Best things to do in Berlin, according to an Aussie expat

Scott Curry, an opera and music expert, who is the Berlin-based tour leader for Renaissance Tours, reveals where to go in the city where he’s lived for 44 years

Everything you need to knock off your list, according to an Aussie who's lived in Berlin for 44 years. 

I ended up based in Berlin because…

After making the conscious decision to leave Australia shortly after graduating from the Queensland Conservatorium of Music in 1980, one of the first of many life-changing decisions was made in a bar late one night shortly after in Frankfurt am Main.

Scott Curry: tour leader at Renaissance Tours

Following advice to “abandon the Eurail route and travel to the walled city surrounded by the German Democratic Republic”, I did just that and once in West-Berlin the chance encounters multiplied. Most of a lifetime later, I still live not far from where I disembarked from that train one freezing morning in early 1981. The chance to buy an apartment in 1987 was the best decision I ever made, and I still inhabit my fourthfloor piece of old Europe complete with no lift and 92 stairs.

When you go make sure you…

Get advice about walking – tours, routes and ideas (bike tours might get you further, but walkers see much more!)

East Side Gallery, Berlin

For eating out…

A favourite cafe is the Cafe Cu29 in the James Simon Gallery, which is the entrance building to the Museum Island complex and overlooks the house where our former Chancellor (Angela Merkel) still lives. Order from a person and be served by a robot.

The best things about living here are… 

Not needing a car is both luxury and privilege. Having all necessary amenities within easy walking distance, and an extensive and reliable public transport system makes for stress-free downtown living. The surrounding countryside is easily reachable by train, and the variety of lakes, palaces and medieval towns is astounding.

Public transport is a breeze in Berlin

The best time to go is…

Spring and summer are the obvious choices to enjoy one of Europe’s greenest cities. Now that the winters of knee-deep snow are just a distant memory, the December-long Christmas markets are popular places to enjoy Glühwein and metre-long sausages without freezing.

Mauerpark in Berlin

Best places to stay…

Apartment hotels are popular and we have luxury hotels in abundance … the Adlon with views of the Brandenburg Gate, once the temporary home to the Queen and scene of the famous Michael Jackson baby-dangling episode; the Ritz-Carlton preferred by Barack Obama; the Grand Hyatt at Potsdamer Platz with its roof pool – all with foyers to have drinks while celebrity-spotting, popular during the yearly Berlin Film Festival. As a contrast to the uniformity of these hotels, pensions in old apartment buildings with communal breakfast rooms are more sociable and contribute to the old Europe experience.

Best views in the city. Picture: The Adlon Berlin

Best tours to do are…

Stalin architecture, Tempelhof Airport, canal cruises, lunch in Television Tower, Museum Island, Sachsenhausen concentration camp, Checkpoint Charlie, Palace of Tears, the Art Bunker, New National Gallery, Topographie of Terror, Hackesche Höfe, the rebuilt Berlin Schloss now home to a myriad of museums, Bikini House, the brass-plated Stumbling Stones embedded in footpaths all over the city commemorating (mostly) Jewish victims of the Holocaust. Our southern neighbour, Potsdam, is an absolute highlight in itself. Memorial plaques abound in many areas of the city, reminding us who has lived here. I had one erected in my street last year commemorating one of my musical paragons, Ferruccio Busoni.

Museum Island and the bridge over the river Spree

As a city of culture…

Berlin is hard to beat. With three opera houses, eight orchestras, historical (Konzerthaus), iconic (Philharmonie) and State of the Art (Pierre Boulez Saal) concert halls, it is possible to spend every evening at a high-class performance. As a long-time tour leader for Sydneybased Renaissance Tours, I have had the pleasure of leading many cultural tours which visit these venues, including visits to nearby cities such as Hamburg, Dresden and Leipzig. We also walk around my West Berlin neighbourhood, ending up at one of Europe’s largest stores, KaDeWe, Berlin’s answer to Harrods. And who else would show you where Liza Minnelli’s famous screaming scene from Cabaret was actually filmed?

Originally published as Best things to do in Berlin, according to an Aussie expat