Germany
Top Tips
Culture
Berlin's Museum Island is a Unesco Heritage site, and the Pergamon
alone contains such a dazzling array of classical sculpture,
reconstructed temples and eastern artwork that it deserves a day to
itself
Modern architecture
From Norman Foster's famous glass-and-mirror dome atop the
Reichstag (Parliament building) to the astonishing, colour-changing
canopy over the skyscrapers at Potsdamer Platz
World-class music
Not least at the Berlin Philharmonic under Sir Simon Rattle (their
outdoor Waldbühne concert was one of the highlights of
our year)
Cutting-edge fashion
From cut-price designer clothing to hip-hop and techno music,
Berlin is an edgy, dynamic place for the young and creative
Poignant reminders of the past
Checkpoint Charlie (now a visitor centre), the still-half-bombed
Gedächtniskirche (Memorial Church), and Daniel Libeskind's
Jewish Museum, whose "wrong angles" are designed to put you off
kilter
Monumental structures
European history has been shaped at the Brandenburg Gate (which
Napoleon plundered and Kennedy visited), Bebelplatz (the burning of
the books) and the now-defunct wall between West and East (small
parts of which remain)
Retail therapy
From the upscale boutiques of Ku'Damm and the Harrods-like KaDeWe
to the independent tailors of the Hackeschen Höfe
Bars and nightlife
There's no shortage of jazz cafés, outdoor beer halls,
bohemian drinking joints and buzzing dance clubs, of which Tresor
is the techno-king; and German-speakers will find the cabaret
tradition is alive and kicking
Food and drink
The best sausages, beer, cakes and coffee in the world, according
to the Berliners at any rate! (And they have a point).