Pankow

In Prenzlauer Berg, the ice cream patisserie Hokey Pokey stands for artisanal gelato at patisserie level: Founder Niko Robert, former pastry chef at the Ritz Carlton, transforms the finest ingredients into ice cream flavors rarely found elsewhere in Berlin.

Tortuga Cycles & Café at Prenzlauer Promenade 180 builds custom bicycles: Gravel, Adventure, Touring, and Commuter bikes are created here in two to eight weeks, with a custom build starting at around 1,800 Euros. The workshop hand-spokes wheels, and since 2018, it has hosted weekly social rides and its own overnighters.

Located on Bötzowstraße in Prenzlauer Berg, on the edge of Volkspark Friedrichshain, is one of Berlin's most expertly crafted cocktail bars. Saphire Bar offers a menu with around 300 drinks, homemade original creations, and a lounge atmosphere that lets the evening pass by without a rush.

The Bird at Falkplatz is the American Diner in Berlin for everyone who doesn't want to eat their burger with a knife and fork. Each patty weighs 250 grams, consists of regionally sourced beef freshly ground in the morning, and comes in an English muffin. The steaks are 30-day dry-aged US Black Angus from Creekstone Farms, with salad and cucumber served alongside.

In Pankow, just a few steps from the Vinetastraße subway station, BinhAn - Wellness & Head Spa brings Vietnamese care tradition to Berlin. Three head spa recliners make treatments for two or three possible, a tea made from ten herbs according to a house recipe is served as a welcome, and finally, hair is blow-dried and styled.

Specialty coffee and self-roasted beans in a charmingly nostalgic retro look: Café Pakolat on Raumerstraße in Prenzlauer Berg is a roastery, cake manufactory, and living room café all at once – and one of Berlin's most authentic coffee houses.

Located at Helmholtzplatz in Prenzlauer Berg is one of Berlin's most famous children's cafés: Kindercafé Spielzimmer combines an indoor playground, ball pit, and cozy café atmosphere under one roof. Here, it's okay to be loud while parents relax with coffee and waffles.

The Oderbruchkippe in Volkspark Prenzlauer Berg is a double hill of around 15 million cubic metres of rubble, much of it from the destroyed Alexanderplatz, rising almost forty metres above the surrounding streets. Its highest point, the Pappelplateau, reaches 90.9 metres, the sledding slope runs out gently, and Riesling has grown up there since 2009.

The Coq au Vin children’s and family theatre plays circus pieces at the Pfefferberg in which acrobatics, comedy and theatre come together and the children are drawn into the action. A birthday begins with table time for cake and presents and goes on to the performance, with a treasure hunt in a simplified version for the youngest guests if you want one.

More than just vegetables grow in the Botanical People's Park Blankenfelde-Pankow: The farm gardens in Volkspark Pankow combine community gardening with ecological learning on a historic garden site from 1909. Those who lease a plot here get sustainable cultivation, fresh harvest, and a piece of green deceleration in Berlin's northeast.