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Berlin is arguably the gayest capital city in Europe…or at least the kinkiest and most alternative. Yes, Berlin is a scene for artists and independents and this becomes obvious through the variety of places to explore in the city. From amazing street art and gritty neighborhoods with leftover feelings from the East Germany GDR times to the hip and trendy neighborhoods like Kreuzberg or Schoneberg, Berlin truly has something to offer for everyone. Whether it’s art and history or dancing until the sun comes up in one of the countless nightlife options, Berlin doesn’t disappoint. Berlin is truly an international city in Europe and is probably only rivaled by London with its diversity of foreigners and creatively. In fact, you could probably live your whole life in Berlin and probably not need to learn more than a few words in German.

You can download the Gay Berlin guide for free. Just provide your email address and we’ll email you a PDF.

Photo by zoetnet via Flickr / CC BY
Photo by zoetnet via Flickr / CC BY

Table of Contents

1. Transportation & Airport Transfer
2. Gay Hotels in Berlin
3. Sightseeing & Activities in Berlin
4. Berlin Gay Tours
5. Restaurants and Cafes
6. Berlin Gay Bars
7. Berlin Gay Clubs and Parties
8. Berlin Gay Sauna's & Cruising Bars
9. Gay Events in Berlin
10. Day Trips from Berlin

Transportation & Airport Transfer

Berlin has an incredibly developed public transport system including subway, overground train, trams, buses and bike share. Berlin is extremely bike friendly with tons of dedicated lanes and locals stick to their bikes through rain and shine, snow and heat. The transport system can be a bit overwhelming for a first-time visitor. The subway system is called the “U-Bahn” while the overground train is called the “S-Bahn.” Berlin works on a zone system starting with Zone A in the center and B and C moving out towards the outskirts of the city. Tickets are valid all on all trains and buses and need to be validated at the machine before boarding. The most economical route is to purchase either an unlimited or multi-day ticket or perhaps a 4-ride ticket which offers a discount compared to single rides.

Berlin has two airports: Berlin Tegel and Berlin Schönefeld. Berlin Tegel is in zone B and you can reach the city center by taking either the TXL bus or X9 JetExpressBus with a zone AB ticket, purchased from the machine outside the terminal. Berlin Schönefeld requires a zone ABC ticket since it’s farther out but is connected by the S-bahn train. The train station is not directly at the airport so you’ll take a free transfer bus from the terminal to the station.

Photo by Jörg Schubertvia Flickr / CC BY
Photo by Jörg Schubert via Flickr / CC BY

Gay Hotels in Berlin

Luxury

Pullman Berlin Schweizerhof – Amenities include a pool, restaurant, gym/workout room, bar/lounge, spa and babysitting. The hotel restaurant, XXenia, features fish and chips or International cuisine.

Hotel De Rome – Not gay specific but very centrally located, this 146-room hotel's amenities include an Olympic-sized swimming pool, high-tech gym, all-organic body treatments and a former jewel vault, 800-square-meter spa.

Casa Camper – With 51 suites and rooms, this hotel is in a neighborhood that boasts galleries with cutting edge art, restaurants, shops and an array of bars.

Hotel Adlon Kempinkski – 2 bars, 78 suites, 304 rooms. Amenities: pool, restaurant, gym/workout room, bar/lounge, spa, hot tub, babysitting and it's pet-friendly.

Mid-Range

ArtHotel Connection – A gay hotel with 16 rooms in the gay area of Berlin-Schöneberg; conveniently situated next to the Prinzknecht bar and Connection Club.

Axel Hotel Berlin – the most famous gay hotel chain also has a location in Berlin. They are first gay hotel to coin the term “straight-friendly.” This is the original location in Berlin and they have a nice rooftop terrace (enclosed) and popular restaurant and bar on the ground floor. The Axel is centrally located and near the Schöneberg gay neighborhood. Rates start at 100€ per night.

Two Hotel by Axel – located at Bundesallee street, at the mythical district Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf, that combines leisure, shopping and beyond good gastronomy. The Berlin gay hotel is only few minutes away from the most famous shopping street Kurfürstendamm located on the famous gay district of Schöneberg. It has 86 modern rooms with the latest technology and follows Axel’s concept of style, design, comfort with a cosmopolitan environment.

