The Ultimate Vegan Guide to Berlin, Germany

Berlin was never on my list of places I wanted to go but after receiving a job offer for a company based there I found myself on a flight en route to Berlin, Germany. After doing some research I learned that Berlin is extremely progressive when it comes to food and sustainability. In fact, Live Kindly named Berlin The Vegan Capital of the World and its a title Berlin absolutely deserves! 

Not only is the food incredible but the public transportation is efficient and reliable, perfect for a traveler without a car. The city is also rich in history and offers a wide arrange of attractions and activities for travelers on any budget. After spending two weeks in this beautiful city, I am happy to share with you a vegan guide to Berlin including how to ride the public transportation and where to go if you’re visiting on a Sunday when most places are closed.

Here are my top tips and places to eat if you are traveling Berlin as a vegan:

Tip 1: Use Public Transportation

When you get to Berlin, there is not a train or metro that runs from the airport to the city center so you’ll need to either catch the bus or take an Uber or Taxi from the airport. If you decide to take the bus from the Airport, I highly recommend purchasing the Berlin Welcome Card. This will allow you access to all public transportation including the subway (U-Bahn), Busses, and Trams including admission to select attractions and activities. 

If you decide not to purchase the Berlin welcome card you can purchase a ticket on the bus or inside the U-bahn station. I recommend purchasing the Berlin welcome card or purchasing it at an U-Bahn station because if you’ll be in the city for a few days or a couple of weeks like me, this will allow you to purchase a week pass. When you purchase a ticket from the u-bahn station at a machine, you’ll be able to choose English. To purchase a week pass, click “More Options” on the screen. Otherwise the main screen will only show you a day pass, 2 day pass, or 3 day pass. A daily pass will run you about 7 euros ($7.82 USD) a day and a week ticket will cost you 30 euros ($33.52 USD).

The most important thing to note here when purchasing a ticket is that before you ride there will be yellow validation machines. Make sure you validate your ticket before getting on any bus, tram, or train. 

You can pay for your ticket with either cash or card at these machines but on the bus you’ll only be able to pay in cash. 

If you’ll be taking public transportation during your stay, I recommend using google maps to get around. Simply put in your destination and select transit options. Google Maps was a great resource for which train and bus to take and which stop to get off on. 

If you are taking the bus, an important thing to remember is when your stop is approaching, each seat is equipped with a “stop” button. Click this button upon approaching your stop so the bus driver knows you need to get off, otherwise if no one is standing at the bus stop the bus will keep on going. Also, when you enter the bus be sure to show your validated ticket to the driver. 

Public transportation is incredibly reliable and easy to navigate. Most people from all social classes take public transportation here and you can get anywhere in the city using the bus, the u-bahn, or the tram.

Tip 2: Common Sayings, Phrases, and Words to Be Aware Of:

I highly recommend downloading the Google Translator app when you travel to any country abroad where English is not the first language spoken. What is great about this app is not only can you speak into it or type to translate but you can also use the camera feature and it will read a menu or a sign and translate it into English. 

As a vegan, these are the words you’ll want to know and be on the lookout for when purchasing food as most labels are in German. The good news is, however, the word vegan is still vegan in German!

Milk: Milch

Eggs: Eier

Honey: Honig

Meat: Fleisch

Cream: Sahne

Yoghurt: Joghurt

Butter: Butter

Some common phrases that will help you get around are: 

Hello

Halo

Good Morning

Guten Morgen 

Good Day

Guten Tag 

Good Night

Gute Nacht 

Bye

Tschuss

Excuse Me

Entschuldigung 

How are you?

Wie geht es Ihnen

Thank You

Danke

Your Welcome

Bitte 

Where is the bathroom?

Wo ist die Toilette 

How much is this?

Wieviel kostet das

Check Please

Bitte Uberprufen

Is this vegan?

Ist das vegan

I don’t speak German

Ich spreche kein deutsch

Do you speak English?

