Backstreets Neighbourhoods | PASSPORT
As soon as the stubborn clouds of a Berlin winter finally disperse, people fill parks, squares and street-side tables, lifting their vitamin D-deprived faces to the sun. Nowhere is the change of seasons more apparent than in Neukölln, the German capital’s sprawling and, at times, intense neighbourhood, where the cold streets are resuscitated with vibrant treetop canopies, lush parks, canal-side paths and blooming community gardens and balconies. This historically working-class district no longer boasts the affordable rents that lured immigrants, artists and students in decades past. But despite undergoing rapid gentrification, like the city all over, it’s still charmingly rough around (cinemas), international restaurants, natural wine bars and smoky (pubs) to tempt you indoors - but try to abstain until after dark.