10 Best Things to Do After Dinner in Berlin

Museum Island, just as its name implies, is the cultural nerve centre of the German capital. It's a sliver of land that's surrounded by the River Spree at the eastern end of the famous boulevard of Unter den Linden. Upwards of 5 museums make their home here, along with all manner of striking Prussian-era architecture.

Most travellers go to Museum Island during daylight hours. But, for those who dine early, there's a chance that you could see the relics without the crowds. The last access to most of the exhibitions is around 6 pm, including at the ancient wonderworld of the Pergamon Museum and the art-filled Bode Museum. It's possible to get queue-skip tickets to speed things up even more.

The Berliner Fernsehturm skewers the great city at its middle, soaring a whopping 368 metres into the German skies with its red-and-white needle summit. You can't miss it – the great spire rises overhead on Alexanderplatz, arguably Berlin's main gathering point.

At night, the tower is all lit up in noir shades of white and grey. It's open until 10 pm, so there's a good chance you could get up to the 360-degree lookout deck after a meal in Mitte. That will mean sweeping views of the entire city and its twinkling lights for as far as the eye can see. Cocktails from the bar are optional, but highly recommended.

Liquidrom is a place to soothe the senses and unwind after a long day of sightseeing. This iconic spa is located in a strange-looking building known as the Tempodrom, which has a curious mix of Brutalism and big-tent designs.

Inside, you'll find all sorts of facilities, from classic Finnish saunas and thermal pools to the edgier and experimental Kelo herbal saunas and Japanese onsen gardens. Bathing goes on here late into the night and even past midnight on weekends. You can find Liquidrom just north of the Spree on Möckernstrasse.

The Wilhelm-Foerster-Sternwarte is Berlin's premier space observatory. A renowned scientific institution of the city since its foundation in 1947, it makes its home amid the green spaces of the Nature Park Schöneberger on the far south side of town.

Most trips here take place during the day, when you can check out artificial planetariums and scientific talks. However, there's a special night programme that happens outside of usual hours, when visitors might just be treated to glimpses of glimmering stars and remote planets of our solar system. You'll need to check ahead to see what's on.

The Berlin Philharmoniker is one of the finest orchestras in Germany. Their home is the striking 1900s Berliner Philharmonie, where you can go to see their world-renowned performances. It's sat just between the Tiergarten and Potsdamer Strasse near the centre of town.

The orchestra play all sorts of shows by great names in the sphere of classical music – it might be Tchaikovsky one night, Brahms the next. They also do special shows that highlight the cellists or string sections of the troupe. You'll need to book ahead because these are some seriously sought-after tickets.

There are oodles of Berlin pub crawls that can help you uncover the iconic nightlife scene of this famously hedonistic capital. They meet at different places across town, but hostels and local bars are usually where you'll be gathering.

Most packages include a whole night's entry to a handful of venues in hidden nightlife quarters like Simon-Dach Strasse and Friedrichshain. You can enjoy free drinks and even receive giveaways like T-shirts and other pub-crawl paraphernalia. Berlin pub crawls can get busy in the summer months but are a great way to meet and mingle with like-minded travellers.

Auguststrasse is a vibrant run of bars and galleries, making it one of the epicentres of Berlin's modern art scene. The street cuts across the northern end of the Mitte district, going from Oranienburger in the west to the Hackescher Markt in the east.

The entire Auguststrasse is a montage of quirky photography galleries and Pop Art shows, painter workshops, and art-themed bookshops. At night, those take a backseat as the students fill the bars, clinking beers in open-air terraces and sipping wines in the windows of boho bistros. There are also eclectic food options, from modern schnitzel bars to Turkish kebab outlets.

Winterfeldtplatz has established itself as arguably the premier LGBTQ+ neighbourhood in Berlin. Flapping rainbow flags adorn just about every corner of the district, which is actually little more than a square in the northern part of Schöneberg in south Berlin.

There are all sorts of dance bars and clubs to explore in Winterfeldtplatz. They usually stay open until the very early hours and come in all shapes and sizes, from flamboyant Med-themed drinkeries to noir cocktail lounges. The place is liveliest in the summer, when the huge Pride fest sweeps through the whole of Berlin.

The KulturBrauerei is an all-in-one entertainments centre that puts loads of after-dinner activities under 1 roof, including a nightclub and a cinema. Head to the 25,000-square-metre complex on the western side of Prenzlauerberg and you should find it brimming with people most nights of the week.

The only question is where to go. Will it be Kesselhaus in der Kulturbrauerei, a boiler room converted into a pumping live-music space? Will it be the veggie food court and beer garden mashup of Soda Club Berlin? Or will you try to catch some performing arts at the RambaZamba Theater? Afterwards, head east, where Prenzlauerberg itself offers plenty more in the way of bars and cocktail lounges.

If there's one thing that Berlin loves to do once the sun's gone down, it's clubbing. Kreuzberg is the most iconic area to do that. It's an old East German quarter south of the Spree River, home to gritty streets that burst with graffiti art and jazz bars.

There are more clubs than you can shake a bratwurst at in these parts of Berlin. You can start with beers at the Club der Visionaere on the Kreuzberg canals. Then, check out the cavernous industrial depot of Tresor, a mainstay on the Berlin techno scene. Electronica buffs might prefer Gretchen, while more chilled evenings happen down in Lido on Cuvrystrasse.