A Solo Traveller’s First Impressions of Berlin
Willkommen to Berlin.
View from the U-Bahn. Photo by Lonely Girl, Lonely World
I visited Berlin from Toronto as a solo female traveller from October 8-15, 2023. My week in Berlin was filled with highs and lows. Here are some events and first impressions of the city that never sleeps.
I admit I was grappling for a reason to go to Berlin back in 2023. Ever since the extraordinary Passion, Play, and Pleasure dance retreat I experienced in southern Portugal, I’d been itching to start travelling and living the lifestyle so many of my newfound European friends seemed to live. They up-and-flew to different countries all the time, and I wanted in on that action. Many of them also live in Berlin, and there were people I wanted to see.
I’d never given Berlin a second thought before that summer. I didn’t even know it was famous for its creative arts scene or nightlife (the “Silicon Valley of the arts,” as a friend told me). But after hearing my retreat friends describe the city, I was curious to see this place for myself.
Long story short, the timing of some dance workshops I wanted to take sorted themselves out perfectly, and after making the necessary changes, I finally hopped on a plane from Canada to Germany in October 2023.
Gee, was seeing Berlin different from what I’d expected.
I stayed at Generator Alexanderplatz, a hostel right in the centre of the city. You can get anywhere in Berlin from the Alexanderplatz U-Bahn (subway) station. I likened it to Bloor-Yonge station in Toronto. I chose the hostel for its convenience and female dorm options, but I didn’t know it’d be smack in the middle of the tourist hotspot as well.
The next few days, I felt confused. This wasn’t the grungy, edgy Berlin I’d been told so much about. The streets were clean, the buildings were impeccable, everything was large and huge and spacious.
Ah.
Once I started venturing further from Alexanderplatz, the heart of Berlin started to show itself. From dancing to drinks to huge bouts of loneliness, I experienced a pendulum of emotions in this eclectic city.
Here are some thoughts and impressions, as well as event highlights, from my first time in Berlin:
The Air is Fresher
Totally subjective, but I think my first uninhibited breath of fresh air in Berlin deserves a mention. I arrived on a sunny autumn day. I had a mask on the whole time on the plane and the train, so as soon as I stepped out onto Alexanderplatz, I took it off and sniffed the air. Ahhhhh. Now that’s crisp.
Transportation
The public transit system in Berlin is a godsend compared to what we have in Toronto right now. I can’t get on the subway in Toronto (of which we only have 2 major lines) without there being a delay 50% of the time. Same deal for the streetcars and buses.
My first accomplishment in Berlin was figuring out the train ride from BER airport to Alexanderplatz. Public transit is always confusing at first in a foreign country, but once you get it, you’ll save yourself a whole ton of money. I spent €4.40 on a single-way ride that brought me all the way to my destination versus a taxi that would’ve cost me at least €90.
I could feel the difference right away. Berlin trains are smooth-functioning and efficient. They’re still not the most quiet, but I’ll leave my expectations for that for Japan.
The subway (U-Bahn) network is expansive and quick, and the S-Bahn trams and buses were easy enough to navigate as well. A friend warned me that they encounter delays as well, but thankfully, I didn’t run into any.
Funny fact: Berlin’s crosswalk lights don’t have any countdowns, so you don’t know when the green signal will suddenly turn to red. I always ended up 3-quarters of the way across the road when the light would turn red, and the cars from the other side started charging toward me.
Berlin tram. Photo by Lonely Girl, Lonely World.
Accessible Toilets (Sort of)
Berlin is pretty toilet-friendly in terms of how many public toilets they have and their locations. The only thing is you have to pay between €0.50 and €1 to use most of them, including at the Mall of Berlin. “Toilet ladies” called klofrau stand guard at the entrance when they’re not sweeping or cleaning up. Your toilet fee is a kind of courtesy for their work in maintaining a clean toilet for you.
And, yes, if you come from Canada or the USA, you’ll notice that nobody in Europe calls the toilet the “washroom,” “restroom,” or “bathroom.” I encountered someone who didn’t even react to the word “washroom” when I asked for directions.
Berlin allegedly has the most modern toilet network in Europe, and one thing the city does great is its recent expansion of free public toilets. I tried one out in a park one day; they look like cubic stone blocks with automated doors and flushing. After you step out, the door locks itself to commence self-cleaning for a few minutes. Overall, it still wasn’t the most hygienic toilet I saw, but it did the job.
Check out this article on the project: Berlin’s public toilets – the bedrock of the urban spaces | TheMayor.EU
Scooters
Like bike-sharing, Berlin has a network of scooters you can rent and return throughout the city. Cheaper than a taxi, for sure.
Interesting? Very.
Funny-looking? A little.
Now if only I knew how to ride one…
Graffiti
When I was planning my trip with another friend who’d been before, she told me there’s a LOT of graffiti in Berlin. From the airport to the city and all around Berlin’s different districts, I saw graffiti galore.
