Koernerpark

Schierkestr. 8, 12043 Berlin

Hidden little park with a small cafe/terrasse and gallery attached. Peaceful
and relaxed atmosphere. Open Air Concerts in the summer.

Mauer Park

Prenzlauerberg, near the Eberswalder Strasse U-Bahn. So named because the Wall ran through here. This place is a trip on summer nights - DJs, people hanging out, shooting hoops, drinking beer, selling drugs. Summer days, people sunbathe, play soccer, drink, and just hang out in a pretty unique way.

On Winter nights it's cold and long, and inevitably between where you are and where you want to be.

Tiergarten

It can take a while to get away from the noise of cars and buses speeding through the four-lane rounds that chop Tiergargen into sections. Like in most Berlin parks, the designers of the Tiergarten managed to include enough little hidden paths and tiny clearings to keep you exploring. On sunny days, the big fields south of the Siegesaule are packed with naked people slowly turning their skins into rich Corinthian leather. A couple of these areas are predominantly gay and very crowded, but there’s plenty of room here for everyone. There’s almost nowhere to get snacks or drinks once you enter the park, so pack somethingif you’ll be there for a while. The Café am Neuen See, nearly all the way West to Zoo Station, is a pleasant biergarten with some prime spots along the deck by the pond. For some reason, they serve great-looking stone oven pizzas, although I haven’t tried them.

Treptower Park

A little bit out of the center of town, but some parts of Treptower Park are the most attractive of any green space in Berlin. The park is quite huge, but lots of it is woods. The green parts run along the Spree, and Treptower Park is the place to pick up one of the tour boats that go up and down the river. If you walk far enough through the park, you’ll pass a riverside beer garden (which sadly also contains a Burger King) and eventually arrive at the Insel der Jugend and the high bridge to it from the park. There’s a tiny bar in the woods here, and places for kids to mess around. The Insel der Jugend’s large and grimy main building is a sort of youth center and often has bands and film programs.

Gorlitzer park

On a sunny Saturday, prepare to do battle with zillions of Kruezbergers who arrive for full-day grill parties. I thought Gorlitzer Park was a dump the first time I saw it, and parts of it certainly are. It’s surprisingly big, though, and there are lots of little hidden spots that can take time to find, like the little secluded pond and tiny shore at the eastern end. Check out the mostly-Turkish neighbourhood just north of the park (although oddly, there’s not a single döner stand I can recommend there). If you walk to the bottom of the park (the other end from the Gorlitzer Park U-bahn), you can pick up the path along the Landwehr canal for a long walk all the way across Kruezberg (head to the right when you hit the canal).

Volkspark am Weinberg

Really just a grassy slope between Weinbergsweg, Brunnenstrasse, and Veteranstrasse, Veteranspark attracts neighborhood hipsters by the hundred on any sunny day. Nothing special, but convenient to Kapelle, Gorky Park, and Kastanienalle.