germany :: berlin :: general

[herpsky]

i guess i can cop a portable router in japan or us and cop SIM card there.

 

getting a SIM in paris was a huge pain. the 20 euro card lasted like maybe 10 minutes in terms of data. 

[ProfMonnitoff]

There aren't any prepaid SIMs that come with enough data to do lots of tethering or video streaming. For phone use, every train station, supermarket, post office, etc will sell some sort of SIM that will get you maybe 2GB for 15€ or something in that price range. All the small prepaid carriers are basically identical (3G only, ok speed, no customer service to speak of) so doesn't really matter which one you pick. In Austria I use BOB, in Belgium I use Lyca/Lebara because every corner shop has top-ups for them.

Also worth noting 3 has a thing where your UK prepaid (£15 for unlimited data + 2GB tethering) will work at no extra cost in any other country that also has 3, which is more and more of them, so getting local SIMs is becoming less important. I think this works not just with UK 3 pre-paid but also 3 prepaid from any other European country, so might be worth noting if you plan to go to a lot of countries.

Edited January 17, 2015 by ProfMonnitoff

[Mr.Sander]

Guys any good store I should stop by, concept stores/ independent department stores (womenswear mainly) for the gf

[EG562]

Voo, soul fire butterfly, and theres another shop next door to soulfire, im forgetting the name, but worth checking. 

[herpsky]

There aren't any prepaid SIMs that come with enough data to do lots of tethering or video streaming. For phone use, every train station, supermarket, post office, etc will sell some sort of SIM that will get you maybe 2GB for 15€ or something in that price range. All the small prepaid carriers are basically identical (3G only, ok speed, no customer service to speak of) so doesn't really matter which one you pick. In Austria I use BOB, in Belgium I use Lyca/Lebara because every corner shop has top-ups for them.

Also worth noting 3 has a thing where your UK prepaid (£15 for unlimited data + 2GB tethering) will work at no extra cost in any other country that also has 3, which is more and more of them, so getting local SIMs is becoming less important. I think this works not just with UK 3 pre-paid but also 3 prepaid from any other European country, so might be worth noting if you plan to go to a lot of countries.

Actually, I just did some research.

 

It's Vodafone Ireland and Vodafone Italy SIMs that provide inexpensive roaming. The latter actually offers 500mb of data / day for like 2 euros / day. 

 

The trick is you have to get a hold of these cards from ebay. The sellers activate, you top up on the respective websites.

 

3 unfortunately does NOT cover Germany.

Edited January 22, 2015 by herpsky

[rirawin]

My Girlfriend who's on business out there just walked into an o2 store and picked up a prepaid card from them. It was 20 euros for either 250MB of data and 200min worth of local calls, or 20 euros for a 1GB data only package.

 

Karlsruhe was nice, went to the Karlsruhe palace and surrounding gardens. We went to Anders Auf Dem Turmberg (http://www.anders-turmberg.de/) who recently gained one Michelin star. It's a really nice restaurant up on the side of a mountain with a spectacular view looking down on Karlsruhe. Atmosphere was relaxed, staff were friendly and attentive, and the tasting menus were affordable. We all had a four course taster each that was 72 euros, but had many little dishes in between, so we had eight courses in total. I highly recommend it.

 

We also took a day trip to Heidelburg, which was a nice little town. 

[herpsky]

I set aside 7 nights and 8 days in Germany (Berlin)/Austria/Czech.

 

Any thoughts on how to divide it up?

 

The last two nights and first night, I'll stay in Berlin. 

 

2 days in Vienna / 2 days in Prague. 

 

Use train to go Berlin --> Dresden --> Prague --> Vienna

Then fly back to Berlin?

 

Is this feasible?

[downtilimunderground]

I set aside 7 nights and 8 days in Germany (Berlin)/Austria/Czech.

 

Any thoughts on how to divide it up?

 

The last two nights and first night, I'll stay in Berlin. 

 

2 days in Vienna / 2 days in Prague. 

 

Use train to go Berlin --> Dresden --> Prague --> Vienna

Then fly back to Berlin?

 

Is this feasible?

 

you can go to prague by bus, its relatively cheap (18-20 euros per ticket) and takes around 5 hours. check meinfernbus.de, i think they have the cheapest tickets

[AL-9000]

Guys any good store I should stop by, concept stores/ independent department stores (womenswear mainly) for the gf

Not "independent" but KaDeWe is nice, and check out the new Bikini Concept Mall.

 

I set aside 7 nights and 8 days in Germany (Berlin)/Austria/Czech.

 

Any thoughts on how to divide it up?

 

 

I would cut out Dresden, and do only 1 day in Prague. Dresden is nice but for the timeline you've laid out I think it would be more worthwhile to spend the extra time in Berlin or Vienna, or maybe even a day trip to Bratislava.

 

 

[herpsky]

Thanks for the input. Looks like there's not much to see in Prague. Just scenery. 

 

Going to Austria might be a huge hassle. If I were to cut that out, any other spots that are worth checking out in or around Germany?

 

I have not heard great things about both Munich and Frankfurt. Also thinking about Coppenhagen but I kinda want to leave Norway, Sweden, Coppenhagen for next year.

[ProfMonnitoff]

other than the sufu approved shops i'd definitely recommend Andreas Murkudis

[downtilimunderground]

Thanks for the input. Looks like there's not much to see in Prague. Just scenery. 

 

Going to Austria might be a huge hassle. If I were to cut that out, any other spots that are worth checking out in or around Germany?

 

I have not heard great things about both Munich and Frankfurt. Also thinking about Coppenhagen but I kinda want to leave Norway, Sweden, Coppenhagen for next year.

