Cozy cafes and welcoming wine bars, indulgent spas and winter walks…

Winter in Berlin has a fearsome reputation—but like the famous Berliner Schnauze, it’s really not as bad as all that. Sure it gets chillier here than in many Western European cities, but then we are ostensibly an Eastern city and winters here have nothing on those in Canada, Scandinavia, Russia or, er, Antarctica.

Even when temperatures drop to the minuses, which they invariably do, it’s possible to have a really good time thanks to the city’s almost absurdly vibrant indoor culture of cafes, bars, museums and galleries. Plus much of the time it’s either snowing—which can be fun and pretty!—or warm enough to take a stroll or an urban hike. Before you know it, the birds will be singing again and you’ll be starting to peel off the layers. Honest…

Cozy Cafes & Bars

The first thing you’ll probably want to know is where the city’s coziest cafes are; places where you can hole up with a good book or a friend, and watch the snow and rain fall as you enjoy some hearty home-made soup, a slice of cake or a warming hot chocolate. We have a round-up of just these kinds of spots here but we can briefly recommend Wohnzimmer (Prenzlauer Berg), Winterfeldt Schokoladen and Bilderbuch (Schöneberg), Macondo (Friedrichshain) and Die Weinerei (Mitte).

For a more elegant villa-style experience and/or a long, leisurely brunch, try Cafe Einstein, Cafe am Literaturhaus, Café Strauss or Villa Tomasa. And if you need a book to take along, check out some Berlin-themed literature in our book reviews section and find our comprehensive list of local bookshops here.

The city is awash with cosy pubs and bars too. We have a round-up of classic kneipe-style pubs here, a profile of Wedding spots here, some craft beer hangouts here, and a list of some of our favourite cocktail bars here.

Charming Restaurants

When you want something more substantial than just Kaffee und Kuchen, Berlin has plenty of welcoming restaurants for filling up on hearty comfort foods.

Traditional German food is a great winter warmer and Charlottenburg’s Kurpfalz-Weinstuben has been serving up its popular Palatine menu for over 80 years. For a taste of Southern Germany, Alpine and Bavarian classics can be found in Kreuzberg’s Cafe Obermaier.