Berlin Essentials

Berlin Essentials & Tourist Information

Currency	Euro
Flight Time	UK 1H 20 minutes aprox
Time Zone	GMT = +1 hour
Language	German
Voltage	220 V (European two-pin plugs)

Berlin Tourist Attractions
Berlin has an amazing number of museums and cultural attractions to visit which are generally open daily from 10am - 6pm with several staying open until 9pm on most nights. Entrance fees are good value with prices of around €3 - €20. Baroque Charlottenburg Palace is a popular day out and costs €10. A perfect place for kids is the LEGOLAND Discovery Centre with themed rides, interactive displays and a 4-D cinema show and entrance costs €14. Both are open from 10am to 5pm.

Opening Hours
Berlin shops and stores are now legally allowed if they wish to remain open 24 hours a day from Monday to Saturday, although in practice this is only the case for a small number of major stores. The vast majority of businesses are closed on Sundays except during busy periods such as Easter and Christmas time. Many shopping centres and department stores stay open until 10pm. Every district in central Berlin will have 1 or 2 pharmacies and money changing kiosks open throughout the night and restaurants are usually open 7 days a week until 11pm or midnight. Traditional bars and pubs in Berlin stay open nightly until midnight with numerous late night venues across the city serving until 4am or later.

Food & Drink
Berlin's many cafes and restaurants offer a melting pot of tastes where literally any type of cuisine can be found - usually with a little German twist. Local dishes should be sampled on a Berlin city break with Eisbein - knuckle of pork and Berlin meatballs a feature on many traditional menus. Enjoy speciality street snacks such as Currywurst and Beef Sauerbraten leaving ample room for a large glass or two of local Berliner Weisse beer.

Tipping & Etiquette
While more formal than most other European nationalities, the typical German is relaxed and fun loving and visitors should expect a friendly "Guten Tag" and "Auf Wiedersehen" when entering and leaving shops and hotels. Any attempt at speaking German will be greeted with great enthusiasm. Service charges are automatically added to final bill in restaurants and hotels’ so further tipping is unnecessary. Smaller establishments may not follow this procedure and it is normal practice to simply round up to the next Euro.

German Phrases For Tourists

Hello	Hallo		Do you speak English?	Sprechen Sie Englisch
Goodbye	Auf Wiedersehen		Excuse me	Wie bitte
Good Evening	Guten Abend		How much is it?	Was bitte
Yes	Ja		Where is...?	Was kostet?
No	Nein		Hotel	das Hotel
Please	Bitte		The bill pease	Die Rechnung, bitte
Thank you very much	Danke schön		Beer	das Bier
How are you?	Wie gehts?		Coffee	der Kaffee

Berlin Useful Numbers
• Calling the UK from Berlin – 0044 + area code minus zero + number
• Police – 110
• Ambulance – 112
• Fire – 112