 

 

prague is nice tho: good and cheap beer and food, beautiful women and buildings and quite some interesting cultural offerings off the beaten track (e.g. http://www.dox.cz/en/ there was not a single other visitor when i went last year) 

 

 

munich and frankfurt are definitely not that interesting...hamburg is nice for a day or two, but if germany is just not for you, go to schoenefeld airport and fly to any major european city with easyjet or ryanair.

[herpsky]

prague is nice tho: good and cheap beer and food, beautiful women and buildings and quite some interesting cultural offerings off the beaten track (e.g. http://www.dox.cz/en/ there was not a single other visitor when i went last year) 

 

 

munich and frankfurt are definitely not that interesting...hamburg is nice for a day or two, but if germany is just not for you, go to schoenefeld airport and fly to any major european city with easyjet or ryanair.

Do most intra-european flights fly out of schoenefeld? I was looking at a flight out of TXL going to Austria by Berlin Air(?)

[rirawin]

A lot of budget airlines operate from Schoenfeld. For example, Easyjet operate routes from there, including a direct route to London Southend. Which is surprisingly easy to get to and from central London, 53min train journey Liverpool Street station to be precise.

[freecat]

I would go to Prague from Berlin either by train or bus, then to Vienna by train. Vienna -> Berlin is rather straightforward by plane. What you could also do is go to Budapest and go back to Berlin (by train or plane) from there, it's a very charming city as well.

You can do Hamburg next time and include it into a Scandinavian trip. I lived there it's a nice city the harbour is pretty, there's also nice restaurants and a few alternative café/bars. When I lived in Sweden I went to Hamburg pretty often and it's quite quick to go to Copenhagen by train from there.

Edited February 5, 2015 by freecat

[hate]

listen to freecat! 

[herpsky]

Instead of doing prague or austria, i'm actually thinking about going to Copenhagen for two days out of the 7 days I'm in europe. I do kinda want to go to prague though. 

 

Would it be feasible to do BER ----fly---> copen ---fly---> prague --- train-- -> berlin 

[hate]

yeah its totally doable! i was celebrating the new year in berlin and got cheap flights to copenhagen with easy jet. if you don't find cheap flights or want to do it cheaper you could always fly back to berlin and get there a bus or a cheap flight to prague. i have been to both I have to say that copenhager is much more interesting than vienna. don't forget to visit christiana if you are going to copenhagen.

[nvsnli]

Prague was nice and cheap, not very good for partying unlike Berlin.

[freecat]

Would it be feasible to do BER ----fly---> copen ---fly---> prague --- train-- -> berlin

Doable, but there's no direct flight between Copenhagen and Prague which means that you'll waste quite a bit of time at some airport during that journey.

[herpsky]

looks like norwegian and csa do directs?

[Vampyrvargfesten]

i'm in berlin this weekend and next week.  sup

[freecat]

looks like norwegian and csa do directs?

Yup, they actually do. I think it depends on the day. I had put a random day and there was none. Norwegian flights from Copenhagen to Prague look quite cheap right now for Mars, and Norwegian's got in-flight Wifi on most of their flights which is nice.

[herpsky]

I actually shelled out extra 15 USD for airberlin because their baggage policy is more relaxed. 

 

So, it's confirmed. Berlin -> Copen -> Prague. 

 

I also ordered a SIM card from Vodafone Ireland. 3 euro a day for 200 mb roaming anywhere in europe. 

Couldn't get a vodafone IT SIM because there's a restriction on sales. If you can get a hold of it, it's goat. 500 mb daily data allowance for 3 euro a day. 

 

Anyway, I have an iPhone but also have Nexus 4, which is factory unlocked. 

 

It's gonna be tight.

[herpsky]

i'm in berlin this weekend and next week.  sup

u there with classicmrip?

 

u gotta teach me the spots. ima hanging out with a jbz half the time. not set on the spots to check out but 

-voo

-solebox

-the barn

-mustafa's (is this even worth the wait)

-acne

-mykita

-wood wood

-firmament

-father carpenter

-five elephant

 

also where can i find dtf

Edited February 10, 2015 by herpsky

[Warakia]

Mustafa is worth the wait if you avoid rush hour. So in my experience, come before 11:30 in the morning or after 2:30 in the afternoon, and again avoid it from 17:00 until like 19:30 or something. Like if the line is all the way until that currywurst shop or even further, don't bother. Else just get a drink from the store right in front of Mustafa and relax while lining up, it moves decently fast anyway. In the end it's still basically the best döner experience I've had that constantly delivers every time you go. 

Edited February 12, 2015 by Warakia

[frankie_four]

probably late pass, but if you got 2 hours spare time - make an appointment for a guided tour through the boros collection! in. the same atreet is a little sandwich bar, nothing fancy but delicious & reasonable prices - jones foodstore

Edited February 13, 2015 by frankie_four

[herpsky]

i'm pulling up next month. just reserved a spot. thank you sir

[herpsky]

Yo, how can I buy a lufthansa rimowa from the world shop and get a tax refund?

 

I arrive in TXL. I leave for Copenhagen the next day. Then I go to prague. after that I'm back in berlin.

The problem is my flight leaving TXL is at 710AM on a sunday and I don't think it's logistically possible to cop and get a refund on my way out. 

 

Is there a way to get a refund in town? Can I buy one at TXL when I first arrive in Berlin, show them my return ticket, and get the refund on the same day at the airport?

 

My returning flight connects in London. I have like 1.5 hours to kill, I think. 

[frankie_four]

not sure, but if you buy at TXL after your arrival, you should be able to buy at the duty free shop?

 

anyway: If you got no table at Noma's in København, go for Amass and Black Axe Mangal