Busabout Adventures

The major sights are laid out roughly along an east–west axis going through the Brandenburger Tor (Brandenburg Gate). East of the gate lies Unter den Linden, the Museumsinsel (Museum Island) and the needle-shaped Fernsehturm (TV tower) at Alexanderplatz. Heading west you encounter the Reichstag, Holocaust Memorial, Tiergarten and Siegessäule (Victory Column), plus Potsdamer Platz to the south.

Most of the action now happens in the east – which includes the ‘centra’ area of Mitte and the districts of Prenzlauer Berg and Friedrichshain. Meanwhile, on the far western side of the Tiergarten, near the Zoo station, lies the Kurfürstendamm, the one-time centre of West Berlin.

Brandenburg Gate Area
Finished in 1791 as one of 18 city gates, the neoclassical Brandenburger Tor (Pariser Platz; S-Bahn Unter den Linden) became an east–west crossing point after the Wall was built in 1961. The crowning Quadriga statue, a winged goddess in a horse-drawn chariot, was once kidnapped by Napoleon and briefly taken to Paris. It’s back in place now.

Just to the west of the gate stands the Reichstaggebäude (Parliament Bldg; 2273 2152; www.bundestag.de; Platz der Republik 1; admission free; 8am-midnight, last admission 10pm). A fire here in 1933 allowed Hitler to blame the communists and grab power, while the Soviets raised their flag here in 1945 to signal Nazi Germany’s defeat. Today, the glass cupola added in 1999 by architect Lord Norman Foster is the highlight.  Arrive early to avoid queues.

The Reichstag overlooks the Tiergarten. Meanwhile to the building’s south stands the Wall Victims Memorial (Scheidemannstrasse), commemorating the 191 people who died trying to cross from East to West.

Further south again is the Denkmal für die ermordeten Juden Europas (Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe or Holocaust Memorial; 2639 4336/4311; www.stiftung-denkmal.de; Cora-Berliner-Strasse 1; admission free; field 24hr, information centre 10am-8pm Tue-Sun, last entry 7.15pm; Potsdamer Platz/S-Bahn Unter den Linden) a grid of 2711 ‘stelae’ or differently shaped concrete columns set over 19,000 sq metres of gently rolling ground. Designer Peter Eisenman has created an underground info centre in the site’s southeast corner.

Unter den Linden
Lined with lime (or linden) trees, the street Unter den Linden (S-Bahn Unter den Linden) was the fashionable avenue of old Berlin. Today, after decades of communist neglect, it’s been rejuvenated. The thoroughfare stretches east from the Brandenburger Tor to the Museumsinsel, passing shops, embassies, operas, and a university.

Don’t forget to stop a while at Bebelplatz (Französische Strasse). There’s a book-burning memorial – a chastening reminder of the first major Nazi book-burning, which occurred here in May 1933.

Museumsinsel
The so-called Museums Island (all museums 2090 5577; www.smb.museum; adult/concession €8/4 each, or €12/6 all; 10am-6pm Tue-Sun, to 10pm Thu; S-Bahn Hackescher Markt) lies in the River Spree. Of four museums, the leading venue is the Pergamonmuseum (Am Kupfergraben). It houses the spectacular Ishtar Gate from Babylon, the Pergamon Altar and other antiquities.

Hackescher Markt
A complex of shops and apartments built around eight courtyards, the Hackesche Höfe (S-Bahn Hackescher Markt) still attracts savvy young consumers looking for fashion-forward streetwear, even though big brands such as Adidas, Puma and Hugo Boss are moving in.

Stores, cafés and restaurants are the main draw, but you’ll also find the Neue Synagogue (8802 8451; www.cjudaicum.de; Oranienburger Strasse 28-30; adult/concession €3/2; 10am-8pm Sun & Mon, to 6pm Tue-Thu, to 5pm Fri, reduced hr Nov-Apr). Plus, there’s the counter-cultural cum shopping centre of Tacheles (282 6185; Oranienburger Strasse 54-56) in a bombed-out department store.

