Insight Guides - Insight Guides: Explore Berlin

How To Use This E-Book

This Explore Guide has been produced by the editors of Insight Guides, whose books have set the standard for visual travel guides since 1970. With top-quality photography and authoritative recommendations, these guidebooks bring you the very best routes and itineraries in the worlds most exciting destinations.

Best Routes

The routes in this book provide something to suit all budgets, tastes and trip lengths. As well as covering the destinations many classic attractions, the itineraries track lesser-known sights, and there are also excursions for those who want to extend their visit outside the city. The routes embrace a range of interests, so whether you are an art fan, a gourmet, a history buff or have kids to entertain, you will find an option to suit.

We recommend reading the whole of a route before setting out. This should help you to familiarise yourself with it and enable you to plan where to stop for refreshments options are shown in the Food and Drink box at the end of each tour.

Introduction

The routes are set in context by this introductory section, giving an overview of the destination to set the scene, plus background information on food and drink, shopping and more, while a succinct history timeline highlights the key events over the centuries.

Directory

Also supporting the routes is a Directory chapter, with a clearly organised AZ of practical information, our pick of where to stay while you are there and select restaurant listings; these eateries complement the more low-key cafs and restaurants that feature within the routes and are intended to offer a wider choice for evening dining. Also included here are some nightlife listings, plus a handy language guide and our recommendations for books and films about the destination.

Getting around the e-book

In the Table of Contents and throughout this e-book you will see hyperlinked references. Just tap a hyperlink once to skip to the section you would like to read. Practical information and listings are also hyperlinked, so as long as you have an external connection to the internet, you can tap a link to go directly to the website for more information.

Maps

All key attractions and sights mentioned in the text are numbered and cross-referenced to high-quality maps. Wherever you see the reference [map] just tap this to go straight to the related map. You can also double-tap any map for a zoom view.

Images

Youll find lots of beautiful high-resolution images that capture the essence of the destination. Simply double-tap on an image to see it full-screen.

2016 Apa Digital (CH) AG and Apa Publications (UK) Ltd

Table of Contents

Recommended Routes For...

Architecture fans

Explore the Sony Center and the other glass-and-steel buildings around Potsdamer Platz ().

Jon Santa Cruz/Apa Publications

Art and Museum Buffs

Top arty tours are the Unesco-protected Museum Island, home to five internationally important museums ().

iStock

Clubbers

Spend a long night in Mittes vibrant Scheunenviertel ().

Getty Images

Cold War and Wall connections

Dive into Cold War history at Checkpoint Charlie and the adjacent museum on the Berlin Wall ().

Jon Santa Cruz/Apa Publications

Foodies

Great restaurants can be found across the city, but an excellent selection is clustered in the Scheunenviertel area ().

Jon Santa Cruz/Apa Publications

Prussian Palaces

Take time out to visit Frederick the Greats palace and park of Sanssouci at Potsdam (). This is an easy day trip (accessible by public transport) from central Berlin.

Jon Santa Cruz/Apa Publications

Shoppers

Take a stroll down the Kudamm in Charlottenburg and pay a visit to the Continents largest department store, the KaDeWe ().

Jon Santa Cruz/Apa Publications

World War II remembrance

Explore the area around the Brandenburg Gate and Wilhelmstrasse, the former location of Hitlers Fhrerbunker ().

Jon Santa Cruz/Apa Publications

Explore Berlin

Berlin represents the triumphs and tragedies of European history as no other city on the continent. It is, moreover, a city that publicly acknowledges its past good and bad with museums, memorials and historic buildings.

Berlin is located in the east of Germany, approximately 80km (50 miles) away from the Polish border and some 150km (93 miles) from the Baltic coast. It is situated within a typical North European flatland (Berlins highest mountain, the Grosser Mggelberg, measures a mere 115m/ 377ft), with dry soil, not very fertile land and only a few rivers. Berlin is at the confluence of two of these rivers, the Spree and the Havel.

Berlin, the greenest metropolis in Europe

Getty Images

By any standard, the city-state of Berlin (one of 16 German states) is laid out on a vast scale. It covers a total of 892 sq km (344 sq m), with a northsouth length of 38km (24 miles) and a breadth, east to west, of 45km (28 miles). The state comprises 12 districts or boroughs, the borders of which generally relate to the historic evolution of the region. Despite its size, Berlin is easy to navigate thanks to its modern highway network and extensive public transport system.

City Districts

Visitors to Berlin who knew the city 25 years ago would no doubt be astounded by the shifts in the personalities of the various Bezirke (boroughs). The centre of the city is Mitte, where the major cultural institutions are located. The Tiergarten district, with its leafy park of the same name, is to Mittes west and leads to Charlottenburg, which is upscale, if less prominent, since the fall of the Wall. South of the centre is Kreuzberg, home to many of the newer landmarks and a neighbourhood legendary for its alternative youth culture and large Turkish population. Schneberg is located just west and is more gentrified, with a prominent gay scene. Meanwhile, the northern district Prenzlauer Berg has transformed from a poor district into a trendy hub with a thriving caf culture and stylish boutiques.