Berliners treat graffiti as an art form, and this wall – on the side of Friedrichshain’s Intimes arthouse cinema – gathers some of the city’s most prominent icons in one dense, colourful spot. A quick, satisfying hit of Berlin street art if you’re short on time.
A Neukolln institution with the worn-in living-room look of the neighbourhood’s best bars – an easy mix of artsy and mainstream, international and local, with affordable drinks and Balkan/African/world beats. Often packed, so come early for a seat. Tip: the tap beer, including an unpasteurised Czech brew, is the owner’s pride.
A lovely, vibrant canal-side promenade straddling Kreuzberg and Neukolln – a true Berlin mix of locals, newcomers, families and night-outers strolling past old buildings by the Landwehr Canal. There’s a lively market at weekends and, in summer, everyone spills onto the banks with a beer.
Riga’s ‘Stalin’s birthday cake’ – the 1958 Soviet high-rise whose rooftop terrace is the city’s best observation deck, with sweeping skyline views (marketed today as Panorama Riga).
A tiny bohemian bar styled like a 1960s-70s Soviet apartment – vintage furniture, board games and old magazines, going for 40+ years. A history lesson and a great bar in one, with local poems instead of a Lenin bust. Tip: try a Brengulu beer.
Old Town’s hidden treasure – a cosy café tucked in the courtyard of St. James’s Cathedral, all carefully chosen vintage detail and famous for gorgeous home-baked cakes. Its name means ‘let’s talk’. Find it beside the Saeima (Parliament).
Widely called the best flea market in the Baltics – a sprawling hunt for trash and treasure on Riga’s Latgale side: old books, Soviet records, cameras, tools, bikes, even phones. Haggle hard. Note: parts have been cleared and its long-term future is uncertain.
One of Old Riga’s hidden gems – the shortest and narrowest street in the city (with long-enough arms you can touch both walls). Usually quiet, with a beer garden and a medieval-style restaurant at either end.
One of Riga’s three official seaside swimming beaches, in the leafy northern suburb of Vecaki – a summer sunbathing spot and, for locals, a year-round place to walk and clear the mind. Easy to reach by train (~25 min), bus or the Riga-Mezaparks-Vecaki cycle route.
Locally nicknamed ‘Las Setas’ (the mushrooms), the giant undulating wooden Metropol Parasol shades Plaza de la Encarnacion. Buy an affordable ticket to walk the rooftop for a sweeping panorama of Seville – the Giralda, cathedral and Torre Sevilla – with a café at the top and an archaeological museum below.