What different parts of Berlin are like to live in — character, transport, green spaces, housing and honest trade-offs.
Berlin is divided into 12 districts (Bezirke), each with its own district office (Bezirksamt) for things like registration. Every district is made up of several localities (Ortsteile) — the names people usually mean when they talk about a neighbourhood, such as Kreuzberg or Wedding. This page currently describes 12 districts and 18 localities.
There is no “best neighbourhood”: what suits you depends on your work, budget, family and lifestyle. We describe places — we do not score them.
Larger pins are districts, smaller ones localities. Every place is also listed below.
Map of neighbourhoods in Berlin
District
West Berlin's former centre, with Kurfürstendamm and Schloss Charlottenburg, elegant older apartment buildings, villa quarters by the Grunewald forest and 1950s estates in the north. Transport links are excellent, rents are among Berlin's highest, and residents are older than average.
District
A compact, densely built inner-city district on both sides of the Spree, joining former East Berlin Friedrichshain and former West Berlin Kreuzberg. It has a young population, very good U-Bahn and S-Bahn links, a busy nightlife and some of the highest asking rents in the city.
District
An eastern district between Friedrichshain and Marzahn that mixes modernised prefabricated estates, old-building pockets, villa streets in Karlshorst and new waterside housing in Rummelsburg, with the Tierpark, lakes in Hohenschönhausen, the U5 and a dense S-Bahn and tram network.
District
An eastern district of two contrasting worlds. Large, mostly modernised prefabricated estates in Marzahn and Hellersdorf sit next to Germany's largest continuous area of detached houses in Biesdorf, Kaulsdorf and Mahlsdorf. It has the lowest median asking rent in Berlin, plenty of green space and the Gärten der Welt.
District
Berlin's historic and political centre together with the residential neighbourhoods of Moabit, Wedding and Gesundbrunnen. Mitte has the densest transport links in the city, the highest median asking rent of any district in 2025, and sharp contrasts from one street to the next.
District
A district of two halves. Dense, international and fast-changing North Neukölln has older buildings, cafés and nightlife next to Tempelhofer Feld, while the quieter south covers Britz, Buckow, Rudow and the Gropiusstadt high-rise estate. Asking rents are below the Berlin median, though the north has gentrified quickly.
District
Berlin's most populous district, stretching from dense, sought-after Prenzlauer Berg through leafy Pankow and Weißensee to village cores, new housing estates and open countryside on the northern city boundary. It has the most young children of any district and very different housing from south to north.
District
Berlin's north-western district, about one third forest and water, ranging from the lively centre of Tegel on the Tegeler See and the large Märkisches Viertel estate to quiet villa suburbs and village-like Lübars. Former Tegel airport is being turned into a technology campus and a new residential quarter.
District
Berlin's westernmost district, an old town in its own right on the Havel, with the Citadel, large forests and riverside villages such as Kladow and Gatow, plus 1920s and 1960s housing estates. Asking rents are among the lowest in the city, and journeys to the centre take longer.
District
Berlin's green south-west, with lakes, the Grunewald forest and the Havel, villa quarters, the Freie Universität in Dahlem and the busy Schloßstraße shopping street in Steglitz. It is quiet and family-oriented, has the oldest average population of any district, and the centre is further away.
District
A long district reaching from the lively, varied streets of Schöneberg and the quiet older quarters of Friedenau, past Tempelhofer Feld, to the small-town south of Mariendorf, Marienfelde and Lichtenrade. Rents are close to the Berlin median, and Südkreuz gives good rail links.
District
Berlin's largest and greenest district, in the south-east, with about two fifths of its area forest, many lakes and rivers, the old town of Köpenick, the Adlershof science park and lakeside villages. It is growing quickly, has no U-Bahn, and BER airport sits on its edge.