Much further northeast, the spectacular gallery of the Hamburger Bahnhof (3978 3439; www.smb.museum; Invalidenstrasse 50; adult/concession €6/3; 10am-6pm Tue-Fri, 11am-6pm Sat & Sun; Hauptbahnhof/Lehrter Stadtbahnhof) showcases works by Warhol, Joseph Beuys, Lichtenstein and Rauschenberg.

TV Tower
Call it Freudian or call it Ostalgie (nostalgia for the communist East or Ost), but Berlin’s once-mocked socialist Fernsehturm (242 3333; www.berlinerfernsehturm.de; adult/concession €7.50/3.50; 10am-1am; Alexanderplatz) has become its most-loved symbol. Erected in 1969 and the city’s tallest structure, its 368m outline pops up in numerous souvenirs. That said, ascending 207m to the revolving Telecafé is somehow less exciting than visiting the Reichstag dome.

The needle-shaped Turm dominates Alexanderplatz, a former livestock market that became the lowlife district chronicled by Alfred Döblin’s 1929 novel Berlin Alexanderplatz, and then developed as a 1960s communist showpiece.

Today’s the square is an unusual hive of construction activity as it’s transformed into the next capitalist development. However, the socialist past still echoes in the retro World Time Clock and along the portentous Karl-Marx-Allee, which leads several kilometres from here to Friedrichshain.

The Berlin Wall
The infamous Wall snaked through Berlin, so today’s remnants are scattered across the city. The longest-surviving stretch is the so-called East Side Gallery (www.eastsidegallery.com; Mühlenstrasse; S-Bahn Warschauer Strasse) in Friedrichshain. Panels along this 1.3km of graffiti and art include the famous portrait of Soviet leader Brezhnev kissing GDR leader Erich Hönecker and a Trabant car seemingly bursting through the (now crumbling) concrete.

Climbing the tower at the Berliner Mauer Dokumentationszentrum (Berlin Wall Documentation Centre; 464 1030; Bernauer Strasse 111; admission free; 10am-5pm; S-Bahn Nordbahnhof) you overlook a memorial across the street – an artist’s impression of the death strip behind an original stretch of wall.

In Kreuzberg, the renowned sign saying ‘You are now leaving the American sector’ still stands, marking the position of Checkpoint Charlie (cnr Friedrichstrasse & Zimmerstrasse). Nearby, the touristy Haus am Checkpoint Charlie (253 7250; www.mauer-museum.com; Friedrichstrasse 43-45; adult/concession €9.50/5.50; 9am-10pm; Kochstrasse/Stadt) chronicles tales of spectacular escape attempts, including through tunnels, in hot-air balloons and even in a one-man submarine.

Tiergarten
From the Reichstag, you can see the Tiergarten park’s carillon (John-Foster-Dulles-Allee; bus 100 or 200) and the Haus der Kulturen der Welt (House of World Cultures; John-Foster-Dulles-Allee). The latter was erected during a 1950s building expo and is nicknamed the ‘pregnant oyster’.

Further west is the Siegessäule (Victory Column; bus 100 or 200), a golden angel built to commemorate 19th-century Prussian military victories. Be aware that there are better views than those from the column’s peak.

A short walk south is a cluster of embassy buildings and museums, including the Bauhaus Archiv (254 0020; www.bauhaus.de; Klingelhöferstrasse 14; adult/concession €6/3; 10am-5pm Wed-Mon; Nollendorfplatz), with Modernist objects from the influential Bauhaus design school. The  school itself survives in Dessau (see www.bauhaus-dessau.de and www.dessau.de), not far from Berlin.

