Meeting our Spotters in Berlin

Finally, our first “real” international trip to meet Spotters after March 2020! After some very disappointing last-minute cancelations last year (New York, Tampere, Tashkent) due to the COVID-19 pandemic we had the chance to visit Berlin last week on a last-minute trip. And what a trip!

The Berlin Spotters team (and co-founder Bart)

Of course the highlight as always, but this time maybe even more than usual: meeting our Spotters! We were very lucky the entire team of 7 Spotters was available that evening. That doesn’t happen very often – perhaps we should plan more last minute trips… It was a meeting that confirmed our faith in our concept again and was soul-healing, after a difficult year.

We ran (and “public transported”- see below) around like crazy with the Spotted by Locals app to visit as many of our “favorited” locals’ recommendations as possible. We are pretty happy with the score: 60 spots visited out of the 170 that are online!

Some of the super cool spots we visited:

• Laidak – a traditional neighborhood bar that just ticks all the “Berlin” boxes
• LiteraturHaus cafe – an old villa, saved and turned into a lovely cafe with garden
• Mogg – Have a Jewish Pastrami sandwich in the former Jewish Girl’s School
• She Said – A bookstore with female & queer authors only
• Unterwegs – A shop with antique travel guides and souvenirs
• Viktoriapark – A park with a waterfall, great for meeting locals who are BBQ-ing
• Geist in Glas – A very cosy Neuköln cocktail bar that also serves an amazing brunch

Another mission on this 72-hour trip, was testing two very popular cards Visit Berlin gave us the opportunity to test for free. They’re available at the airport, and at many conveniently located places in town.

The Berlin WelcomeCard is a pass for free public transport – the version we had (72 hours – Berlin and around) costs €38. In a city as big as Berlin, it’s a no-brainer to take this card if you want to visit different neighborhoods. The public transport system is absolutely amazing – we didn’t have to wait longer than 5 minutes for any bus, metro, S-bahn or tram.

The Berlin Museum Pass provides free access to the state museums (basically, all the famous museums) for 3 days, for a price of €29). This is a good deal too, but only if you visit more than 3 museums. Making a reservation at the museums online is a piece of cake!

 

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