Entertainment Overview

Berlin's nightspots are open to the wee hours of the morning, but if you stay out after 12:45 Monday-Thursday or Sunday, you'll have to find a night bus line or the last S-bahn to get you home. On Friday and Saturday, most subway lines run every 15 to 20 minutes throughout the night. Clubs often switch the music they play nightly, so their crowds and popularity can vary widely. Though club nights are driven by the DJ name, the music genres are written in English in listing magazines.

The happening places in western Berlin are around Savignyplatz in Charlottenburg, Nollendorfplatz and Winterfeldplatz in Schöneberg, Ludwigkirchplatz in Wilmersdorf, and along Oranienstrasse and Wienerstrasse in Kreuzberg, as well as Lützowplatz in Tiergarten. In Mitte most of the action radiates off Rosenthaler Platz and the Hackesche Höfe. Kastanienallee and Helmholzplatz are the hubs in Prenzlauer Berg.

Clubs and bars in downtown western Berlin tend to be dressier and more conservative; the scene in Kreuzberg, Prenzlauer Berg, Mitte, and Friedrichshain is laid-back, alternative, grungy, and only occasionally stylish. For the latest information on Berlin's bustling house, electro, and hip-hop club scene, pick up (030), a free weekly.

Berlin is unmistakably Germany's gay capital, and many Europeans come to partake in the diverse scene, which is concentrated in Schöneberg (around Nollendorfplatz) and Kreuzberg. Check out the magazines Siegessäule, (030), and Sergej (free and available at the places listed below as well as at many other locations around town).