16 Most Unique and Crazy Things to Do in Berlin, Germany

Explore 16 crazy and unique things to do in Berlin, from floating pools and robot museums to underground tours, quirky art, and offbeat nightlife.

Berlin is packed with iconic sights, but if you want to uncover the quirky, the offbeat, and the totally unexpected, this list is for you.

From swimming in a pool floating in the Spree to discovering robotic monsters in hidden galleries, here are 16 crazy and unique things to do in Berlin that will change how you see Germany’s capital.

I recommend getting the Berlin Welcome Card, which offers a 25% to 50% discount at many attractions, tours, and restaurants. The card also includes public transportation.

1. Tropical Island Berlin

Tropical Island is entirely artificial and housed in a massive airship hangar, the largest free-standing hall in the world.

The hangar was initially built to protect giant airships from the elements but is now home to the biggest indoor rainforest in the world, a beach, many tropical plants, numerous swimming pools, bars, restaurants, and accommodation. It is open 24 hours a day, every day of the year.

The pools are designed to resemble gorgeous oceans and lagoons.

The Tropical Sea covers 4,400 square meters, while the Bali Lagoon covers 1,200 square meters. 

The pools also include several water slides, sandy beaches, and whirlpools. There is even a Truman Show-like backdrop of blue sky, complete with fluffy white clouds.

Other features include a children’s play area, spa, various sporting activities, a golf course, and even real flamingos in the mangroves!

You can visit for a few hours or stay overnight in lodges, beach huts, or even at the campsite.

Tropical Islands in Berlin are located approximately 60 kilometers south of Berlin, and day tickets commence at 42 euros.

Head to the offical website for more information.

2. Liquidrom

At Liquidrom Berlin, you can enjoy a relaxing swim in complete silence while listening to classical or electronic music underwater. 

You will love the relaxed yet cool atmosphere, dimmed lighting, underwater color, and light effects. It also has other pools where talking is permitted and four nude saunas.

In the Finnish Sauna, you can enjoy a variety of different special infusions with intriguing names such as “Time of Peace,” “Crystal Ice Infusion,” and “Hellfire.”

The Spa holds musical gigs weekly, so you can relax while listening to some of Berlin’s most talented artists and DJs.

Check their website for the infusion schedule and the weekly music events.

3. Street Art Tour

If you’re interested in doing a Street Art tour, check out Alternative Berlin.

These guys organize graffiti tours around the city’s back streets, showing you some of the latest, greatest, and oldest examples of street art, graffiti, and mural art.

The guides are, in fact, street artists or graffiti writers. They know where to find the best art and can give you some insight into the people behind the art and their motivations for their work.

You will also learn how the community corporate about graffiti and the unspoken rules that the culture to bloom.

Tours are on Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays, and Saturdays at noon and last around five hours. You can also try your hand at street art on canvas.

They also provide free tours every day at 11 am and 1 pm, for around 3 hours.

Meet the guide at the Alexanderplatz TV Tower next to the Starbucks entrance to join the tours.

Tours can be purchased here or booked in advance online. You must also have a valid AM metro ticket for all tours.

*Tip: Join the Alternative Berlin by Bike Tour to the largest remaining piece of the Berlin Wall and the trendy district of Kreuzberg.

4. Monster Kabinett

Monster Kabinett Berlin is an exciting collection of massive robotic creatures, metal sculptures, and insect-like creations within a warehouse.

You can visit the part art gallery part performance each Thursday, Friday, and Saturday night.

While attempting to decipher which creations are sculptures or humans, visitors are haunted by strange moving robots, sculptures, and intimidating and scary actors.

Monster Kabinett is located on Rosenthaler Street and welcomes children from 6 years old.

5. BonAppetour – Best Food

If you consider yourself a foodie and are looking for the best places to eat in Berlin, I highly recommend you dine with a local.

BonAppetour is a fantastic app that allows you to connect with locals who will invite you into their homes and cook you some of the best food in Berlin.

On BonAppetour, you will find a range of locals inviting travelers to their homes for authentic German food for a fee.

It’s a great way to try some of the best German food and meet locals and other travelers.

Other great places to eat include the Berlin Turkish Market. Here, you can try some great street food and fresh produce, spices, cheeses, and sweets.

This Turkish Market is located in Kreuzberg, just off Kottbusser Tor.

Hop on the U1 (Kottbusser Tor Station) or the U8 (Schönleinstrasse Station) to get here. You can’t miss it. It takes place on Tuesdays and Fridays from 11 AM to 6:30 PM.

6. Badeschiff

The Badeschiff pool is a swimming pool converted from an old 30-meter barge. The pool now floats in the River Spree by the East Harbour.

While swimming, you can enjoy panoramic views of the city center. A footbridge connects the floating pool to the river bank.

There is a bar on the riverbank, and DJs are a regular occurrence.

The Badeschiff pool is open daily from 8 am to midnight, and the entrance is 5.50 Euro per adult.6. Volkspark Wuhlheide Berlin

Popular parks are Treptower Park and Mauerpark.

However, the less-known Volkspark Wuhlheide is a beautiful park if you seek a peaceful and natural experience.

Volkspark Wuhlheide is a large recreation and amusement park with open fields, tall trees, and even a miniature railway.

Other park features include sports areas, a dance floor, a pool, a toboggan run, and the model park of Berlin-Brandenburg, which contains more than 60 models of famous sights from Berlin and Brandenburg.