Photo via Axel Hotel
Photo via Axel Hotel

Michelberger Hotel – Mid-range rates with free WiFi and a restaurant. Rebellious fun, stylish, charismatic, individualistic, and just like gay Berlin… anything goes!

Hüttenpalast – A pet-friendly collection of hotel rooms, retro-style caravans and huts, with a garden for outdoor seating. Restaurants, cafes, and bars are a short 5-minute walk.

Mercure Hotel – This is one of the long time favorites for gay travelers located in the heart of the Schoenberg neighborhood. You’ll find plenty of nightlife, restaurants, and gay shops within walking distance. Friendly staff and huge breakfast for just 10€ extra. Bike rentals available onsite.

Budget

Tom’s Hotel – A clean, near-budget, basic-plus and modern hotel in central gay Berlin. Coincidentally (or not) located right above one of the most established man-on-man bars in Berlin. Breakfast is served until 5 pm for party boys having taken full advantage of Berlin's ‘no closing time' policy.

Guesthouse 21 – (rooms run 40–60 €) A small, quaint, gay guesthouse in Berlin-Schöneberg with helpful and friendly hosts.

Motel One – (rooms run 72–90 €) A ‘design' hotel chain for budget travelers. Modern, clean and a good value for the money. Very close to Schöneberg's gay area.

My Gay Hostel – Rooms are between 18–60 €, with a minimum 2-night stay. This small gay hostel in Berlin-Schöneberg has shared facilities for its single rooms, double rooms and bunk rooms.

Apartments - misterb&b

We’ve partnered with misterb&b to help curate the most LGBT+ friendly homestays. misterb&b is not a hotel or chain, but rather a booking platform for rooms, apartments and homes and it allows you to book from gay and gay-friendly hosts around the world. They have hosts in more than 200 countries and territories with more than 1 million total listings. Understanding the gay scene is much more easily done with the help of a local and home-sharing is one of the best ways to meet someone living in the city who knows how things work, where and when are the best nights to go out, and what places to eat at and which to avoid. misterb&b is our top choice if your priority is exploring the local gay scene.

Special Offer! Sign up with misterb&b and you will receive a free $10 credit to use on your first booking!

Sightseeing & Activities in Berlin

Brandenburg Gate – During WWII, allied bombing damaged but, thankfully, did not completely destroy the Brandenburg Gate.

berlin

Berlin Wall Memorial – An iconic part of Berlin's history. Grab a beer and take a stroll, or take the Trabi tour along the wall. The story of a bizarre period in time is told by the graffiti artwork. Book tour →

East Side Gallery – Take a walking tour to see the wall, artwork, and neighborhood. The largest standing portion of the former divide between West and East Germany.

Reichstag Building – Situated just north of the Brandenburg Gate, this building houses the German Parliament. Superb sunsets! Book tour →

The Holocaust Memorial – Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe – While still a tasteful memorial, this is a somber reminder of the horrors of the past regime in Berlin.

Photo by Wynand van Poortvliet via Flickr / CC BY
The Holocaust Memorial / Photo by Wynand van Poortvliet via Flickr / CC BY

Tiergarten – Only minutes from transportation to all of Berlin, this massively lush park stretches through central Berlin and offers a relaxing contrast to the city's hustle and bustle. This is also where you'll find the Memorial to Homosexuals Persecuted Under Nazism – a concrete cube with a screen inside which plays a film of men kissing. 

Schwules Museum – This museum chronicles the history of gay culture, both internationally and in Germany specifically. Interesting for a quick visit but perhaps not for everyone.