Sprechen sie englisch

One thing you’ll find to be extremely helpful is that most people in Germany speak English so getting around isn’t hard at all but it’s always nice to try and make an effort to speak German when possible. 

Tip 3: What to do on Sundays

In Berlin on Sundays most stores and businesses are actually closed. Germany has very strict laws on opening hours on Sundays but fear not there are still things you can do if you find yourself traveling through Berlin on a Sunday. Thankfully Berlin does have a brunch culture so you can find some amazing places to eat brunch on a Sunday. We ended up going to a quaint restaurant called Avocai that offered some amazing vegan pancakes and avocado toast with tofu scramble. 

Also, the museums on Berlin’s Museum Island are also open on Sundays from 10am-6pm. There are five museums on Museum Island that include the following: 

Pergamonmuseum 

Bode-Museum

Neues Museum 

Alte Nationalgalerie 

Altes Museum

I am fascinated by Egyptian history so we decided on the Neues Museum which has a ton of ancient Egyptian artifacts in addition to the original bust of Nefertiti which was such a treat to see! Just the Neues museum alone took us about 2-3 hours to get through as our ticket included an audio tour that we took advantage of throughout the museum. On a Sunday you could certainly pick two museums and will be sure to fill your day. We visited in the winter so it was quite cold but in the spring and summer, you can also rent some bikes and ride around the city as the city is extremely accessible for those on bikes and pedestrians. 

Tip 4: Where to Stay

There’s honestly so many amazing parts of the city you can stay in but the places I explored the most were Mitte, Moabit, Tiergarten, Kruezberg, Wedding, Charlottenberg, and Prenzlauer Berg. As a vegan, no matter where you stay you won’t find any issues finding amazing vegan options to eat and because the public transportation is so accessible it only takes about 15-20 minutes to go where you need depending on where you stay. I stayed in the Tiergarten area and found that being in the center of Berlin had great hotel options and it was easy to get around to just about anywhere I needed to go. Wherever you stay, just know that the city is actually very safe. Because I traveled to Berlin in the winter months it got dark around 4-4:30pm. At first, I felt uneasy walking the streets alone at night but because so many people take public transportation there are typically people always walking about. Like anywhere, you always want to watch your surroundings but you should know before you go that Berlin overall is a very safe city.

Tip 5: Carry Cash

One of the things that was a bit harder for me to get used to was carrying cash. Most places will only accept cash however most large department stores will take credit and debit cards. Before you go be sure to convert your money. I was actually able to convert my money at my local Wells Fargo bank before I left. One thing I was quite surprised about was how inexpensive food was in Berlin. I took out about $300 USD and was easily able to eat, buy a couple of small souvenirs and a week-long transportation ticket during my stay. Berlin is quite affordable and a great place to go in Europe if you are budget conscious. 

You’ll see Curry 36 around town as they are a chain serving up a traditional German dish, Currywurst. In fact, they are one of the only places in town where you can get a vegan version of Currywurst. I was a bit skeptical of trying this dish but it was really tasty and actually reminded me of a State Fair corndog!

Vaust is an extremely quaint and quite romantic gem near the Tiergarten and Charlottenburg neighborhood. When you walk in, they’ve got heavy red velvet curtains hanging from the walls and candlelit tables. The food and drinks are all vegan and they typically have a rotating seasonal menu. We had some delicious pasta stuffed with pumpkin and squash drizzled in a creamy pesto sauce along with some vegan currywurst as an appetizer. 

Chay Village is phenomenal! Which is why it is typically packed! My recommendation for this place is to make a reservation so you don’t have to wait, especially in the winter time when its quite cold outside. This place is pretty small but the food is incredible! I had their fried dumplings and their seitan over mushroom sauce and rice with mixed veggies that was out of this world! 

