Rick Steves - Rick Steves Berlin

BERLIN

Rick Steves with Cameron Hewitt & Gene Openshaw

Travel is intensified livingmaximum thrills per minute and one of the last great sources of legal adventure. Travel is freedom. Its recess, and we need it.

I discovered a passion for European travel as a teen and have been sharing it ever sincethrough my bus tours, public television and radio shows, and travel guidebooks. Over the years, Ive taught millions of travelers how to best enjoy Europes blockbuster sightsand experience Back Door discoveries that most tourists miss.

This book offers a balanced mix of Berlins serious, historical sights and lively people zones. Its selective: Rather than listing every sight, I recommend only the most important, along with the most interesting neighborhoods to explorePrenzlauer Berg, Kreuzberg, and the old Jewish quarter. And its in-depth: My self-guided museum tours and city walks provide insight into Berlins vibrant history and todays living, breathing culture.

I advocate traveling simply and smartly. Take advantage of my money- and time-saving tips on sightseeing, transportation, and more. Try local, characteristic alternatives to expensive hotels and restaurants. In many ways, spending more money only builds a thicker wall between you and what you traveled so far to see.

We visit Berlin to experience itto become temporary locals. Thoughtful travel engages us with the world, as we learn to appreciate other cultures and new ways to measure quality of life.

Judging by the positive feedback I receive from readers, this book will help you enjoy a fun, affordable, and rewarding vacationwhether its your first trip or your tenth.

Gute Reise! Happy travels!

Hip and affordable, Berlin is understandably one of Europes top travel destinations. Its a city of leafy boulevards, grand Neoclassical buildings, world-class art, and glitzy shopping arcades. Just strolling through its funky neighborhoods gives you a fun glimpse into todays good times. Life here, especially in what was once dreary communist East Berlin, is a poignant, hedonisticand even jarringmix of a thriving economy and tragic history.

Berlin played a leading role in Europes tumultuous 20th century, both in World War I, which led to Hitlers rise to power, and World War II, which ultimately left Berlin (and much of Europe) in ruins.

In the postwar years, Berlin was on the front line of the Cold War between the US and Soviet Union. The division was literally set in stone in 1961, when the communist East German government walled off West Berlin to keep East Germans from escaping to freedom.

Since the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989, the city has been a constant construction zone of reunification and rebirth. Today Berlin is once again a world capital of a great nation.

Berliners have a remarkable ability to embrace the present while surrounded by sights from their tumultuous past. The city offers thoughtful visitors the opportunity to appreciate and learn from both.

Wander through Berlins thought-provoking museums and memorials to the millions of victims of World War II. Atop the Reichstag parliament building, tour the modern glass dome that promises much-needed transparency in government after the wars of the last century.

Clinking mugs at a lively beer hall; cuisine from around the globe to please every palate

Stroll the tree-lined Unter den Linden boulevard, pedal through Tiergarten Park, and take a lazy cruise on the scenic Spree River. Browse the citys many markets and shop for chocolate on bustling Gendarmenmarkt square.

In top-notch museums, cradle a chunk of the concrete-and-rebar Berlin Wall, peruse canvases by Drer and Rembrandt, and walk through an enormous Babylonian gate amid ancient statuary. Learn about daily life in communist East Berlin and marvel at Easterners ingenious escapes to the West. Ponder street-art graffiti on your way to the famous bust of Queen Nefertiti. Light a candle at a memorial church and hum Ode to Joy at the Brandenburg Gate, Germanys symbol of peace and reconciliation.

Explore vibrant neighborhoods like eclectic Kreuzberg, with Turkish flavor and destination restaurants; lively Prenzlauer Berg, bustling with boutiques, bars, and cafs; and the old Jewish quarter, with delightful courtyard shops and eateries.

Enjoy cosmopolitan cuisine in a melting-pot city known for its gourmet street food. Slurp soup at a foodie hotspot, dive into a cheap Currywurst, and munch your way through Kreuzbergs food hall. Wash down hearty sausage with beer in a rollicking beer hall or relaxing beer garden.

The Many Faces of Berlin

Like any cosmopolitan city, Berlin is a melting pot.

Many Berliners are transplants from elsewhere in Germany. Some came to West Berlin back when the Wall was up, lured by draft deferments and tax breaks designed to keep this outpost of Western freedom vital. West Berlin became home to a mix of peaceniks, punks, squatters, graffiti artists, and mainstream businesspeople.

After the Wall fell in 1990, East Berlin enjoyed an anything goes anarchy that attracted a wave of German artists, students, and young graduates. The 2000s and 2010s drew expats (including Americans, Brits, and Aussies) and more Germans as Berlin blossomed as an exciting, cultural capital.

Berlin is also home to immigrants and refugees from the Middle East and North Africa. In the postwar years, West Germany needed help rebuilding. Throughout the 1960s and 1970s, the government invited guest workers from poorer nations to live and work in Germany. Today, with approximately 200,000 residents of Turkish descent, Berlin is considered the largest Turkish city outside of Turkey. Many live and shop in Kreuzberg. These familiessome in their third generationare an integral part of Berlin society.

Graffiti artist in action; students chatting in hip Prenzlauer Berg; Turkish immigrants cooking up tasty fare at a Kreuzberg street market

Recently, Syrian refugees have settled here, opening Middle Eastern bakeries and restaurants and adding spice to the citys rich culinary scene. The Pergamon Museum even recruits Syrians as tour guides to show off the masterpieces of their homelands ancient culture.