The Berliner Philharmonie, founded in 1961, and yet more museums are found a little east in the Kulturforum (Bahn Potsdamer Platz). These include the spectacular Gemäldegalerie (Picture Gallery; 266 2951; www.smb.museum; Matthäiskirchplatz 4-6; adult/concession €6/3; 10am-6pm Tue-Sun, to 10pm Thu) showing European painting from the 13th to the 18th centuries. Nearby is the Neue Nationalgalerie (266 2951; www.smb.museum; Potsdamer Strasse 50; adult/concession €6/3; 10am-6pm Tue-Fri, to 10pm Thu, 11am-6pm Sat & Sun). Housing 19th- and 20th-century works by Picasso, Klee, Miró and German expressionists.

Potsdamer Platz
The lid was symbolically sealed on capitalism’s victory over socialism in Berlin when this postmodern temple to mammon was erected in 2000 over the former death strip. Under the big-top, glass-tent roof of the Sony Center (or S-Bahn Potsdamer Platz) and along the malls of the Lego-like DaimlerCity (or S-Bahn Potsdamer Platz), people swarm in and around shops, restaurants, offices, loft apartments, clubs, a cinema, a luxury hotel and a casino – all revitalising what was the busiest square in prewar Europe.

During the Berlin Film Festival, Potsdamer Platz welcomes Hollywood A-listers. In between, you can rub shoulders with German cinematic heroes – particularly Marlene Dietrich – at the Filmmuseum (300 9030; www.filmmuseum-berlin.de; Potsdamer Strasse 2, Tiergarten; adult/concession €6/4; 10am-6pm Tue-Sun, to 8pm Thu).

There’s also ‘Europe’s fastest’ lift to the Panorama Observation Deck (www.panoramapunkt.de; adult/concession €3.50/2.50; 11am-8pm).

But, as ever in Berlin, the past refuses to go quietly. Just north of Potsdamer Platz lies the former site of Hitler’s Bunker. A little southeast lies the Topographie des Terrors (2548 6703; www.topographie.de; Niederkirchner Strasse; admission free; 10am-8pm May-Sep, to dusk Oct-Apr), a sometimes shockingly graphic record of the Gestapo and SS headquarters that once stood here.

Jewish Museum
The Daniel Libeskind building that’s the Jüdisches Museum (2599 3300; www.juedisches-museum-berlin.de; Lindenstrasse 9-14; adult/concession €5/2.50; 10am-10pm Mon, to 8pm Tue-Sun, last entry an hr before closing; Hallesches Tor) is as much the attraction as the collection of Jewish-German history within. Designed to disorientate and unbalance with its ‘voids’, cul-de-sacs, barbed metal fittings, slit windows and uneven floors, this still-somehow-beautiful structure swiftly conveys the uncertainty and sometime terror of past Jewish life in Germany. It’s a visceral experience, after which the huge collection itself demands your concentration. A highlight is the Garden of Exile, with tall concrete columns like trees and an uneven floor. The building’s footprint is a ripped-apart Star of David.

Kurfürstendamm
West Berlin’s legendary shopping thoroughfare, the Ku’damm has lost some of its cachet since the Wall fell, but is worth visiting for old times’ sake. Here you’ll find the Kaiser-Wilhelm-Gedächtniskirche (218 5023; Breitscheidplatz; Memorial Hall 10am-4pm Mon-Sat, Hall of Worship 9am-7.30pm) remaining in ruins – just as British bombers on 22 November 1943 left it – as an anti-war memorial. Only the broken west tower still stands.

Stasi Museum
The one-time secret police headquarters now houses the Stasi Museum (553 6854; House 1, Ruschestrasse 103; adult/concession €3/2; 11am-6pm Tue-Fri, 2-6pm Sat & Sun; Magdalenenstrasse). It’s largely in German, but worth the visit to see the communist paraphernalia and cunning surveillance devices.

FESTIVALS & EVENTS
International Film Festival Berlin (259 200; www.berlinale.de) The Berlinale is Germany’s answer to the Cannes and Venice film festivals. Held in February.

Christopher Street Day (0177-277 3176; www.csd-berlin.de) On the last weekend in June, this is Germany’s largest gay event.

