Another guest report from Dan - this is part 1 of 2...

Late April heralded my two leg European capital holiday - spending the first 5 nights in Berlin with old pals Chris and Lee and then 4 nights in Budapest with Stu.

Day 1
After a few drinks I set off from Luton airport about midday. After touching down at Schonfeld I occupied the hour until Chris and Lee landed with more beer. Once united we took the S-Bahn (a sort of overground metro) to Lansberger Allee station which is just 100m from the Generator Hostel where we were staying. After settling in we sampled the Hostel bar - pretty good at about 2.5 Euros a pint with a good pils, a good dark lager, bottles and spirits as far as the eye can see. Feeling hungry we decided to try out the little Italian pizzeria we had seen near the station. The food here was excellent value - a pizza each and several beers only about 7 Euros. Back to the Hostel for more beer at the bar.

Day 2
In the Hostel we found out about tours ran by Handeman (they do a free 3hr tour starting at the Brandenburg gate starbucks most days). This free tour was the busines - led round by Nick “My name is Nick” you get to see all the sights in the east of the city and checkpoint Charlie. Nick was very informative and entertaining. NB. This is a must. After the tour we had a spot of lunch in a posh café near Museum Island. The waitress was dead fit and was convinced we were Irish because we tipped so well (obviously most English are tight here). In the evening we sought out a traditional German restaurant and had Goose, it was good value but a little dry. Went to a local bar afterwards. It was a real hippy student feel dive - it even had an alcove with bean bags that looked like an opium den. After more beer it was back to the hostel for a night cap.

Day 3
Went on Handemans tour of the Saxenhousen concentration camp at Orienenburg just north of Berlin. This was a bit grim but interesting and well worth doing. In order to cheer ourselves up we decided that we would go on the organised pub crawl (also organised by Handemans). However we perhaps unwisely went to a restaurant on Orienenburg Strasse (were the crawl began). Here at the Orienen {the Orange} several beers were consumed, as was a truly delicious meal. We then joined the crawl just before 8 at the Silverfish. The reps were giving out free beer before the crawl and free orange vodka during the crawl. The Silverfish was a cool place with a slightly Rock feel. Next was a trendy wine bar type place with leather sofas. After this it was into Kadima a Russian bar/club and more free vodka. The next bar was a fair walk towards Alexanderplatz but chatting to some Fins and a very drunk Columbian was fun. After the final bar we were escorted onto the S-bahn and taken to the Matrix, a huge maze like club with at least 8 rooms and a good mix of music. At about 4 am we tried to walk back to the Hostel but my legs said no. A taxi and dodgy Doner Kebap (that's how they spell it!) later it was time for bed.

Day 4
Woke up feeling well dodgy. Managed to shift at 10:30am and set off for Museum Island leaving Lee fast asleep. Started to feel well hungry (we missed breakfast) and so we sampled the famous Currywurst {A big bratwurst sliced up in a tomato sauce covered in curry powder} feeling marginally more alive we went to the Pergamon museum: This was amazing believe me even if you don't like museums or archaeology this HAS to be seen. After another beer the hangover really kicked in and I had to return to bed for three hours. This evening we went to another Italian - a little more upmarket this time.

Day 5
The final day in Berlin. Went to the west of the City and visited Potzdammerplatz and the zoo for a few hours. In the evening we went to an Iranian restaurant near Alexanderplatz. Very nice; sort of a cross between Greek, Turkish and Moroccan. Had a few more beers at the hostel before getting a relatively early night.

Day 6
Had to get up early to catch the S-Bahn to the airport. Flew to Budapest.....

Tips for Berlin
If flying in to Schonfeld walk to the S-bahn station and get a ticket to anywhere rather than a cab. It's much cheaper.
If you think you will use the S/U-Bahn regularly the weekly all zone ticket is only about £30.
Always buy a ticket as if you get caught automatic 50 Euro fine. The S-bahn runs all night Friday and Saturday.
Most people speak good English but lots of German words are easy to say.
Cigarettes are usually about 5 Euros a pack.
Beer guide: Price about 3 euros for 500mL, types Pils (self explanatory), Berliner (Becks with either green or red cordial in it), Weissbier/Heffweiser beer (a cloudy wheat beer) Kristal (clear), Dunkel (Dark).