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By: Nigel Robinson

Check out our insider gay travel tips to Berlin

Berlin has been a top destination for gay and lesbian travellers ever since the 1920s, and has always been famous for its tolerance and acceptance. And while it’s not quite true that the bars never close in this twenty-four hour city, it’s as good as. When your favoured venue throws you out at three in the morning, then you’ll find that the one two secluded doorways down the street is opening up.  

Yet it's not just a party town. Reminders of its past await you from around every corner. Leave the consumer excess of KaDeWe, Berlin's biggest luxury department store and the first thing you see is a memorial to the victims of the Nazi concentration camps. Wonder at the 21st-century architecture of the Potsdamer Platz and suddenly realise you're standing exactly where the Berlin Wall once stood.

BARS AND PARTIES

Hafen

Friendly bar, rammed most nights with trendy thirtysomethings, and in the summer the crowd spills out onto the  pavement. Every first Monday of the month the lovely Hendryk presents an English language quiz. Next door is the notorious Tom’s Bar but you wouldn’t want to go there, now, would you?   Motzstrasse 19.  Underground (U) station –Nollendorfplatz.   Open daily 9pm - ?

Prinzknecht

Huge and welcoming bar for men, attracting a slightly maturer crowd. A good place to kick off your night, and staffed with some of the cutest bar boys around. Fuggerstrasse 3 . U-Nollendorfplatz.   Open daily 3pm – 3am

 Roses

Kitsch and cocktails conquer all at this classic mixed bar in the Kreuzberg area, even today the heart of “alternative” Berlin.  Oranienstrasse 187 . U-Kottbusser Tor. Open daily 10pm - ?

Schwuz

Legendary disco which doesn’t take itself too seriously with a diverse and up for it crowd.   Mehringdamm 61,. U-Mehringdamm.    Open Friday and Saturdays 11pm - ?

EATS

Café Berio

Famous for huge all-day breakfasts, the cosmopolitan and stylish Café Berio is a perennial favourite and employs the best-looking waiters in all Berlin.  And once you’ve feasted on the eye candy, try some of their great ice creams and cakes.   Maasenstrasse 7. U-Nollendorfplatz.  Open daily Sunday –Thursday 8am – midnight, Friday – Saturday 8am – 1a

Trattoria a Muntagnola

Mamma Angela’s no-nonsense family-run restaurant specialises in traditional cuisine from Italy’s Basilicata region. It’s slap bang in the middle of the gay Schöneberg  village and is packed each night with good-looking locals.   Fuggerstrasse 27. U-Nollendorfplatz.    Open daily 5pm - midnight

Kurpfalz Weinstuben

Hidden in a secluded courtyard, the Kurpfalz specialises in traditional German cooking and fine German wines. One of Berlin’s best kept secrets.   Wilmersdorferstrasse 93 . U-Adenauerplatz.   Open daily 6pm – 1am Closed Mondays

SEE

KaDeWe

The sixth floor of mainland Europe’s largest department store is foodie heaven with mouth-watering gourmet delicacies from around the world to buy or to taste at the counter. Sip a glass of Kristal in the champagne bar and see how the other half shop.  Tauentzienstrasse 21 – 24 . U-Wittenbergplatz.    Open daily Monday – Friday 10am – 8pm  Saturday 9.30am – 8pm

Reichstag

Almost razed to the ground by the Russians in 1945, the German Parliament building is still pock-marked with bullet holes. The stunning glass cupola offers amazing views over Berlin, but get there early in the morning if you don’t want to queue.  Platz der Republik.  Overland (S) Station-Unter den Linden.  Open daily 8am – 12pm

Schwules Museum (Gay Museum)

The permanent exhibition at the world’s only gay museum focuses on Berlin’s gay history from the 1800s to the present day.   Mehringdamm 61  . U-Mehringdamm.   Open daily 2pm – 6pm Saturday 2pm – 7pm Closed Tuesdays

East Side Gallery

Most of the Berlin Wall has now been demolished but part of it still stands on the banks of the River Spree. Intended to be a memorial for freedom, the Wall has been transformed into an open air art gallery with approximately 106 paintings from artists from all over the world.  Mühlenstrasse .  U-Warschauerstrasse.  Open daily

Tacheles

In the heart of the old Jewish quarter, now one of Berlin’s hippest districts, Tacheles is housed in the ruins of an old East German shopping mall and the home to one of Berlin’s funkiest and alternative arts scenes.  Oranienburgerstrasse 54 – 56a . U-Oranienburgerstrasse.    Open daily

OUT OF THE CITY

Gründerzeit Museum

Worth the long trip from the centre of town, the Museum is a time capsule of a German house from the latter part of the nineteenth century. The rooms are decked out in genuine period furniture, assembled over the years by famous East German transvestite, the late Charlotte von Mahlsdorf. The basement holds the bar and interior decorations she saved from the notorious Mulackritze, the first gay and lesbian bar in Germany.   Hultschiner Damm 333. S-Mahlsdorf .   Wednesdays and Sundays only 10am – 6pm

Potsdam

One of the most beautiful cities in Germany, Potsdam is just eighteen miles west of Berlin and well worth a day’s excursion. The  Rococo-styled Schloss Sans Souci, the summer palace of Frederick the Great, is the most popular sight, but the Dutch and the Weavers’ Quarters in the historic part of the city are well worth a visit.