Love Parade (308 8120; www.loveparade.net) Cancelled in 2007, Berlin’s huge, techno street parade is making a (hopefully sustainable) comeback in 2008.

Clubs rarely open before 11pm (though earlier ‘after-work’ clubs and Sunday sessions are also popular) and stay open well into the AM – usually to sunrise at least. As the scene changes rapidly, it’s always wise to double-check listings magazines or ask locals. Admission charges, when they apply, range from €5 to €15.

Berghain/Panorama Bar (www.berghain.de; Wrienzer Bahnhof; from midnight Thu-Sat; Ostbahnhof) Global techno fans pump it up in a huge cathedral-like former railway workshop in Friedrichshain, or chill out in the quieter Panorama Bar upstairs.

Café Moskau (2463 1626; www.das-moskau.com; Karl-Marx-Allee 34; Schillingstrasse) This one-time GDR restaurant is the epitome of retro Soviet kitsch and has to be seen, whatever’s on.

Kaffee Burger (2804 6495; www.kaffeeburger.de; Torstrasse 60; Rosa-Luxemburg-Platz) A cornerstone of Berlin’s alternative scene, decked out in original GDR ’60s wallpaper. Come here for indie, rock, punk and cult author Wladimir Kaminer’s fortnightly Russendisko (Russian disco; www.russendisko.de).

Watergate (6128 0394; www.water-gate.de; Falckensteinstrasse 49a; from 11pm Fri & Sat; Schlesisches Tor) In Friedrichshain, watch the sun rise over the Spree River through the floor-to-ceiling windows of this fantastic lounge. The music is mainly electro, drum‘n’bass and hip-hop.

Weekend (www.week-end-berlin.de; Am Alexanderplatz 5; from 11pm Thu-Sat; Alexanderplatz) Gaze through the 12th-floor windows, across the Blade Runner landscape of dug-up Alexanderplatz and over Berlin.

Berlin also has a thriving scene of no-holds-barred sex clubs. The notorious KitKat Club (7889 9704; Bessemerstrasse 14. Alt-Tempelhof), south of Schöneberg, is the original and best.

Berlin’s public transport system is excellent and much better than driving around the city. One type of ticket is valid on all transport and three tariff zones exist – A, B and C. Unless venturing to Potsdam or the outer suburbs, you’ll only need an AB ticket, costing €2.10 for a single, €5.80 for a day pass and €14.80 for a group day pass up to five people.

Most tickets are available from vending machines in stations, but must be validated before hopping on the train or bus, or as you enter them.

U-Bahn and S-Bahn services operate from 4am until just after midnight on weekdays, with many night bus (Nachtbus) services in between. At weekends, major U-Bahn lines run every 15 minutes all night, while most S-Bahns operate hourly.

Discount Cards
Berlin-Potsdam Welcome Card (per 48/72hr €16/22) Free public transport, plus museum and entertainment discounts.

Internet Access
Al Hamra (Raumerstrasse 16; €1 per 15min; from 10am; Eberswalder Strasse)
easyInternetcafé (www.easyinternetcafé.com; Kurfürstendamm 224; 6.30am-2am; Kurfürstendamm/Zoologischer Garten) One of several throughout the city.

@ Internet (1st floor, main hall, Ostbahnhof; per 15 mins €1; 10am-10pm)

Surf & Sushi (Oranienburger Strasse 17; per 30min €2.50; from noon Mon-Sat, from 1pm Sun; Oranienburger Strasse/Hackescher Markt)

Laundry
Schnell & Sauber (€5; 6am-11pm) Charlottenburg (Uhlandstrasse 53); Mitte (Torstrasse 115)

Medical Services
Kassenärztliche Bereitschaftsdienst (Public Physicians’ Emergency Service; 310 031)

Post
Post office (Georgenstrasse 12; 8am-10pm) Inside Friedrichstrasse station.