You cannot pass up Viasko! I will never have another dessert as delicious as the vegan tiramisu they serve here! Not only is the tiramisu the perfect consistency, but they make this incredible vanilla cotton candy in house that they top it off with and this is truly what vegan dreams are made of. We also had their chocolate cake which was topped with the same cotton candy mixture and I cannot stress enough that you just cannot pass this place up if you find yourself in Berlin! 

I haven’t had Jamaican food since going vegan so this place, Rosa Caleta, was such a treat! They offer vegan options like lentil patties, plantains, and jerk tofu. They also serve up some authentic and tasty drinks that will make you feel like you are on an island somewhere! This place is such a gem and a great option for vegan travelers!

Brammibal’s donuts have a couple of locations around the city and their donuts are like designer donuts! I honestly thought they were too pretty to eat but of course that didn’t stop me because they are delicious! We went during Christmas time so they had an amazing gluwein flavored donut and my other favorite one was their salted caramel donut! You have to treat yourself to one of these amazing donuts when in Berlin!

I was lucky enough to have Geh Veg around the corner from the office I was working out of for the time that I was there and visited a couple of times for lunch. I really loved their crispy kale and quinoa burger and it was a really inexpensive and tasty lunch option. They also have an array of yummy treats and pastries as well!

We came to Avocai for sunday brunch and had the most amazing vegan pancakes and avocado toast topped with a yummy tofu scramble. This restaurant isn’t completely vegan but the staff is super helpful and will let you know what is vegan or happy to make it vegan for you if you ask. I highly recommend coming here for just the pancakes alone! The food here is really fresh and light too!

On one of our last nights in town we wanted to go back to Chay Village but unfortunately they were completely booked, which is why I recommend a reservation in my recommendation above for Chay Village, but we were in luck because just a quick 5-7 minute walk away we found HoLo and Friends that also served Asian cuisine. I was really impressed with this place and honestly found the vegan duck dish to have been one of my favorite meals here in Berlin. This place has a great atmosphere and the food is fresh and tasty! They have a 2 full pages here dedicated to vegan dishes.

Dolores

I can’t even tell you how many times I ate at Dolores! Thankfully the hotel I stayed at was just a block away from here and I absolutely loved their vegan burrito and burrito bowl here. They make an amazing vegan chipotle mayo sauce that is super tasty and freshly made tortilla chips that pair perfectly with the soy chicken they make. This is a great inexpensive, takeaway option or quick service when you are on the go.

Monkey Mind

Melinda, the owner, had just opened up a few weeks before I visited and I absolutely love this little gem! She makes the best vegan cheesecakes and matcha lattes! The entire cafe is vegan so you never have to worry when you order here.

DM

This place is a chain and similar to an American version of Walgreens or CVS. Anything you really need you can find here as a traveler and they offer a really great selection of vegan cookies and chocolate which I purchased several bars to take home with me to enjoy.

KaDeWe

I honestly couldn’t afford much inside of this major department store, KaDeWe, but you have got to check out their food court on the top floor! Food court honestly doesn’t describe the massive amounts of chocolate, pastries, and restaurants you can find here on the top level of this store. Although there aren’t a ton of vegan options you can still find them if you ask. I was able to find some delicious vegan truffle chocolates and my mom and I sat down and enjoyed some glasses of champagne at their champagne bar.

Overall, Berlin seriously stole my heart! I can’t say enough good things about Berlin! As a vegan it felt like such a safe haven because veganism is really encouraged and embraced here. I think one of the reasons for that is because so many people in Berlin are really aware of the effects animal agriculture has on the environment. I was pleasantly surprised to see that plastic was very rare here and most items come in paper, glass, or items like take away utensils and containers are compostable. Berlin, although it has had a very dark history, they don’t hide it. They acknowledge the faults of the past and have taken strides to ensure history does not repeat itself. Berlin is progressive, affordable, accessible, and beautiful. I never thought I could fall in love with a city but Berlin will always have a special place in my heart and I hope to come back to visit often. If you find yourself traveling to Europe or looking for somewhere as a vegan you can get the most out of your travels, Berlin is the place you want to be!