Best-of list · City Guide
The complete bar guide to Berlin: underground clubs, cocktail bars, dive bars, and live music venues across Mitte, Kreuzberg, and Neukölln. 10+.
The short answer
8 ranked rooms follow. How we picked is at the end of this guide.
The bar guide to Berlin requires a different approach to most city bar guides, because Berlin does not have a bar culture in the conventional sense. It has a 24-hour drinking culture that bleeds between bars, clubs, and venues that do not fit either category. The best drinking here happens in basements, courtyards, disused buildings, and spaces that in most cities would not be permitted to operate as bars at all. This guide covers the ones that are worth your time on a non-clubbing evening, which is its own category entirely.
The relevant geography: Kreuzberg and Neukölln for neighbourhood bars and late-night. Mitte for cocktail bars and the newer scene. Prenzlauer Berg for wine bars and the slightly older crowd. Friedrichshain for live music and the bar-clubs that blur the line. Understanding which neighbourhood suits your evening saves a lot of time.
These two neighbourhoods contain more bars per square kilometre than anywhere else in Berlin and represent the city's drinking culture at its most authentic. The bars here are not trying to impress anyone. They are priced for the people who live nearby, lit at a level that makes everyone look acceptable, and open until everyone has decided to go home or to the club next door.
How we picked
Berlin is the most democratic drinking city in Europe. The same people who queue for Berghain on Saturday night drink Berliner Kindl at Burg Cafe on Tuesday. The hierarchy that exists in other cities between the expensive cocktail bar and the neighbourhood dive does not really exist here. This guide covers both ends of that spectrum because in Berlin, both are worth your time.
The hidden gems of Berlin section of the city guide covers 25 more bars across all neighbourhoods. For the full picture of Berlin's cocktail scene specifically, the Berlin cocktail bars guide organises the best venues by neighbourhood and price. The Berlin bar guide is the comprehensive starting point for any visit.
Sofia covers Europe's bar scene from a base in London. She has spent extended periods in Berlin researching the city's unique drinking culture, from the Rum Trader to the furthest Neukolln dive bar, and considers the Kreuzberg neighbourhood essential reading for anyone serious about bars.
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Last reviewed 2026-01-21 · The editors recheck hours and closures against current local coverage.