Tourist Information
Berlin Tourismus Marketing (250 025; www.berlin-tourist-information.de) Europa-Center (Budapester Strasse 45; 10am-7pm Mon-Sat, 10am-6pm Sun); Brandenburger Tor (10am-6pm); Fernsehturm (10am-6pm)

EurAide (www.euraide.de; Zoologischer Garten station; 8.30am-noon Mon-Sat Jun-Oct, 1-4.45pm Mon-Fri Nov-May) English-language service.

Berliners love eating out and you needn’t walk far for a feed. Restaurants usually open from 11am to midnight, with varying Ruhetage or rest days; many close during the day from 3pm to 6pm. Cafés often close around 8pm, though equal numbers stay open until 2am or later.

Berlin is a snacker’s paradise, with Turkish (your best bet), Wurst (sausage), Greek, Italian, Chinese, even Sudanese Imbiss stalls throughout the city.

Restaurants
MITTE & PRENZLAUER BERG
RNBS (540 2505; Oranienburger Strasse 50; mains €2-4; Oranienburger Strasse) We can’t vouch for the ‘beauty tea’ (sadly it didn’t work for us), but the Asian soups and noodle dishes served up by this tiny orange-and-white outlet are as delicious as they are healthy: no preservatives, no MSG and no artificial flavourings.

Sankt Oberholz (2408 5586; Rosenthaler Strasse 72a; dishes €3.50-5; Rosenthaler Platz) Not so much a café as an hilarious sociological experiment, where Berlin’s Urbanen Pennern (office-less, self-employed creatives) flock with their laptops for the free wi-fi access. The deli fare of soups, lasagne and savoury polenta cake is pretty good, too.

Monsieur Vuong (3087 2643; Alte Schönhauser Strasse 46; mains €6.40; Weinmeisterstrasse/Rosa-Luxemburg-Platz) Because this beautiful but cheap Vietnamese is where everyone says you should eat, this is where everyone is. Our advice is to arrive early to avoiding queuing. Mr Vuong himself shakes regulars’ hands in the red-lacquer room, and the soups etc are toothsome.

Nosh (4404 0397; Pappelallee 77; mains €6-13, dinner only in winter; Eberswalder Strasse) A relaxed diner-style eatery, with a daily changing blackboard menu and staples of spring rolls, Asian and European dishes. Sunday brunch is a great time to come.

Zoe (2404 5635; Rochstrasse 1; mains €8-18; 2-course lunch menus €6-7; Weinmeisterstrasse/Alexanderplatz) Mediterranean and Asian flavours are skilfully mixed to create a piquant tang in this largely white restaurant. Excellent lunch deals.

Imbiss W (4849 2657; Kastanienallee 49; mains €3-6; Rosenthaler Platz) Canadian-run joint offering Southeast Asian food and naan pizzas.

Duy Thai (4431 7116; Kollwitzstrasse 89; mains €5-14; Eberswalder Strasse) Dishes are made to order in this relaxed canteen.

Café V (612 4505; Lausitzer Platz 12; dishes €5.50-9.50; Görlitzer Bahnhof) Yellow, red and gilt trimmings greet you as you enter this old-school veggie/vegan café. Everything comes with a soya/caffeine-free/tofu alternative, although you can also choose straight-up dishes such as pizza or Thai fish curry.

Raststätte Gnadenbrot (2196 1786; Martin-Luther-Strasse 20A; mains €3.50-6; Victoria-Luise-Platz/Nollendorfplatz) An ironic, retro-70s take on a motorway roadhouse, this wins loyal fans for its friendly atmosphere (you share bench seats) and good, cheap food and drinks.

Schwarzes Café (313 8038; Kantstrasse 148; dishes €4.50-9; S-Bahn Zoologischer Garten/Savignyplatz) Founded in 1978, this 24-hour food and booze institution must have seen half of Berlin pass through it (or indeed out in it) at some point in time.

