Berlin’s Districts - Where to live/visit

Berlin has so many districts it’s hard to keep track. Each of them even feels like a whole different city. That’s because they used to be different cities altogether. This overview will help you understand the characteristics of each district.

Cost of living varies greatly between the sub districts in terms of rent, prices at restaurants & bars. Districts outside the ring will be added soon ;)

Mitte

The heart of the city. Crowded with tourists and packed with culture. Museums, historical sites, shopping malls and attractions all over. Mitte is a great place to visit, but not for living

Population: 80.000. Majority: upper class

Cost of Living: High

Vibe: Crowded, monumental, historical

Friedrichshain

Hip, cool and diverse. Countless excellent restaurants, bars and clubs reside here. Gentrification is at a high pace. Together with Kreuzberg it is the heart of Berlin’s nightlife scene.

Population: 120.000. Majority: european expats, families, punks

Cost of Living: Medium

Vibe: lively, nightlfey, cool

Kreuzberg

Every hipsters dream come true, it has everything that Friedrichshain has to offer but with a oriental breeze due to a huge turkish community.

Population: 150.000. Majority: creatives, alternatives, turkish

Cost of Living: Medium

Vibe: lively, nightlifey, cool, shady

Neukölln

Currently undergoing the biggest transformation. Neukölln has a very big and established middle eastern community which is more and more invaded by droves of hipsters and students due to lower rent prices and proximity to Kreuzberg.

Population: 160.000. Majority: middle eastern, students, alternatives

Cost of Living: Low-Medium

Vibe: oriental, alternative, shady

Prenzlauer Berg

This is the end result of a once hip and cheap district that got 100% gentrified. It looks like a south-german enclave, but in cool. The streets are cram-full of baby strollers and pretty café’s. A common nickname for the district: The Latte-Macchiato-Mom-Hood.

Population: 150.000. Majority: families, south germans

Cost of Living: High

Vibe: lively, hip, posh, family-friendly

Schöneberg

As the LGBT epicenter of Berlin it has countless gay bars and clubs in place. Very lively neighbourood with high concentration of small designer shops and amazing food otions.

Population: 120.000. Majority: matured, wealthy, LGBT

Cost of Living: Medium-High

Vibe: lively, LGBT,

Charlottenburg

Rich, old and russian, that’s Charlottenburg. Having an unlimited amount of high end luxury brands and expensive restaurants on offer, a big part if Berlin’s high society resides here. When you are 50 years old you will stell feel like a youngster here.

Population: 130.000. Majority: wealthy, elderly, russian

Cost of Living: High

Vibe: classy, calm, posh

Wilmersdorf

Wilmersdorf is mostly a residential area for the wealthy & elderly. Ver few activity options.. It is by far the calmest subdistrict inside the ring.

Population: 98.000. Majority: wealthy, elderly,

Cost of Living: High

Vibe: calm, posh

Tiergarten

Population: 15.000.

Two thirds of the area are covered by the massive Tiergarten park. On the remaining third are mostly embassies settled. Very few people live here.

Cost of Living: High

Vibe: classy, calm, posh

Watch my video to get a more visual overview over the districts ;)

Moabit

Berlin's 'forgotten' neighbourhood. Surrounded on all sides by water, Moabit is a fascinating, and quietly evolving neighborhood which is home to a vibrant mixture of immigrants, students and middle-class families. High concentration of startup’s.

Population: 80.000. Majority: Migrants, students

Cost of Living: Low-Medium

Vibe: shady, start-up’y

Wedding

Wedding is said to be the uprunning underdog, the next trendy district to be, but they have been saying that for the last 20 years. The district has a lively bar scene and is pretty popular with students due to cheap rents.

Population: 85.000. Majority: Migrants, students

Cost of Living: Low

Vibe: shady, oriental, alternative