Graffiti is seen as symbols of both art and protest, so considering Berlin’s tumultuous history of division and reunification, it’s a very appropriate trademark.
East Side Gallery. Photo by Lonely Girl, Lonely World.
Generator Alexanderplatz
Generator is definitely geared more toward young people, though anyone can stay there. It was my first time staying at a hostel, and I was amazed at the amount of people from all over the world I met there. It did amuse me, wondering why these youngsters weren’t in school and what their purpose was (not that I was any older), but again, this is Europe, and the people there are accustomed to travel in a very different way than the North American world.
The front desk personnel were very accommodating with my daily requests for hot water to drink. Their front desk is also a bar, so people can get pretty drunk late into the evening. One night I was journaling in the lobby and chatting to another solo female traveller when a tipsy boy sat down with us and tried to pick up this other girl. He left when it was obvious she wasn’t interested. I quickly clocked this as a situation that you should watch out for as a solo traveller.
Tiny Apartments
I had the fortune to be invited to 3 of my friends’ apartments while in Berlin, and while they are small, they’re comfortable enough to live in. An hour or less in these spaces already had me wondering why North American homes need so much space, anyway. I lived in Shanghai for a couple years, so I’m no stranger to smaller apartments, but it’s true that European apartments challenge the amount of square meters we need to live. I’m interested in how Japanese apartments compare, with their notorious “tiny homes.”
Berlin apartment block. Photo by Lonely Girl, Lonely World.
Aggressiveness
Ok… I had heard before going that Europeans are more “aggressive,” as opposed to passive aggressive where I’m from. I think most people mean this as “direct” and straightforward. Unfortunately, I did encounter an actually aggressive moment on my first night there, at the Festival of Lights.
The girls and I were staring up at a building from far away, other people doing the same. There was adequate space around our trio to pass by, but suddenly I felt a hand on my shoulder, and a tall man literally pushed me and my friend apart to pass between us with his group. I’m pretty sure this is not proper conduct in any culture, straightforward or not.
Nevertheless, I did notice in daily life that people don’t beat around the bush here. There’s much less focus on service (which was both a relief and a waiting game when you actually wanted something). It forced me to adapt my speech and actions to align with the people. When in Rome, they say.
Charlie’s Checkpoint Swindling
Cringe.
Not my best moment, nor do I ever want to mention it again, but for the sake of warning other readers, yes, I fell for the oldest tourist trap in the book and got swindled by a woman at Charlie’s Checkpoint.
I thought the woman was a hat hawker/pedlar because she’d positioned herself right beside a cart of hats. When I was taking photos of the Checkpoint, she came up and asked me to sign a form supporting deaf and sick children.
I was hesitant, but I’d signed petitions on the street before back home, and nothing happened, so after a bit of coaxing from her (and what I thought was an adequate read-through on my part), I agreed to sign my name. I should’ve remembered that I’d been coerced into an even worse money-grab situation before, but I felt put on the spot and didn’t know what to do.
Then she revealed the part of the form that asked for donations. I told her I didn’t know about that, but she smilingly ignored my comment and waited for my money. I saw that some others on the list had given €5, so I decided to just fork over that amount too. I took out the bill, and then she pointed to the fine print that said “minimum €20.”
Honestly, I should’ve just walked away. This money was obviously not going to deaf children. But my weakness has always been how to deal with these situations, and I reluctantly reached into my wallet again. I only had another €10, so I told her that. She tried to get me to pay more, but I repeatedly told her that’s all I had, and she eventually took the €15 and left.
What a great way to start my first full day in Berlin. It dampened my mood for sure, but I decided not to let it ruin my day.
Lesson learned.
Near Charlie’s Checkpoint. Photo by Lonely Girl, Lonely World.
No Single Downtown Area
Berlin is made up of many distinctive districts and neighbourhoods, and because of its circular format, there’s really no “downtown” core that people migrate to. You have your shopping streets and condensed financial areas, like any other major city, but they’re relatively spread out. Plus, the walkability of Berlin allows you to live anywhere and have everything you need nearby to get on just fine.
There also seemed to be less homeless people compared to Toronto. In Toronto’s downtown, you’ll likely come upon at least 3 homeless people if you’re walking anywhere. In Berlin, I saw maybe 1 or 2; then again, I was only there for a week. A friend did tell me there are many on the U8 line. It takes a while to really get to know a city.
SO MANY Doughnut Shops
Not sure why. I passed by so many I wondered if I should buy one, even though I rarely eat them.
Doughtnut van in Alexanderplatz. Photo by Lonely Girl, Lonely World.
Walking is a Way of Life
I walked EVERYWHERE in Berlin. It’s a very walkable city. Berlin is much smaller than Toronto and landlocked, so it’s also easier to pass by a bunch of unique stores and eateries in 30 minutes than it is in Toronto, where 30 minutes might not even get you out of your residential neighbourhood.
