5 winter tips for Berlin
We recommend: Christmas markets, events, & culture
Yes, winter in Berlin can often be grey and cold. But it's also the time of the year when so much is going on. So here are our top Berlin tips for when temperatures go south. We find that Berlin is worthwhile year-round, and perhaps even more so in winter. Find our tips for the best events in Berlin at Christmas time here.
1) Berlin Christmas markets
Berlin is home to almost countless Christmas markets, ranging from the romantic to urban and even Scandinavian.
You just have to decide what you're in the mood for. Our favourites include:
- Berlins Christmas market at the historic Spandau citadel
- Berlins most beautiful christmas market at Gendarmenmarkt
- Magical lights: Christmas Garden at the botanical garden
- Scandinavian food and Nordic traditions at the Lucia Christmas market at the Kulturbrauerei
- Enjoy a winter walk in the woods Christmas market at Jagdschloss Grunewald
Do you want even more choices. Visit our overview:
All Christmas Markets in Berlin
2) Shopping in Berlin
It's hunting season in Berlin. Hunting for presents, that is. The city is full of shopping centres, markets, and individual design shops and boutiques.
- Berlin's shopping district and shopping streets with individual shops
- Shopping centres with a large selection
- Traditional German Christmas decorations, items from the Erzgebirge in central Germany, and hand-painted products from their own design studios at Käthe Wohlfahrt on Kurfürstendamm
- Merry Markthalle: culinary delicacies
Don't forget: Berlin's shops are open for business on 4 and 18 December 2022
3) Christmas events in Berlin
When it's cold outside, there's still so much going on inside. In Berlin, this means enjoying the massive cultural offerings, whether it's opera, a Broadway or Vegas-style show, concert, or something else. Top events for Winter 2022/23 include:
- The Classic at the Deutsche Oper: The Nutcracker
- Sarah Connor performs three Christmas concerts in the Verti Music Hall
- Till Brönner sets the mood for Christmas at the Staatsoper unter den Linden.
- And at the Tempodrom the Roncalli Christmas Circus enchants the audience.
- What an experience: Mega Christmas Show in the Mercedes Arena with the Kelly Family
- Tips for children, for example at the Wintergarten Varieté or the musical Die Weihnachtsbäckerei at the Tempodrom or Christmas stories by Astrid Lindgren at the Philharmonie
- and of course the most beautiful Christmas and winter shows, such as the new show Eskapaden at the Spiegelpalast, Stars in Concert Christmas-Special or ARISE at Friedrichstadt-Palast
Find more events for the christmas season in our Events Calendar.
To the Berliner Events Calendar
4) Exhibition Highlights in Berlin
Berlin's museums are also gearing up for winter. Next to the Humboldt Forum and the Neue Nationalgalerie you can expect many more Highlights in Berlin this christmas season. We recommend these exciting exhibitions:
- Ethnological museum and museum for asian culture
- ANOHA: The children's world of the Jewish Museum
- Bröhan total
- Dinosaur World in Museum of Natural History
- "YOYI! Care, Repair, Heal" at the Gropius Bau
- Roads not Taken. Or: It Could Have Been Different from 9 December at the German Historical Museum
5) Cosy restaurants for Christmas dining
Spoil yourself and your family at Christmas time. Go out for a cosy meal together. There are many restaurants in Berlin that prepare special Christmas and holiay menus for you - from vegan festive dishes to fondue and roast goose. Here are our tips:
- Over 200 years of tradition: Lutter & Wegner
- Delicious roast goose: 11 tips
- Great scenery: Restaurant Volt
- For cosy hours by the fireside: 11 tips from our blog
- Tip for a trip to the winter forest: Châlet Suisse
You want even more choices:
All restaurants for the holiday season
Christmas & Holiday season in Berlin
