For the second year in a row, we celebrated New Year’s Eve in Berlin. And let’s just say that it was quite the celebration.
From the brilliant fireworks and the lively parties, to the endless sea of German beers and happy people, Berlin is one of the world’s best cities to celebrate New Year’s Eve.
If you haven’t considered celebrating New Year’s Eve in Berlin yet, you should. Here’s why…
Berlin
Berliners refer to their beloved city as “poor, but sexy.” And that just about sums it up. Döner and currywurst shops stay open all night long for the drunkards of 5 and 6 a.m. World-renowned art and history museums line the cobblestone streets, intermixed with hipster shops and restaurants, bumping nightclubs, and awesome bars. Drinking in public is perfectly legal, and so is lighting off fireworks anywhere you so please.
Clearly, Berlin caters to a younger crowd, making it the perfect place to celebrate New Year’s Eve.
Flickr: Silvester am Brandenburger Tor | New Year’s Eve at Brandenburg Gate
© visitBerlin, Picture: © SpreePIX Media
Celebrating New Year’s Eve in Berlin
New Year’s Eve in Berlin is like partying in a world of chaos.
Walking through the streets of Berlin on New Year’s Eve is like walking through a war zone. Drunk.
Alcohol and explosives can be deadly pair, obviously. However, in Berlin, the combination creates a party atmosphere that you can’t find anywhere else.
Fireworks blow up every which way. People are everywhere, singing, drinking, and roaming in and out of bars. Broken glass and firework debris cover the streets. And the morning after looks like a massive bomb went off.
It’s absolutely insane. It’s awesome.
Our New Year’s Eve in Berlin
Last year, we rung in the new year at a hipster-ish warehouse party. There, four warehouses surrounded an open-air courtyard which housed multiple German and Polish food carts. Inside the warehouses were transformed into bars, dance floors, an ice skating rink, stages for live performances, and more food stands. At midnight, we all rushed out to the courtyard to watch the city’s many firework shows.
Celebrating New Year’s Eve in Berlin last year was incredible, but somehow, this year was even better.
We opted to join a pub crawl which visited three bars, one nightclub, and put on its very own, very awesome, firework show. On the pub crawl, we met tons of like-minded travelers from all over the world, drank plenty of Berliners, and danced through the night. It’s a night we’ll never forget.
*Tickets for New Year’s Eve parties like these can be found all over the internet! However, make sure you buy your tickets a few weeks in advance, or you’ll run the risk of everything being sold out, or paying premium ticket prices. Each year, this website lists information about the best parties and prices.
Flickr: Silvester am Brandenburger Tor | New Year’s Eve at Brandenburg Gate (1)
© visitBerlin, Picture: Wolfgang Scholvien
New Year’s Eve Party at the Brandenburger Tor
Hundreds of thousands of people gather at the Brandenburger Tor (Brandenburg Gate) each year for a free open-air celebration. At this historical landmark, stages, food and drink stalls, lights and lasers shows, fireworks, and party tents stretch for two kilometers, making up Berlin’s biggest New Year’s Eve party. Throughout the night, notable music artists perform to help partygoers ring in the new year.
Afterward, Berlin’s hundreds of nightclubs and bars await.
*If you ask any Berliner where they’re celebrating New Year’s Eve, their answer will likely be anywhere but the Brandenburger Tor. This party is a tourist event. It’s crowded and chaotic, yet it is sure to be a great time!
Celebrating New Year’s Eve like a true Berliner
If you’re feeling ambitious, and in my opinion, a little insane, why not celebrate New Year’s Eve like the Berliners do? According to Ingo, a Berliner we befriended last year, lots of Berliners celebrate New Year’s Eve mildly, and go to sleep early. Then on New Year’s Day, they wake up, have a fancy breakfast complete with champagne, and then start to party immediately.
Ingo told us that the clubs are open for 48 hours straight, to accommodate the Berliners’ crazy partying habits. Prost!
Flickr: Weihnachtsmarkt am Alexanderplatz | Christmas Market on Alexanderplatz (3)
© visitBerlin, Picture: Wolfgang Scholvien
In our book, there’s nowhere better for young people to celebrate the New Year. Every day of the year, Berlin is a party city. But on New Year’s Eve, Berlin is taken to a whole new level of crazy – one that I’m sure only Berlin can achieve.
If you haven’t experienced New Year’s Eve in Berlin yet, add it to your bucket list!
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Over to you! Where is your favorite place to celebrate New Year’s Eve? Have you ever celebrated in Berlin, or another big European city?
I like how Berliners celebrate NYE! I really like the whole breakfast and champagne idea on New Year’s Day – not sure if I would be able to handle any of the 48 hours of clubbing though haha sounds unreal!
It’s totally unreal.
I agree! Any breakfast with champagne is a friend of mine!
Your insta has been making me SO jealous! Hope you all got to rave a little bit haha.
Thanks for following along on Instagram!
It sounds suuuuuper cool ! I definitely need to do that next year ! :)
U’ll give me some advice of where to go haha
About your trip in Paris I’ll write u a list full of what to do, eat and see and u’ll pick up what u want tot do.
Kenza from https://travelwithkenza.blogspot.fr
Yes, absolutely! And that sounds so great! Thanks so much!
Hi There!
I was searching the internet in hope to find some tips for NYE in Berlin this year.
Your NYE parties sound awesome, both the warehouse and the pubcrawl.
Do you have the names from both the partyvenue and the pubcrawl organization?Maybe they are doing something cool we can visit this year as well!
Thanks in advance :)
This is the Facebook page for the warehouse place, but unfortunately everything is in German. We don’t remember which pub crawl company we booked through, but there are tons of them online and they all cost roughly the same price for the same package deal. Happy NYE! No matter where you end up, it is going to be AWESOME!