Whether it is one of Europe’s great travel destinations probably depends how you define that term. Though it may lack Rome’s antiquities, London’s sophistication, and the romance of Paris, no other European city can match its risk-taking, cutting-edge style, its extraordinary contemporary architecture, or its ability to get the visitor in touch with some of the 20th century’s most significant events. 

Of course, we are talking about Berlin, a town that in just 16 years has undergone the municipal equivalent of a face-lift, tummy-tuck, liposuction and multiple organ transplants. It seems only yesterday that it was two cities, one dispirited and crumbling, the other vital and lively but hemmed in by concrete, barbed wire, and armed watchtowers. Traces of the divided city can still be found, but they are fast disappearing.

In 2006, Berlin is a city of cultural as well as urban renewal, with frequent openings of new and restored museums, monuments, and institutions. About to go fully online is the spectacular, glass-canopied, multilevel Lehrter Bahnhof, said to be Europe’s largest transportation hub, able to handle nearly a quarter of a million passengers daily. Last year’s most significant addition to the long list of Berlin must-see destinations was the haunting Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe, a short distance from the Brandenburg Gate.

Berlin is also a place of vast parks and waterways, nonstop nightlife, Germany’s best shopping, and the finest and most varied cuisine of any city in our three countries. Best of all, its hotels and restaurants are priced lower than any major city in western Europe.

You may, however, want to avoid the city during World Cup time — June 9 to July 9 — especially during the final the week of July 9.

Here are few suggestions for sights, hotels, and restaurants:

Sightseeing, local transportation, tours, day excursions from Berlin

Berlin Sights & Activities

Potsdamer Platz: In the futuristic outdoor atrium, beneath the Sony building’s lofty dome, it’s hard to imagine that early in the 20th century this ground was Berlin’s Times Square, and just a few years ago was a vacant lot in no-mans-land between the two Berlins.

Kurfürstendamm: This wide, tree-shaded boulevard is a fascinating stroll day or night and Berlin’s best shopping street.

KaDeWe’s Food Floor: Europe’s largest food hall: 400 kinds of bread; 1,200 varieties of sausage, bacon, and ham; 1,300 cheeses, and dozens of places to have lunch. A magnificent display of food and drink. Tauentzienstr. 21-24

Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe: On the site of Hitler’s chancellery, a block south of the Brandenburg Gate, this unique monument effectively communicates, without explanatory signage, a sense of unease and loss.

Topography of Terror: There are only remnants of the foundation of the former Gestapo and SS headquarters. Powerful, nonetheless. Niederkirchnerstrasse 8

Soviet Memorial: Dedicated to the Soviet soldiers lost in the 1945 Battle of Berlin. Before 1989, every Western tour bus was required to stop at this outlandish but moving monument in Treptow Park. The soldiers’ remains rest in mass graves around the principal monument. Under terms of the unification, Germany continues to maintain this and other Soviet memorials on German soil.

Mercedes Welt am Salzufer: Yes, it’s a new car showroom, but probably unlike any you’ve ever seen. The five-story, steel and glass, atrium-style building encloses two restaurants, a private club with indoor climbing wall and racquet ball courts, and, of course, all those gleaming Mercedes Benz cars, new and rare vintage models; some suspended by long cables from overhead steel girders. Enjoy a wurst and a beer while watching CNN on high-definition TV in the informal main floor restaurant. Salzufer 1, off Strasse des 17. Juni, near the Tiergarten S-Bahn station

Jewish Museum: The focus here is not on the Holocaust, as one might assume, but on Jewish life in Germany. Plan for at least half a day and don’t, as we did, spend too much time on the early exhibits. There is much to see and you can wear yourself out before you’ve been through half of it. Museum personnel are extraordinarily helpful. Expect security measures upon entry. There is an excellent, reasonably-priced restaurant. Admission is inexpensive: €5 for adults and €2.5 for seniors. Lindenstrae 9-14, +49/030/25993 300, fax 25993 409, info@jmberlin.de, www.juedisches-museum-berlin.de

Checkpoint Charlie Museum: Not-to-be-missed documentation of the history of the Berlin Wall and the many East-to-West escape attempts. One of the few sections of the Wall still standing can be reached from here via Zimmerstrasse. Checkpoint Charlie Museum, 43-44 Friedrichstrasse. Admission €9.5, students €5.5 (25 percent discount with WelcomeCard), www.mauermuseum.de

More Museums: No one should miss the Pergamon and its thousands-of-years-old antiquities, the most spectacular being the Pergamon Altar and the Ishtar Gate. See Raphaels and Vermeers at the Gemäldegalerie and then go next door on the same entrance ticket to view far-out modern stuff in the Neue Nationalgalerie. Movie-goers will enjoy the Berlin Film Museum in the Sony Center at Potsdamer Platz. The Marlene Dietrich exhibit, which changes every six months, is part of the larger Dietrich collection of some 3,500 items.

