For all of you planing your backpacking trip through Europe on a very small budget, we put together a few tips on how you can save a buck or more. Although Berlin is a quite cheap city you might enjoy a little inside story. So here we go with part one of our “Berlin Survival Guide”.
Bottles = Money
If you have been to Berlin, you have seen them. The people going from trash can to trash can looking for something… But what is it? Surprisingly it is not food, it is much better than food, it is MONEY!! Well, not exactly. They are actually bottles, but here in Berlin bottles = money! One typical beer bottle is 0,08 Euro. This may not sound like much, but you know that six pack of plastic beer bottles you threw away in the park trash can and everyone looked at you like you were insane? That was because you just put 1,50 Euro in the trash. “WHAT?? 1,50?? I thought it was only 0,08 Euro???” Nope, plastic ones are 0,25 Euro “Pfand”. Which is what we call a deposit. So next time you are enjoying your delicious beer in the street (yes it is legal to drink in public in Berlin) don’t forget to collect your PFAND!!!
For those of you who are not so good at math, here is a simple break down for you:
- 60 plastic bottles = 1 night in a dorm at U Inn Berlin Hostel
- 188 glass bottles = 1 night in a dorm at U Inn Berlin Hostel
- 26 plastic bottles = 1 Day Pass for the local transport
- 8 plastic bottles = 1 Berliner Curry Wurst
Collecting bottles = good Karma
But seriously, in Berlin everybody is collecting bottles. It saves the environment. And saving the environment gives you a good Karma. You like to achieve some extra Karma Points? Checkout Pfandgeben.de if you have some spare bottles you can give them to people in need. Just call a number and your bottles get picked up by someone in a few minutes. Extra Karma Point guaranteed.
Check out part two of our Berlin Survival Guide – Validate your ticket and part three More Bang for your Buck
Berliners love Döner. No matter if it’s the vegetable Döner from “
The ‘Kiki Blofeld’ you´ll find right opposite of the Bar25 at the river Spree. The place is cozy and relaxed with more green and less sand around. On the premises is also an old (sea-) bunker from the times of GDR border-police. Nowadays this is where the music plays after nightfall. There is also pool and table tennis and for the culinary well-being you can order pizza or grilled sausages. By the way: Kiki Blofeld is the daughter of Ernest Stavros Blofeld the villain from the early James Bond movies. Kiki wanted to redeem her name and so she gave us this compound of nearly1 hectar.
Whats the favorite sport of the Berliners? Its PingPong or in Berlin we call it “Tischtennis”. You find people, playing PingPong everywhere. Mostly every Park have minimum 2 PingPong tables. And its quite difficult to find a free one. In the summertime you see them playing everywhere. It doesn’t matter how old you are, you are always welcome to join for a game. But keep in mind… these guys are profis. Especially the old harmless looking grandpa’s 🙂 But PingPong is not only something what you can do outside in the park, even in some Berlin Clubs it is possible to play PingPong. At the 
Club