Explore Berlin like a local

The Berlin that most tourists will experience is not the same one that the locals know and love.

The Lonely Planets and Berlitz guides that we religiously consult to find out where to go and what to see can only scratch the surface of such a varied and eclectic city.

And because the locals quite like the fact that their favourite haunts aren’t stuffed full of visitors with nylon rucksacks and guide books, they tend to keep their secrets to themselves.

It took a little persuasion, but here’s the latest on the best of accommodation, travel and attractions from the people who know the city best.

Get there like a local

German Veronika Riesebieter recommends a very nifty site called ww.mitfahrgelegenheit.de, which roughly translates as ‘co-traveller opportunities’). Simply put in the location you wish to travel from, select Berlin as the destination, indicate your dates and the site will put you in touch with a driver who is going your way.

The costs are really minimal; Dusseldorf to Berlin, for example, can cost as little as €20. On the international page, you can post a request for a lift all the way from Malta or Italy and you’ll receive an e-mail when an offer becomes available.

It’s a brilliant way to get a cheap ride, share petrol costs and potentially strike up a new friendship on the way. The site is in German but is fairly self-explanatory and most drivers will be able to respond in English.

Stay with a Berliner

Once you’ve been driven to Berlin by a Berliner, Veronika says you can solve your accommodation problem by moving in with one.

English language website, www.exberliner.com, has a classified section in which dozens of rooms are offered, from a few days to a few weeks, at considerably less than hotel prices.

It might seem rather odd to share a house with complete strangers (and madness on their behalf to trust someone that they don’t know under their own roof), but plenty of people do it and the feedback is good.

Your host will make some extra cash while you get the chance to meet some friendly locals and stay right in the middle of town at a bargain rate.

Hole in the Wall

Once you’ve settled in, local Gesa von Wichert suggests visiting Mauer Park (Wall Park). As the name implies, the Berlin Wall was built through this green area and you can still feel its ghostly impact.

In typical Berlin style, every sunny Sunday, a cyclist arrives with speakers and an amp, another sets up a table to sell beer, someone makes gluhwein and fries sausages and a spontaneous karaoke starts, with around 1,000 people gathering to join in.

Once you’ve had enough of slightly off-key singing, head to the massive flea market directly opposite.

Watch the fussball

Nicholas Crockford, a Maltese citizen living in Berlin, suggests watching a Hertha or a Union football match.

Hertha, the team for West Berlin, might be a better bet as they have finally made it into the first division and have a pitch in the huge Olympia stadium.

Union, in East Berlin, are so poor that the fans had to refurbish the stadium because the team had no money!

Get more than coffee in a café

Spielwiese is more than just a café; it’s a unique games emporium. You can rent out one of the 1,200 games that they have in stock for a small fee and play it in the café for just €1.50 or take it home to play later.

There are also lots of games to buy. From Carrom (Indian finger billiards) and Weykick (a football game with magnets under the table), to classics such as Monopoly, Scrabble and Robo Rally, Spielwiese is a paradise for kids and the young at heart.

Break the ice with the regulars by challenging them to a game of table football.

Spielwiese Berlin, Kopernik-usstraße 24, www.spielwiese-berlin.de.

Discover Berlin’s dark history

Kaserne Kampnitz is part of a history that Berliners would much rather forget. It was built before World War II as a barracks, then taken over by the Russians when the Germans lost the war.

When the Russians left in 1994, Kampnitz was abandoned. Crumbling mosaics of swastikas jostle next to Soviet insignias and opulent wood panelled mess halls are left to gather dust. Inglourious Basterds was filmed here, as was Enemy at the Gates.

Locals seem unsure about whether you are legally allowed into Kaserne Kampnitz; if you want to see it, keeping a low profile would seem to be the order of the day. It’s just off the Teufelsbergchaussee, close to where it intersects with Ketziner Street.

Hit hip Kreuzberg

A favourite quarter is Kreuzberg. It is renowned for its alternative scene and hosts massive protests on May 1. Several buildings are occupied by anti-capitalist squatters and you can find buildings with ‘we are not leaving’ painted in metre high letters on the facade. Kreuzberg was the wildest part of the old West, but Berlin is always changing, so after Prenzlauerberg and Friedrichshain became gentrified, it was Kreuzberg’s time to become hip.

Eat a Berlin staple

All Berliners agree that if there’s one last thing you have to do here, it’s eat the national dish, Curry Wurst (curried sausage).

So beloved is this classic fast food that there is even a museum dedicated to it. Berliners recommend the famous curry-wurst-bude (kiosk), at Schlesisches Tor subway station.