Berlin Gay Tours

Queer Berlin Walking Tour – Explore Berlin’s gay and lesbian history on a unique Queer Berlin tour of its gay neighborhoods and locations. See the poignant Holocaust memorial, visit one of the city’s oldest gay and transvestite bars and end at the Gay Museum. Book tour →

Gay Berlin Tour: Out in Schöneberg – Experience an exciting tour of the historical traces of Berlin's oldest gay neighborhood, the rainbow quarter of north Schöneberg, between Dennewitzstraße and Nollendorfplatz. Learn about how the district became what it is today and what the future holds. Book tour →

Restaurants and Cafes

Photo by Osamu Kaneko via Flickr / CC BY
Photo by Osamu Kaneko via Flickr / CC BY

Curry 36 – A playful, friendly staff serving up the best currywurst ever! Enjoy a cold beer and side of fries with mayo and ketchup out on the patio.

Schwarzes Café – A laid-back, all-day cafe and bar with a courtyard terrace, picture covered walls, extensive drink menu and eclectic food. Serving pastries, sandwiches, breakfast and main dish dinners.

Hasir – the place to go for great authentic Turkish food. The quality of the chicken and lamb is excellent and cooked to perfection. The vegetarian starters are also superb.

Markthalle Neun (Kreuzberg market hall) – be sure to partake in ‘Street Food Thursday' for Korean Buns, American B-B-Q, Nigerian FuFu, Peruvian Ceviche, Allgäu Kässpatzen, Mexican tacos, Thai Tapioca Dumplings and British Pies.

Sissi – Kitchen open daily 12:00pm – 10:00pm; Friday, Saturday till 11:00pm. Nice but small Austrian restaurant in Berlin-Schöneberg.

Café Berio – Popular in summer, this cafe in Berlin-Schöneberg, has a busy street terrace and a mixed clientele.

Mustafa’s – great dining on a budget. Can get crazy busy, but for the best kebabs in town, it's well worth the wait. Fresh bread and veggies are noteworthy as well.

Berlin Gay Bars

Tom’s Bar – Berlin's most famous cruising-oriented gay bar/club. The atmosphere gets markedly hotter the further you go to the back. Behind the table soccer games and the large screen is an entrance to the infamous, cellar-located ‘dark room'.

Hafen – This popular, stylish Berlin gay bar has an artistic twist. When the weather is fine, guys enjoy a beer outside on the pavement. Quizz-O-Rama, a unique quiz show, is presented on Mondays.

Roses – This has a completely pink interior and, on weekends, is jam-packed. If pink is your color, get to this small, cozy, very campy gay bar.

Zum Schmutzigen Hobby – Berlin's most famous transvestite, Nina Queer, hosts this flashy bar in Berlin-Friedrichshain with a cozy living-room atmosphere and very friendly people. Easy going and casual, the main crowd is 30-something.

Berlin Gay Clubs and Parties

Clubs

Berghain/Panorama – Can any Berlin guide not mention this legendary venue. Here you'll find the best DJs playing electronic music and live acts on stage in a nightclub that used to be a warehouse not far from where the Berlin wall was. It's also infamously difficult to get into, with bouncers turning away around 50% of people with no explanation. Our advice is go on a Sunday, wear black or fetish gear, don't talk in the queue and look nonchalant about getting in – even with this you may get turned away, so make a backup plan. Should you be lucky enough to enter, Berghain really is a unique experience where adventures are found. The upstairs Panorama bar is where the best music is and sunlight filters atmospherically in through the day. There's plenty of places for some naughty fun and the ice cream bar hidden in the corner upstairs is a great little place to take breaks between stomping sessions.

Berghain / Photo by James Dennes via Flickr/ CC BY
Berghain / Photo by James Dennes via Flickr/ CC BY

GMF – Open Sunday from 11 pm, it's one of the best gay clubs in Berlin with a friendly, pleasantly diverse crowd. Everyone from older muscle guys to trendy young queens mixes it up to House/Electro and Pop/R'n'B. Admission: 10 €.

Schwuz – Schwuz has been the place for lesbians, music festivals, queer film, sex parties, discussions, readings, and transvestite shows for over 30 years. It's the biggest queer club in Berlin, a former brewery and now offering Saturday and Friday night parties with various music styles.

KitKatClub – Popular nightclub in Berlin, opened in March 1994 by Austrian pornographic film maker Simon Thaur and his partner Kirsten Krüger. It's known for fetish parties, techno & trance music. The fetish nights are mixed and open to everyone but be sure to dress the part to avoid being turned away. The space has 3 floors with all sorts of weird and wonderful things to see – and maybe do – with an outdoor area and even a pool.

