Players Club Tours answers:

Your girlfriend is a genius. It is exactly because Berlin is not one of the usual tourist towns that makes it special. If all you want to do is to go clubbing and barhopping then you can do that anywhere.
It’s also possible to stay drunk in Berlin but you don’t mix with uncouth tourists when you’re doing it. There’s hardly any Americans and the Berliners don’t hog the sunbeds.

Have a look at the BVG web site (link below, when you open the home page look across the top for the English version). BVG is the city transport consortium. The site contains loads of information for visitors.

If you buy a Welcomecard (available from all Berlin airports and railway stations) then you get a bus/tram/UBahn/SBahn?RE train travelcard. It’s an excellent way to get around.

The Welcomecard also includes a book of discount vouchers for dozens of attractions. I’ve included a link direct to the Welcomecard page.
If you do nothing else except to work your way through that book of vouchers then you’ll have a fantastic week.

As a rough starter, things to do and see:
The Natural History Museum (UBahnHof Zinnowitzerstrasse). This has the largest barchiosaurus skeleton in captivity and also has great new diorama display.

The Egyptian museum. This has the world famous bust of Queen Nefertiti. Considering that she’s over 4000000 years old she’s gorgeous.

Treptower Park Soviet War Memorial. This sounds like a drag, but you really must see it. It’s not a war grave site – it’s an enormous and incredibly impressive statement of what the Soviet Union was all about. (S Bahnhof Treptower Park).

The Furnsehturm (tv tower). This has a revolving restaurant and if the weather is clear you get fantastic views all over the city. (S BHf Alexanderplatz).

Potdammer Platz. Here and the K’u Damm are “where it’s AT”. You should note that the new skyscrapers are all deliberately different. Apparently the city fathers decided that visitors would like at least one of them.

The Liquidrom (SBhf Anhalter Hauptbahnhof). This is a salt water swimming pool that you just float in and listen to the music piped through underwater loudspeakers. Have a massage afterwards, very relaxing.

Take a river boat trip. They’re not expensive and they sell good value cold beer.

Avoid Berlin “fish and chips”. These seem to be made by people who have heard about them but never seen the real thing.

Do not ever drink “international” lagers such as Stella, Carlsberg etc. Berlin is a city full of microbreweries. One of the easist to find is the Georgbrau which is next to the Nikolai Quarter in the town centre. They sell first class home brew and good German food to go with it.

Go to their equivalent of Harrods – KaDeVe. The top floor is home to an enormous chocolatier display and food market.

Go shopping down Friedrichstrasse (S/U Bhf Friedrichstrasse). If you have a decent street map (download from Google Maps is good) you will find that you are close to Gendarmenmarkt. This is very impressive square if you’re prepared to be impessed by German architecture. Between G’Markt and Fried’stasse is Fassbinder , one of the best chocolate shops in the country.

Wherever you are staying you should use the Zoo as your centre of operations. From here you can get a bus or U/S Bahn to almost everywhere.
I recommend that you take a trip on bus route 100 from the Zoo to Alexanderplatz. This takes a scenic route around the Tiergarten and past many tourist sites – all on your welcomcard ticket so you’re not paying expensive tour bus rates. You should have your Berlin guide book with you though (the AA Guide is probably one of the best) because the 100 is a service bus and there’s no commentary.

Take the RE train from the Zoo to Grunewald for a spot of skinny-dipping with the locals.

As well as all this there is the usual stuff about the Cold War, Checkpoint Charlie, World War 2 and so on. Most visitors go to Marx-Engles Platz to have their photos taken against the big statues of the men themselves.

Have a trip around the Berlin Ring S Bahn. It takes you well into the old East and the West, beyond the centre bits. You’ll be amazed at the differences that you see.

Eat at Deponie 3. It’s a 5 minute walk from Friedrichstrasse station and is probably one of the best restaurants in the city.
Another great one is Thai Inside (SBhf Alexanderplatz). If that’s not to your taste then eat at Mau Thai; they don’t serve noodles (odd) but the proprietor is Norbert Frankenstein so it can’t be bad.

There is so much to see and do. It’s impossible here to describe it all. Unless you wander into the darkest areas of the East or South it’s a very safe city too.

For what it’s worth, my favourate hotel is the Hotel Tiergarten (see link below). This is two stops on the U9 (UBhf Turmstrasse) from the Zoo (or a 20 min walk through the park) or two stops on the SBahn (SBHf Bellvue) from the Zoo and 2 stops from the main railway station (Hauptbahnhof).
The breakfast is to die for, and the staff are superb – especially the manager (larger than life). I’ve been staying there for many years.

When you have been to Berlin in the summer you will want to go back in December. There are dozens of Christmas Markets. Most are different from each other and are good but three of them (Spandau, Keiser Wilhelm Memorial Church and Gendarmenmarkt) are absolutely superb.

Take a careful walk in the road in front of the Brandenberg Gate and you’ll see a line of bricks marking the route of the Wall.
Visit the Reichstag. It’s free but the security queue can be an hour long.

Go with her with good heart. It’s Wunderbar (until the Yanks discover it). I’ve been a regular visitor since the Wall came down.