There isn’t too much traffic, and crossing the street is pretty safe. Most people obey the pedestrian signals. I’d seen videos on YouTube saying people never jaywalk in Berlin, but I still saw many jaywalkers, as with any metropolitan.
I only ever used public transit when I was too tired from walking all day or my destination was too far to make it on time.
By the way, all that exercise does wonders to “get things going” (>ᴗ•) !
So Much S P A C E / Loneliness
Speaking of crossing streets, there’s so much SPACE in Berlin! When it comes to culture shock, I was surprised that the city’s layout made for such wide roads and pedestrian walkways. You have to cross an intersection twice! There’s an islands in the middle of the roads specifically for this; that’s how much space they have.
Their grander buildings, such as universities and government offices, are huge and imposing as well. Plus, we can’t leave out those European cobblestones.
This difference in ratio between person and road or person and building actually makes you feel quite small. The first day or two was ok because I was more interested in exploring, but on day 5, I was hit by a huge wave of loneliness that had gradually built up from the previous days. That’s a story for another time.
View from Berlin’s TV Tower. Photo by Lonely Girl, Lonely World.
Berlin is a Very Quiet City
Except for the ambulances. Those were aplenty and LOUD. For the first time, I realized that different countries have different emergency alarm sounds.
Ambulances aside, Berlin is a very quiet city during the day. No one really honks their car horn (no need to). Sundays are their rest days, and by law they must maintain quiet hours (Ruhezeit) all day Sunday and between 10 PM - 6 AM any other time.
Arriving on a Sunday helped because I could feel my way around my surroundings without the crowds and work-day chaos. The quietude was a great reprieve for me, so used to Toronto’s endless road rage and screeching subway tracks.
Of course, Berlin is still a city of extremes, and Berlin by night is markedly different from its daytime, which brings me to my next highlight.
Spree River, Museum Island. Photo by Lonely Girl, Lonely World.
Drinking on the Subway / When the Night Falls
I noticed that as soon as evening comes, people start drinking beer and other alcohol on the subway. Their conversation is much livelier, compared to the quietude of day passengers.
Nighttime is when the partygoers come out to play. They dress up in all manners of clothing, from gothic style to lace lingerie to latex g-strings. No one bats an eye. In Berlin, freedom of expression is everything.
Streets in the nighttime become unrecognizable from their daytime look. Before dancing at Kater Blau, some girls and I had dinner at a nearby restaurant. By the time they’d shooed us on our way, and we came back from seeking an ATM for club cash, a metal slider covered in graffiti had already been pulled down to cover the restaurant entrance. If I hadn’t known the restaurant was there, I never would’ve thought it was the same place.
Rosenthaler Platz. Photo by Lonely Girl, Lonely World.
Dancing (Clubbing)
Berliners affectionately call their clubbing “dancing.” It’s true; they really do go there to dance, not just drink and hook up — though that almost comes as an extension of going to dance.
The great thing is you don’t have to engage in anything you don’t want to. Consent is at the heart of Berlin clubbing, and the bouncer at Kater Blau made it very clear to us that “if you make anyone uncomfortable, I will come and make YOU uncomfortable.” Round of applause for this gentleman, please. You also have to cover your phone cameras with the stickers they give you, and you can’t peel them off while you’re in the club.
I’ve had some very unpleasant experiences with groping in clubs and even salsa dance socials in Toronto, on the few occasions I went to them. I haven’t been to a club in years, but with my hostel girls and other friends, I braved 3 Berlin clubs in my 8-day stay: Kater Blau, Body Language, and Berghain (yes!!!).
Let me say, they were all wonderful. The lights, the sounds, the sensory experience… Berlin might be the only city I’d feel comfortable clubbing in, even solo. I’ve heard some people go dancing at 3 PM in the afternoon or straight after work just to let loose and shake it up.
Individual articles on all 3 of these clubs coming soon.
Image provided by Unsplash
Berlin was Rebuilt from the Ground Up
Berlin has been through some challenging historical times, to say the least. Its current energy of freedom of expression comes from the hardships its citizens have weathered.
Berlin also has the unique experience of being rebuilt from the ground up after it was destroyed in the Cold War, according to a friend. The German government planned everything out to a T this time, which I can see the results of in their generous pedestrian walkways and architecture.
This trip ended up taking turns I never could’ve expected. I didn’t even end up taking my workshop as planned because it was cancelled! Instead, I experienced so much else that I never could’ve imagined. Just goes to show anything can happen on a trip, and you learn to roll with it.
For my personal 8-night itinerary and tips and tricks to make the most out of Berlin, see [article coming soon].
Till next time, Gotham City.
Photo by Lonely Girl, Lonely World