Berlin Gay Sauna's & Cruising Bars

Berlin is the hardcore daddy of sex and fetish, with far too many venues to mention them all. That said here are a few firm favourites:

Der Boiler – one of the most popular gay saunas in Berlin located in Kreuzberg. You’ll find a combination of traditional spa amenities plus plenty of darkroom adventures. There’s a nice bar on site with drinks and snacks. Very clean facilities, nice looking guys with a wide range of ages. It’s worth the 20€ entrance price and is open every day of the year.

LAB.ORATORY – Filth incarnate, there's no beating around the bush with this one – so to speak. LAB is another legendary venue found in the basements below Berghain, where anything goes when it comes to kink. High on the list of the best fetish venues in the world it has everything  you could possibly imagine and then some. Don't go if you're easily shocked and check what nights they have on to avoid any surprises.

Sheune – this small yet often full – especially at the weekends – cruising bar is found in the Schöneberg district. Sheune has a loyal following with the same locals often attending, giving it a friendly atmosphere. The “barn bar” has special fetish themed nights ranging from rubber to uniforms and Sundays gets a little hardcore with Naked Party.

Connection Club – prepare to enter the Twilight Zone….for real, that's the name of the cruising area found in the basement here! Connection Club is ostensibly a techno/house dance club with cruising areas, but the cruising elements tends to take over around midnight on all the floors.

Bull – a great combination between hang out bar and fetish club with well-equipped darkroom – full of swings and glory holes galore. Bull is popular with the older crowd and the best place to be – or find – a leather-clad daddy. That said all kinky types are welcomed from puppies to those who just want to be naked.

Gay Events in Berlin

Berlin CSD (gay pride) – also called Christopher Street Day. A 12:30 parade: from Kurfürstendamm via Nollendorfplatz and Siegessäule to the world-famous Brandenburger Tor, where the 4:30 pm till midnight closing ceremony takes place.

Photo by The Crowded Planet
Photo by The Crowded Planet

Stadtfest – the perfect warm-up to Berlin's Pride. Days before Berlin's official pride celebrations, the Stadtfest takes place around Nollendorfplatz in the Schoneberg district.

Folsom Europe – lots of parties from Friday till Sunday and a Saturday afternoon international fetish and leather weekend street fair. Europe's largest gay fetish event.

Hustlaball – features a VIP room with hardcore ‘performances' on 2 stages by a variety of famous sex stars. Performances cover a number of ‘genres' including Roman Gladiator, rubber, leather, etc.

Day Trips from Berlin

Potsdam – take S-Bahn S7 line from the Berlin Hauptbahnhof. Cost: 7.40€ for an ABC day ticket. (RE1 is also an option.) If you rent a bike to tour these unforgettable gardens, keep in mind that some are ‘walking-only' accessible. Consider yourself a photographer? You'll never find a backdrop the likes of this anywhere. Book tour →

Photo by Andre Zehetbauer via Flickr / CC BY
Photo by Andre Zehetbauer via Flickr / CC BY

Sachsenhausen Concentration Camp – enlightening but somber, this is one giant history lesson all wrapped up. The real picture of mankind‘s inhumanity toward his fellow man. You'll learn more spending one day at this somber but tastefully done memorial than in all your history lessons combined. Find the best route/transportation by clicking here. Book tour →

Dresden – Dresden railway is an electrified, double track, main line railway through the German states of Saxony, Brandenburg and Berlin, originally operated and built by the Berlin-Dresden Railway Company. You may well need more than one day to shop, eat, drink and sight-see your way through this historic haven! Plan on at least 2 days.You can travel from Berlin by train (cost between $40 and $80, depending on the type of train. Recommended: the EC train – it is cheaper than the ICE and goes directly to Dresden in about 2 hours), by car (about a 2 hour drive) or by bus (2.5 hours for only $12). Book tour →

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 Featured image by Gonzalo Malpartida via Flickr / CC BY