Little has changed at Zum Schusterjungen since its doors first opened in 1989, the grub is still traditional East German, the interior still echoes a bygone era, and the place is still almost always full. If you're going make sure you check in early, there are only a handful of tables, and they're in rather high demand.

Berlin's DDR museum attempts to introduce visitors to what for millions of East Germans was once everyday life, using the 'paraphernalia of shopping, fashion and family life'. Play 'Hausfrau' in an authentic DDR kitchen and living room, or experience first-hand what it was like to be spied on by the infamous and feared Stasi (State Security Agency).

Up until recently the pandas were the zoo's major attraction, drawing the most gawkers, that is until little polar bear Knut arrived on the scene. Since then there's been no looking back, Knut t-shirts, Knut coffee mugs, and probably somewhere, someone is selling Knut contraceptives. Bears have always had a special significance in Berlin, as the city mascot, so it's only natural that a little polar bear should be the upgraded, fresh for the 21st century, version.

During Berlin's harsh winter months, chairs and blankets are provided for those brave enough to 'go wild' and sit outside, when it's warmer the crowd will often spill out onto the street at this high-in-demand cafe. Inspired by the Portuguese deli scene in Hamburg, and the complete absense of anything similar in Berlin, Galao co-owner Axel Burbacher opened this little snack stop in trendy Prenzlauer Berg back in 2000.

If you can eat the entire meal then you get it for free; a 750g burger with chips and sides, onions etc. Otherwise you've got to pay the full €19. Feeling up to the task? Supposedly there was once a man who managed to devour the whole thing, he even asked for seconds, but then when he was done he disappeared before anyone could get his name - into the foggy streets.

When the first guests arrived at the Odyssee hostel the paint on the walls hadn't even dried, they were that anxious to check the place out. One of the first things you notice about this hostel when you brush through the front door, apart from the huge knight in shining armour, is that the reception also doubles up as a lively bar area - complete with kicker and pool.

During the summer months this hostel gets all it's hot water from the solar panels that are fixed onto the roof of the building, in the Autumn/Winter months when it is not so sunny the system is also used - but only as a suppliment to the normal electricity supply. Die Fabrik is the first such energy conscious hostel in Berlin, perhaps in the world. Funding for the solar project was provided by the EU and partly by the German government.

There are two Jetpacks in Berlin, one in Charlottenburg near to Zoo station and the shopping boulevard of Ku'damm, and the other is out in the woods of Pucklerstrasse. Both come highly recommended, and it's hard to find anyone who has a bad thing to say about either hostels.

Located in the funky, grungy district of Friedrichshain, Schlafmeile is a little off the beaten track but perfect if you want to explore a part of Berlin that is never really experienced by most tourists. The hostel is far enough away from the major landmarks to be suffocated with the mundane checkbox ticking types, looking to splash through the city in a couple of hours and only see what is expected of them to see.

Situated right in the heart of trendy Prenzlauer Berg, Alcatraz is not exactly an island of quiet retreat. It can be quite rowdy, especially during the summer months when the guests all seem to be consipring to night-time activities. Something which is not always so pleasant if you're after a nice nap but then who needs to sleep. Berlin doesn't sleep. It parties, and so should you.

Every Sunday on the green parkland area outside these apartments there is a furniture and antiques market, that's been a regular feature of the area for decades. One block away from the building is Mauer Park, which used to be part of the death strip section of the Berlin Wall, once lined with anti-tank mines and machine gun nests, that also hosts a market now every Sunday.

A high quality 3-star hotel with everything necessary provided, the rooms are simply furnished - but all offer bath/shower with WC, minibars, telephone, radio, TV and hairdryer/s. Buffet breakfast is available in the morning, not included in the price of the meal, and there's also a bar to perch yourself on inside the hotel premises.

All guestrooms at the Gates hotel are provided with free internet access, you even get a laptop to use or a desktop PC - depending on which room you stay in. Slighty more expensive than some of the other hotels in the area, but then you get the luxury that you pay for - the rooms even come with a hairdryer. Wow!

This hotel is fully equipped with 2 restaurants, a bar and room service. All the rooms at the Excelsior also come with bath or shower, WC, hairdryer, mini-bar, cable TV, alarm call service, Telephone, air-conditioning, radio and pay TV. Located only a short stroll from Zoo station, the Excelsior is slap bang in the middle of what little business and banking district Berlin actually has.

This four star hotel is as centrally located in East Berlin as you're going to get, and as you need. The 368m TV tower is only a stone's throw away, and Alexanderplatz train station (the central station for East Berlin) is directly underneath that landmark.

One of Berlin's weirdest concotions, a fast-food club/bar/restaurant/tattoo parlour, White Trash used to be a chinese restaurant during the DDR and you can still spot some of the leftover trinkets and statues lying around when you first breeze through the door. Check out the two big statues guarding the door to see what we mean.

With its wacky wallpaper, reclaimed furniture and oddly shaped light fixtures, Intersoup on Helmholzplatz positively oozes the kind of 'derelicte chic' that Berlin's Prenzlauer Berg neighbourhood is renowned for. Trendy without being overly pretentious, not only does Intersoup serve a whole bunch of different varieties of home-made soup that puts the dirty water you can buy in supermarkets to shame (try the cocoa milk and coriander), but also hosts live music in the evenings.

This little cafe provides some of the best Soviet-style lazing and grazing in the post-Soviet world, which despite what the old Russian propoganda posters might suggest is served largely without the oft pungent aroma of Communist nostalgia. Wifi access is free daily, 10am to 10pm, and they also serve a legendary Brunch every Sunday from 10am until 4pm. Turn up an hour before the end and you get to scrounge through the leftovers for a discount price.

Duck down into the cellar entrance of one of Berlin's best German restaurants, cosy and calm , a nice retreat from the busy tourist-filled street of Oranienburger Strasse in the summer outside. Only metres away is the grand Neu Synagogue, which had it not been for the British carpet bombing the area in 1943 would have survived the Second World War miraculously intact.

Vietnamese food has always been a subject of contention in Berlin, there have always been a lot of Vietnamese living in East Berlin - they were originally invited as guest workers by the East German government. Most of the Chinese, Japanese and other Asia restaurants have Vietnamese owners, but the number of Vietnamese kitchens had always been low.