A lot of friends ask me about this, and even though I admit I am no expert when it comes to Berlin, I had a blast my last visit, and was shown around by dear friends of mine that are true Berlin experts. I am an expert though when it comes to a good club, not ashamed of that, it's the closest thing to sacred and spiritual I have!
Crack Bellmer
This is the first "pub" we went to, and it was a Monday. We checked out Resident Advisor, and found a couple of great local deep house acts were spinning. We got there around midnight, and it was still a bit slow. Then, slowly, the venue started to fill up and the tables were being pushed to the side. So, we started dancing and by 2:30AM, the place was packed and it turned into a beautiful clubbing experience.
The venue is a gorgeous old warehouse in an industrial block, surrounded by quiet residential ones with great restaurants. Wooden beams, aluminium vents and brick walls complete with industrial-looking minimal lighting made for the perfect first night. Entrance was free, you just had to pay an extra euro for your first drink that's the DJs' cover charge! One euro! Loved that city.
Also, you could smoke indoors.
Address: Revaler Strasse 99
10245 Berlin-Friedrichshain
Berlin
Website/Lineup
Chalet
Chalet is one of the classics. The 150-year-old building has two levels on the inside, and an awesome garden and courtyard outside. I recommend you go to Chalet during the week, unless there's an act you really wanna see. Leave the weekend open for the megaclubs!
This was the first club I went to with more than one section in Berlin, so it was amazing. Spend a couple hours on the top floor blasting Techno, then go down to the ground floor for some melodic deep house. And in between, breaks to go outside and cool off, smoke a cigarette and go back in!
If you're in Berlin and the weather is nice, make sure you go to Chalet, the garden was the funnest part!
Address: Vor dem Schlesischen Tor 3
Kreuzberg
10997 Berlin
Tresor
Tresor has been around since 1991. It's right next to Postdamer Platz, in a massive building that used to be a department store (feels more like a former prison inside though!)
You cannot not go to Tresor, but if you go on a weekday, you might not have the massive hall open, just the subterranean part, which is equally worthy btw!
You go down a flight of stairs, into a long corridor that zig-zags around for some 40-50 meters. The only light in the corridor/tunnel is a strip of very bright LED lights, with only one of the dozens of strips actually lighting up in an uneven sequence as fast as a stroboscope. It was an intense part of Tresor, walking in the dark, with loud music then suddenly a light flashes above your head and you see 3 people you were just gonna run into, and in that state of mind!
At the end of the tunnel, you walk into a bare concrete basement, with irons bars on each side and surrounding the DJ booth like a cage. The smoke machines never stop. All you can see for most of the time is silhouettes moving to beautiful Techno music that the light shows color and highlight. The smoke needs a bit of getting used to at first, but surprisingly, doesn't make it any harder to breathe or feel stuffy. If you do though, you can go upstairs!
I loved Tresor, it was quite the experience during my first visit to Berlin!
Address: Köpenicker Str. 70
10179 Berlin
Ritter Butzke
That night, M.A.N.D.Y. and Marc Hoole were playing LIVE! The club was awesome, with a small chill area to the back to sit down and rest your legs. The roof is lower than most of the other venues, but that makes it a lot more intimate, a few hundred instead of thousands, so, you get friendly vibes all through the night and the faces become familiar. That's one thing I loved about clubbing in Berlin I'll get into later.
There are three different rooms, and an outdoor area in summer. It's inside a factory too, in keeping with Berlin spirit, and started out in 2007 as an illegal club, then went legit in 2009. The focus is still on mostly Berliners, so you won't find too many tourists (thank goodness!) in Ritter Butzke.
We ended up in the DJ booth that night, so it was hands-down the coolest and luckiest we've been in Berlin so far! We stayed there till around 6:00AM, after which we went home, showered, ate something and went to our next adventure: Kater Blau.
Address: Ritterstrasse 24
Kreuzberg
10969 Berlin
Kater Blau
Kater Blau was hands-down my favorite club in Berlin. I loved it the most, in terms of venue and music selection and variety, as well as the crowd. We got there at around 9:00AM after a full night at Ritter Butzke, so we were already pretty tired. But, Berlin doesn't let you go home so easily, and we decided to join in the party at Kater Blau.
The rooms are awesome, a cool one was shaped like an amphitheater with just two, very slow laser systems and a fog machine, with down tempo music in the background, soaked in reverb. In that room, it feels like the world and everything in it became slow motion. Awesome.
The main room was where we spent most of our day though. It's right on the river bank, and a row of large windows was letting the sunlight onto the dance floor in glorious beams of tinted light. Part of the window though is under the level of the river-water, meaning a part of those beams was dancing and flickering as it shone on the hands in the air of everyone on the packed dance floor. (couldn't find an image for that, so you're gonna have to go see for yourselves!)
Address: Holzmarktstrasse 25
10243 Berlin
Berghain
And last, but most definitely not least, Berghain. I chose Kater Blau, because Berghain would be way too much. Berghain was more of an experience, a right of passage of sorts, than just a 3-day party.
The venue is absolutely gorgeous. The old former soviet power plant was gutted from the inside, and that's where the main area is, with a dancefloor that hovers in the middle of the atrium of the massive building. On the top-left, is where Panorama Bar is, where windows aren't blacked out and the music is less intense then downstairs.
There are plenty of other rooms where you can find couches, bars, the infamous dark rooms and even a delicious ice cream place. You are surrounded by walls of Funktion Ones from each and every side, above and below. The decibel meter never went below the 3 digits, so, you can imagine how loud and immersive the sound was. They stick stickers on both of your phone's camera. Even the stamp is "no photos allowed", and at first, I was like, why are they being so strict about it. But then, inside, when absolutely NO ONE is looking at their phone or posing for pictures. Everyone is dancing, no windows to the outside world, no looking at a phone or wasting time on Instagram or trying to read Whatsapp messages without them being shown as "read".
Ben Klock's 6-hour set was the most I've focused on something in my entire life. Every subtle change in the sound and frequency was almost orgasmic. 6 hours of Ben Klock in his own element, followed up by 4 hours of Tale of Us in Panorama Bar. Couldn't ask for something more perfect. 6 hours of hard-hitting Berlin Techno, followed by a friendlier, melancholic techno and tech-house where the sun was already setting on the third day straight of the party there.
Getting in is notoriously tough, but we got in from the first try. I've noticed that polo-wearing, heels and makeup folks are almost certain to be turned away, and speaking some German is a plus, just "Halo" and how many people you are and "Danke". And don't be on your phones, don't look touristy and do your research on who's playing that weekend! It's worth the wait, I promise. And you can keep getting in on the same stamp (it lasts, through showers too, don't worry, just be careful) and skipping the line after your first wait.
I didn't take any photos, and don't wanna share any. I loved the no-photos rule, it made the experience all the more memorable, just not in 15 second clips!
Address: Am Wriezener Bahnhof
10243 Berlin Friedrichshain
ENJOY!
I'm planning to go to Sisyphos soon, and a few other places I didn't have the time to go to!
My advice is stay somewhere in Friedrichshain or Kreuzberg, so you're close to where all the action is. Berlin a friendly city, the people are very nice and helpful and know how to have fun.
Always stay safe and know your own body's limits, and I hope this post helps make your Berlin trips funner!