Friedrichstadtpalast: This surprisingly spectacular Las Vegas-style revue in the Mitte is a pleasant leftover from communist times, when tickets rewarded favored party apparatchiks. There are acrobats, a full orchestra, singers, dancers, opulent costumes, and elaborate stagecraft that includes a retractable, mermaid-filled glass swimming pool arising from the center of the stage. Even the cheap seats have good sightlines. Friedrichstrasse 107, tel. +49/030/23 26 23 26, fax 23 26 23 23, tickets@friedrichstadtpalast.de

Ballhaus Mitte: An atmospheric, chandeliered ballroom in a prewar building in the Mitte, delivers the sort of entertainment Berlin is famous for. This off-beat restaurant/night club serves dinner with a variety of live music. Depending on when you’re there, it could be Argentine Tango, American Swing, or Vienna lieder (songs). The Pasta Opera, scheduled about once a month (more frequently in summer), combines a multi-course Italian dinner with popular operatic arias sung by costumed performers (see video clips at www.pastaopera.de). Ballhaus Mitte, Auguststr. 24, www.ballhaus.de

Loxx Miniatur Welten Berlin: Claims to be the largest model railway in the world. Computer-operated trains, trams, cars, trucks, buses, and even airplanes, relentlessly move through a vast scale model of the city of Berlin laid out over a 2,500 square meter space. The landscape presents hundreds of familiar scenes and buildings, including the Reichstag, the Brandenburg Gate, Alexanderplatz TV tower, the Zoologischer Garden, Hackescher Markt, railway stations, airports, harbor installations, military facilities, and, of course, dozens of streetcars, regional and long-distance trains, steam trains, highspeed ICE (Intercity-Express) trains, as well as a computer-controlled motor traffic system with cars, trucks and busses. Adult admission is €7.5, €4 for children 9-14, and €2 for kids under 9. Meinekestrasse 24 (Passage), info@loxx-berlin.de, www.loxx-berlin.de
 
Sightseeing, local transportation, tours, day excursions from Berlin

Bike and Walking Tours

The flat topography of Berlin is well-suited to bicycling. The routes traveled by Fat Tire Bike Tours are almost exclusively on bike paths and roads with less traffic. Guides are native English speakers. Fat Tire offers a 4.5-hour City Tour that includes most of the major sights including the Reichstag, Soviet War Memorial, Potsdamer Platz, Unter den Linden, Hitler’s Bunker, Topography of Terror, Brandenburg Gate, parks, beer gardens, and more. The Wall Tour focuses on the city’s Cold War history, and enhances the visited locations with tales of escape and espionage. Cost including bike, insurance, and guide is €20 for adults and €17 for seniors and students. Reservations not necessary, just show up. Tours start under the giant TV tower at Alexanderplatz. If you want a bike but no tour, rentals are €7 for a half-day and €12 for a full day. Fat Tire Bike Tours, Panorama Strasse 1a, tel. +49/030/24 04 79 91, info@fattiretoursberlin.com, www.fattiretoursberlin.com

Original Berlin Walks offers theme-based tours, all in English, including its basic Discover Berlin which costs €12 with the Berlin WelcomeCard and takes four hours. Other tours are Jewish Life in Berlin, Infamous Third Reich Sites, Sachenhausen Concentration Camp Memorial Tour, and “Discover Potsdam. Private tours can also be arranged. Some tours may require a pass for public transportation. Original Berlin Walks, tel. +49/030/301 9194, office@berlinwalks.de, www.berlinwalks.de

Insider Tours offers Famous Insider Tour, Wall Tour, Third Reich Tour, and a Pub Crawl. Prices from E9 to E12. Tours take from three to five hours.

Berlin Hotels

Where to headquarter — east or west — is an important question for every visitor. Most of the sightseeing is now in the east, where there are now many good hotels and an increasing number of good restaurants. Still, there are no east neighborhoods that offer the diversity of dining and shopping available in our preferred location, Charlottenburg, specifically its Savignyplatz district.

The glut of hotels in Berlin makes for some of Europe’s best rates. And for those who don’t mind impersonal, formulaic chains, extraordinary bargains are sometimes available at Priceline.com. The excellent website, Biddingfortravel.com, reports successful bids in the $55 to $85 range for Top Hotel Alsterhof, Mercure Hotel Berlin An Der Charité, even the Marriott Berlin.

Search/book hotels at all price levels in Berlin