Andreas Murkudis, storefront
Berlin, guide cover
Germany
Berlin
Berlin shops the way it lives: spread out, unpolished and best found on foot. Plan by neighbourhood rather than by list, and keep Sunday for the flea markets, because almost every store is shut.
Our Berlin desk: a set designer and a former department-store buyer, both in Schöneberg. Updated August 2026.
Neighbourhoods
Navigate by area, not by list. Each is a relaxed half day.
Schöneberg
Grown-up and gallery-lined around Potsdamer Straße.
Kreuzberg
Courtyards, cafés and shops that feel like studios.
A day in Berlin
A route that works tuesday to saturday, in the order we'd take it.
Give the former printing hall the time it asks for.
- Lunch
Lunch along Potsdamer Straße, between the galleries.
Fifteen minutes on foot to Motzstraße.
U-Bahn to Kottbusser Tor, then find the courtyard off Oranienstraße.
Bring home
What we pack from Berlin.
Practical
Before you go
Nearly everything is closed on Sunday. Carry a card and some cash; smaller shops don't always take both.
After hours
Schöneberg, around Nollendorfplatz, has been the city's queer heart for a century, and does a good late dinner.