Berlin rewards the broke traveller better than any capital in Europe. Half the essential history is outdoors and free, a filling meal costs under €6, and a 24-hour transit ticket unlocks the whole sprawl for the price of a beer elsewhere.
A 1.3 km stretch of original Wall along the Spree, painted by 118 artists in 1990 and permanently free, open 24/7. Walk it westward from Ostbahnhof to catch Vrubel's Fraternal Kiss and Birgit Kinder's Trabant before the tour buses land.
The double-deck 1896 brick bridge linking Friedrichshain and Kreuzberg was a Cold War pedestrian-only crossing. Cross it, then follow the north bank to Holzmarkt, a self-built riverside village of workshops, sandpit bar and free-entry courtyards.
The runways of the abandoned Nazi-era airport are now a 355-hectare public park where Berliners kite-surf on skateboards and barbecue on the tarmac. Free entry, no fences, gates open sunrise to sunset with times posted at every entrance.
The only place where the full death-strip layout survives: watchtower, raked sand, and a preserved section of both walls. Outdoor grounds are free and always open; the documentation centre and tower viewing platform are also free, Tue-Sun 10:00-18:00.
Twice weekly (Tue and Fri, 11:00-18:30) the Neukölln canal bank fills with Turkish greengrocers, cheese stalls and fabric traders. A kilo of tomatoes runs about €2 and vendors slash prices in the last hour before closing.
Neukölln's answer to the Mustafa's queue: grilled vegetables, feta and herb sauce stuffed into a chicken döner for around €7, with no 45-minute wait. Cash-friendly, counter seating only, open until late evening.
Berlin's oldest beer garden, serving since 1837 under chestnut trees in Prenzlauer Berg. Self-service counter, half-litre draught around €5, and the unwritten rule that you may bring your own food to the shared benches.
An 1891 covered market hall in Kreuzberg. Thursday's Street Food Thursday (17:00-22:00) puts three dozen stalls under one roof with most plates between €5 and €9 — Sichuan noodles, arepas, and Berlin's best sourdough.
A US spy station built atop a hill of WWII rubble in the Grunewald forest, its geodesic domes now covered in large-format street art. Entry around €10, open daily from 11:00 in summer, reached by S-Bahn to Heerstrasse plus a 30-minute forest walk.
The 66-metre hill that named the district, topped by Schinkel's 1821 iron monument and fed by an artificial waterfall that runs May to October. Free, always open, with a view straight down Grossbeerenstrasse to the city centre.
Berlin's cheapest sightseeing: a single AB ticket (€3.80) or 24-hour pass (€10.60) buys a slow surface run through Friedrichshain, past Rosa-Luxemburg-Platz and along the old Wall corridor at Bernauer Strasse.
A garden bar on the fifth-floor car park deck of a shopping centre, with a west-facing panorama over Neukölln's rooftops to the TV tower. Entry is a €5 donation after 16:00; take the lift to level 5 and follow the ramp up.