Photos: Creativecommons.org/Ruben Vique
Audio Guides Sight Hearing
Many of Berlin’s historic sites don't offer guided tours, and the ones that do often move very quickly. For those who just want to guide themselves, there is an app for that. The Audio Guides Sight Hearing app features set suggested audio tours for sites like the Berlin Wall, Brandenburg Gate, Haus der Wannse Konferenz, the Jewish Museum, Reichstag, and the Sachsenhausen Concentration Camp. The guides are narrated by Karen Schulz-Vobach, Paul Sonderegger and Peter Farkas, who are all Berlin natives. The app is available for free on iPhone and Android devices, and the tours can be purchased as a whole for $15 or separately for $0.99 a piece.
Fahrinfo Berlin
For those unfamiliar with Berlin's S-Bahn public transport system, this app is an essential. Unless visitors plan on walking the whole time, in which case they will miss out on much of this massive city, the ability to navigate public transportation is a must. This app details the underground train, bus and tram routes. Since this app is available in both English and German, it is beloved by both visitors and locals alike. It keeps track of times, locates the nearest stations and has the ability to track the fastest routes between destinations. Visitors can even plan trips around Berlin that span hours, days or weeks. This is a great tool for those that want to see as much of Berlin as possible in a limited amount of time. The Fahrinfo Berlin travel app is available for iPhone and Android devices and is free of charge at the app store.
Berlin Club Guide
Berlin has a vibrant nightlife. Visitors and the most committed local clubbers use the Berlin Club Guide app to find the hottest venues that are hosting the best live bands or DJs. With this app, users can locate the nearest bar or club to their location, see the best way to get there and see the rating that has been given to the venue by other users. This way, visitors can assure that the club was not rated by a bunch of random marketing spammers – but by the real partiers of Berlin. The app also separates the nightlife scene into the categories of dance clubs, live music, bars and restaurants. The Berlin Club Guide is available for iPhone and Android phones for $4.99. This is a hefty price tag for those that are only visiting for a short while, but it is worth it when it comes to finding the best party during your stay.
Urban Art Guide
Berlin is a blossoming location for urban artists. While art has thrived in Berlin since before World War II it was the separation of East and West Berlin that really caused this act of expression to thrive. When the Berlin Wall came down, many great pieces of revolutionary graffiti fell with it, but today this vibrant street art scene lives on. The Urban Art Guide app by Adidas localizes urban artworks. It offers information on the artists and guides app users to the pieces. The team that created this app is dedicated to keeping it up to date, so as the city tears down these pieces of artwork, the team removes them and keeps track of the new ones that pop up. Visitors who notice a piece of art that is not in the app can send a picture to the editorial staff to help keep the app up to date. Users can also rate the pictures, post comments and recommend them to their friends on social media. This app is available for free on the app store for iPhone and Android devices.
Qype
Qype is part travel guide and part social media app. Using the location-aware Qype Radar, the app locks onto a user's location and then generates articles and recommendations for places around them. These articles and recommendations are tips from the local Berlin community. It hosts a variety of different tidbits that only a local to the city would know, like the best secret views of the city or the most romantic little cafes. The app has over a half a million entries in Berlin alone, so there is no shortage of interesting things to discover. The Qype app is available for iPhone and Android devices for free.
Tripwolf Travel Guide
This mobile travel guide contains expert information from travel guide publishers such as Marco Polo and Footprint. Those expert tips are then combined with tips from the community of registered travellers from Berlin. Tripwolf is available for iPhone and Android devices for $4.99, however that steep price tag doesn't just cover Berlin – it covers cities all over the world. Tripwolf covers over 500,000 locations all around the globe, making it a great purchase for frequent travellers. Visitors have the option to register with the Tripwolf community without the purchase of the app, which allows for users to browse guides and reviews or post on the forums. However, the app allows for mobility and great information on the go. The Tripwolf app is available whether a device is online or offline, so there is no need for a user to get a special data plan to avoid roaming charges.
Marcellino's Gourmet Guide Berlin
Marcellino's Gourmet Guide app for Berlin is the best app to find great restaurants around the city. The app has information, menus and reviews on over 350 different restaurants, bistros, bars and cafes. Users can sort restaurants by type of cuisine, locations closest to them, or the highest rated. The basic version of this app is free for iPhone and Android users, however the full version allows users to interact with these locations by leaving comments and ratings. This full version costs $2.99.
Zitty App Event Guide
Zitty is a well known event guide around Berlin and as such it has spawned its own app. This app provides reviews and information on where to eat, where to party and where to stay within the city. It also provides a comprehensive list of festivals and live music performances. The app needs to be updated every two weeks, but otherwise it functions perfectly offline without a network connection. It is app is free for both iPhone and Android users, so be sure to take advantage of it before or during a trip to this eclectic city.