshain

Behind the brick walls of the graffiti-festooned RAW Gelände hides this ingenious urban beach club with industrial charm and Med flair. At its heart is a…