Things to Do in Freiburg

Nightlife

Freiburg may not be a large city, but there is plenty to do at night. Clubs don't close until about 5:00 am, so if you miss the last tram a little after midnight then you should expect to stay out all night or catch a cab home because the trams don't start running again until about 5:30 am. The student bars are very popular because they are so cheap, and if you live at one of the dorms, very convenient. StuSie Bar can be very hit-or-miss, but on the Erasmus Nights there are plenty of people there to socialize with. I have been to the other Studentenwohnheim (student living areas) bars and they all seem to be very similar, and their events are staggered so you can meet up with students on different nights.

Bars with restaurants are also very popular. I really enjoy Schlappen (http://www.schlappen.com/) which is in a popular nightlife area downtown and Tacheles (http://tacheles.reservoir.de/neu/index2.html), which is also downtown. Schlappen can have a slightly older crowd, but if you have a big group of people it can be a fun night. Schlappen serves plenty of mouth-watering food, such as Flammkuchen (a type of pizza), pasta, potato wedges with Quark (a type of cheese) and much more. Tacheles also has an impressive menu, I especially enjoy the Wiener Schnitzel with herb butter. Much like Schalppen, they serve tons of bar appetizers too.

Kastaniengarten (Beergarden) at the Schlossberg

Me enjoying a beer at the Kastaniengarten on the Schlossberg

I have been to a few of the nightclubs, but I find them to be much too smoky for my liking. Although it is indeed illegal to smoke indoors, club owners do not do anything about the scores of people lighting up their cigarettes indoors. I sometimes go to the "Schlager Schicht" at the club Nacht Schicht (http://www.nachtschicht-bw.de/freiburg/frontend/). Schlager is a type of really horrible pop music that they set to a techno beat. Most of it is in German, except for songs from the "Grease" musical soundtrack, Spice Girls, "Macarena," and strangely, "Sweet Caroline". The “Schlager Schicht” event is every Monday, and students get in free. Warning: there is one club called “Räng Teng Teng” (http://raengtengteng.com/) where you must be at least 21 to enter. Not sure why, but it’s not a mean joke the bouncers are trying to pull on you.

If you aren't one to go out every night, I have found that there is not as much to do. I don't like spending a lot of money on nightlife, so I often stay in and Skype with friends and family or watch a movie (unfortunately Netflix does not work abroad though). I happened to find a huge collection of DVDs that a previous tenant had abandoned on the balcony, so I have adopted a few. They are all in German, so it is very interesting to watch if I already know the English version. Dinner parties or just hanging out in the dorms with friends are a few other good ideas for staying in. On Sunday nights, the Isle of Innisfree (http://www.isleofinnisfree.de/) hosts a Bingo Night where you can win food, drinks, and cash.

Eating Out

I don’t tend to eat outside of StuSie, but upon my arrival I became infatuated with Indian food. There is a good and affordable Indian Imbiss (fast food) in the Schwarzwald City mini-mall on Kaiser-Joseph-Straße, and they also have a restaurant location elsewhere downtown. Every once in a while I go to another Irish pub, O’Kelly’s (http://www.okellys.de/), for a delicious burger. One food item that deserves a special mention is the heavenly Döner Kebab, a type of Turkish sandwich that is stuffed with shaved lamb meat from a rotating vertical spit. I have become addicted to döner, which can luckily be found readily on almost every street in the city (and most of Germany). I am still on the hunt for the best döner restaurant in Freiburg.

Döner Kebab