Quick Eats & Self-Catering
Berlin is a snackers’ paradise, with Turkish (your best bet), Wurst (sausage), Greek, Italian, Chinese, even Sudanese Imbiss stalls throughout the city. Famous outlets:

Curry 36 (881 4710; Mehringdamm 36; 9am-5pm; Mehringdamm) Kreuzberg’s – some believe Berlin’s – best sausage stand.

Frittiersalon (Boxhagener Strasse 104; Frankfurter Tor) In Friedrichshain, with an enormous choice including Wurst, organic fries, tofu and even a Camembert burger.

Konnopke (Schönhauser Allee 44a; 5.30am-8pm Mon-Fri; Eberswalder Strasse) Even former chancellor Gerhard Schröder has eaten Wurst here under the S-Bahn tracks in Prenzelberg.
Hasir (Adalbertstrasse 10; 24hr; Kottbusser Tor) The birthplace (yes, really) of the modern doner kebab is a sit-down restaurant, too.

Self-caterers will easily find Aldi, Lidl, Plus and Penny Markt discount supermarkets throughout Berlin. There’s the excellent organic Kollwitzplatz market (9am-4pm Sat & Sun) and the Winterfeldtplatz farmer’s market (Wed & Sat) too.

Berlin is not only famous for its clubs – its cultural offerings are also well renowned. So if you fancy splashing out on a quieter, more refined type of evening, try one of the following.

Berliner Ensemble (information 284 080, tickets 2840 8155; www.berliner-ensemble.de; Bertolt-Brecht-Platz 1; Friedrichstrasse) Where Bertolt Brecht worked before his exile in the US in the 1930s. In German only.

Berliner Philharmonie (information 254 880, tickets 2548 8999; www.berliner-philharmoniker.de; Herbert-von-Karajan Strasse 1; Potsdamer Platz) Famous orchestra directed by Sir Simon Rattle.

Staastsoper Unter den Linden (information 203 540, tickets 2035 4555; www.staatsoper-berlin.de; Unter den Linden 5-7; S-Bahn Unter den Linden) Unsold seats go on sale cheap an hour before curtain-up.

Berlin’s legendary nightlife needs little introduction. Whether alternative, underground, cutting-edge, saucy, flamboyant or even highbrow, it all crops up here. The hottest action lies east. Prenzlauer Berg was the first GDR sector to develop a happening nightlife and still attracts student, creative and gay customers. Later, more venues arrived around Hackescher Markt, catering to a cool, slightly older and wealthier crowd. The area around Simon-Dach-Strasse and Boxhagener Platz in Friedrichshain is the latest scene to have emerged.

In the west, Kreuzberg remains alternative, becoming grungier as you move east. Charlottenburg and Schöneberg are fairly upmarket and mature, but liberal.

Bars without food open between 5pm and 8pm and may close as late as 5am (if at all).

Astrobar (2966 1615; Simon-Dach-Strasse 40; S-Bahn Warschauer Strasse) One of the first on the Friedrichshain scene and still going strong, the Astro offers the future as it looked in the 1960s, with spaceships, robots and classic computer games in the back room.

Erdbeer (Max-Beer-Strasse 56; Rosa-Luxemburg-Platz) A warren of interconnected rooms, this rambling cocktail bar derives its name not only from its red colour scheme, but also from its customers’ favourite brand of daiquiri (Erdbeer, or strawberry).

Kumpelnest 3000 (8891 7960; Lützowstrasse 23; Kurfürstenstrasse) Once a brothel, always an experience – the Kumpelnest has been famed since the ’80s for its wild, inhibition-free nights. Much of the original whorehouse décor remains intact. Watch your bags.

Hotelbar (4432 8577; Zionkirchstrasse 5; Rosenthaler Platz) This cosy subterranean bar has a broad music policy, with jazz, Latin beats and electropop to things like ‘balkandub’, ‘Hammondorgel’ and even spoken word.

Tabou Tiki Room (Maybuchufer 39; closed Mon; Schönleinstrasse) This wonderful slice of kitschy ’60s Hawaii in Berlin serves up exotic cocktails.