01 Klunkerkranich · Neukölln

A garden with a bar on the parking deck of the Neukölln Arcaden shopping mall. You take the elevator through an ordinary shopping center and suddenly stand between raised beds, looking across the rooftops to the TV Tower. Fills up accordingly at sunset, and it closes for the winter.

02 Körnerpark · Neukölln

A baroque garden that sits several meters below the surrounding streets, built in a former gravel pit. In the middle of densest Neukölln you step into grounds with an orangery, fountains and a gallery that look more like Potsdam than Berlin. More on it, and six more quiet gardens, in Secret gardens.

03 Teufelsberg · Grunewald

An artificial hill made of wartime rubble, where the Americans ran a listening station during the Cold War. The white radar domes still stand and now house one of Europe's largest street art galleries. The walk there leads through the Grunewald forest, there is an entrance fee.

04 Tempelhofer Feld · Tempelhof/Neukölln

The former Tempelhof airport, now an open space larger than some city states would like. Berliners barbecue, skate and fly kites on the old runways. There is no shade and no kiosk in the middle, so bring water.

05 Haus Schwarzenberg · Mitte

Right next to the polished Hackesche Höfe lies a courtyard that renovation skipped: street art up to the roof, a cinema, studios and 2 small museums about the Nazi era, including the Otto Weidt Workshop for the Blind museum. The contrast with the neighboring courtyards is half the appeal.

06 Thai-Markt am Preußenpark · Wilmersdorf

Thai families have been selling food here on weekends since the 90s, for decades on the lawn of Preußenpark. In 2024 the market had to leave the park and has continued since as a street market right next to it. Papaya salad and mango sticky rice are still there, just no longer on the grass. The market is seasonal, so check location and days before you go.

07 Dong Xuan Center · Lichtenberg

Several wholesale market halls run by the Vietnamese community: hairdressers, fabrics, plastic flowers in every color and several food stalls serving pho and other Vietnamese dishes. Not a pretty place in the classic sense, but one you will not forget.

08 Stadtbad Neukölln · Neukölln

A public pool from 1914 with columns, mosaics and 2 halls, closer to an ancient bathhouse than to municipal swimming. You swim between marble columns for the price of a regular pool ticket.

09 Admiralbrücke · Kreuzberg

A bridge over the Landwehrkanal where dozens of people sit on the cobblestones on warm evenings, with music, a beer from the corner shop and a view of the water. No program, no stage, just public space the way Berlin uses it.

10 Volkspark Friedrichshain · Friedrichshain

Berlin's oldest public park, with the Fairy Tale Fountain at the entrance and 2 hills covering demolished bunkers. From the larger hill you look out over the east of the city, below people play table tennis and barbecue.

11 Boxhagener Platz am Sonntag · Friedrichshain

On Sundays the square turns into a flea market where genuine household clear-outs still sit between the vintage stalls. The cafés around it open up and the whole neighborhood seems to have breakfast at the same time.

12 Domäne Dahlem ♥ · Dahlem

A farm in the middle of the city, and it has been one for more than 800 years: the former manor is still farmed today, now as an organic farm with a farm shop, pigs, sheep, chickens and cattle. In 1976 Berliners saved the estate from closure and turned it into an open-air museum, so 2026 marks its 50th anniversary.

In the manor house the museum shows, among other things, an old grocery shop, and on the farm a smithy, a pottery and restorers are at work. There are festivals through the year: for children in June, the harvest festival in October and a market during Advent. Take the U3 to Dahlem-Dorf, the station with the thatched roof right opposite.