Volkspark Wuhlheide is open all day, every day.

7. Design Panoptikum 

Design Panoptikum Berlin is a museum filled with rare and unusual items that will make you think you have entered the world of a mad scientist.

Among the more than 3,000 strange-looking industrial objects are dentist chairs, prostheses, lamps, and shop window mannequins.

The arrangements of the artifacts allow for creative interpretations. Visitors often ask, “What in the world is that?”

Design Panoptikum is located on Poststr. 7 in Nikolaiviertel and is open Monday through Saturday from 11 am to 6 pm.

Design Panoptikum is undoubtedly one of the best places to visit if you are interested in strange and intriguing objects.

8. Take an Underground Tour

While many of Berlin’s main points of interest are above ground, there are also many must-see places underground.

An underground tour will take you through WWII air raid shelters and tunnels to smuggle people out of East Germany.

The underground tour is run by Berlin Unterwelten, who preserves these underground structures for public viewing.

These original tours are based in a former air-raid bunker, the Unterwelten Berlin Museum. Objects on display include ammunition, grenades, gas masks, and Hitler’s vision for rebuilding Berlin.

The museum is located at the southern entrance to the Gesundbrunnen underground station (in front of Kaufland).

Visit their website for more information about the tours.

9. Hohenschonhausen Memorial

Inside the Hohenschonhausen Memorial, you can see the darker side of Berlin’s history.

Guides take you through the Hohenschonhausen prison, which houses 44 years of political persecution, to give you an authentic experience of the prison conditions from 1946 to 1990.

On display are 300 photos and nearly 500 artifacts, including prison clothes and letters from inmates, showing the everyday lives of both prisoners.

You can also visit the museum for free without a guide. However, a guided tour with a former inmate provides a more in-depth and moving experience.

The museum is open daily from 9 am to 6 pm; entry is free.

11. Topography of Terror

The Topography of Terror is an outdoor and indoor history museum in buildings that once housed the Sicherheitspolizei, SD, Einsatzgruppen, and Gestapo headquarters.

The Topography of Terrors is now a memorial and museum detailing the history of repression under the Nazis.

The Topography of Terror museum is open daily from 10 am to 8 pm and has free admission. On Sundays, it offers free guided tours in German and English.

12. Free Walking Tour

If you are looking for a free walking tour that takes you to all the usual tourist spots, groups like Sandeman Tours Berlin and New Berlin are ideal. 

Or grab yourself a walking tour map and create your tour.

However, if you are after something a little different, join a tour with the Original Berlin Tours.

Original Berlin Tours is an alternative way to get an insight into the city. Your tour guide will take you to see street art and graffiti, community projects, the coolest bars, and more.

13. Visit the Reichstag Dome

The Reichstag building is one of the city’s most significant historical buildings and the current home of the German parliament.

Thousands of travelers visit the Reichstag every year for its incredible panoramic views, architectural wonders, and historical importance.

The glass Reichstag dome sits directly above the parliament’s debating chambers, allowing visitors to view the proceedings below.

For security reasons, visitors must register prior to reaching the dome and show ID before entry.

There is also a restaurant at the dome, which provides a fantastic view of Berlin.

Open daily, 8 am to 12 midnight, with admission until 10 pm. A visit to the Reichstag is a must-see for the fantastic views alone.

14. Spreepark

Spreepark is an abandoned dinosaur amusement park just outside of Berlin. Although the park has been abandoned for over 15 years, that doesn’t stop visitors from coming.

Visitors see the life-sized dinosaurs, including fallen Tyrannosaurs and the old roller coaster coming out of a creature’s mouth.

While strict security has recently made it almost impossible to get inside Spreepark, a lovely promenade around the park also provides glimpses inside the abandoned park.

There are also guided tours around the abandoned amusement park.

These tours will allow you to view the remnants of the park close up, and you will have the opportunity to learn about the park’s fascinating history as it operated under a communist government and its park administrator, who smuggled cocaine in via ride equipment.

15. Nightlife

Berlin has a vibrant nightlife, making it an excellent city for fans of bars, lounges, and clubs.

While numerous great nightspots exist, some are unique and will fire you up.

Tausend is one of the ideal spots; it is a contemporary space with a dark mood and a clean steel and mirror interior.

Spindler & Klatt is a riverside nightspot with an understated glamour for a great class.

The weekend features a rooftop terrace, a sleek bar, and a great dance floor for guests, so it is a must-see spot.

16. Clarchens Ballhaus

Clarchens Ballhaus is designed to allow guests to relive the olden days filled with traditional European culture.

Established in 1913, this venue is a dance hall with a restaurant in the center. The revitalized center has an in-house band that creates a nostalgic feeling and spacious dance rooms.

Patrons come from all walks of life, and prominent people like actress Charlotte Rampling Tango, Rocker Marilyn Manson, Campino, the singer of the band “Toten Hosen,” and Klaus Maria Brandauer have even been spotted here.

It is a romantic spot, and you can have dinner in the restaurant downstairs before or after visiting the dance hall.

My Tip:

I recommend getting the Berlin Welcome Card, which offers a 25% to 50% discount at many attractions, tours, and restaurants. The card also includes public transportation.

More day tours

Get Your Guide helps you find the best tours wherever you are heading. It’s usually the first website I check when I plan a trip to a new place.

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Universal Traveler – 16 Most Unique and Crazy Things to Do in Berlin, Germany