Travel Guide Berlin, Germany

Travel Guide Berlin, Germany

Berlin Mitte (Mitte)

The historical centre of Berlin, the nucleus of the former East Berlin, and the emerging city centre. Cafes, restaurants, museums, galleries and clubs are abundant throughout the district, along with many sites of historic interest.

City West (Charlottenburg, Wilmersdorf, Schöneberg, Tiergarten, Moabit)

Ku Damm (short for Kurfürstendamm) is, along with Tauentzienstraße, one of the main shopping streets in former West Berlin, especially for luxury goods. Many great restaurants and hotels are here and also on the side roads. The district also contains the Charlottenburg Palace, Kulturforum, Tiergarten and the Olympic Stadium. Schöneberg is generally a cozy area for ageing hippies, young families and LGBT people.

East Central (Friedrichshain, Kreuzberg, Prenzlauer Berg)

Associated with the left wing youth culture, artists and Turkish immigrants, this district is somewhat noisier than most, packed with lots of cafes, bars, clubs and trendy shops, but also with some museums in Kreuzberg near the border to Mitte. These districts are undergoing gentrification as they are popular with students, artists and media professionals alike.

North (Spandau, Tegel, Reinickendorf, Pankow, Weißensee, Gesundbrunnen, Wedding)

Spandau and Reinickendorf are beautiful old towns which feel much more spacious than the inner city. Pankow was once synonymous with the East German government, and the villas the SED leaders inhabited still exist.

East (Lichtenberg, Hohenschönhausen, Marzahn, Hellersdorf)

The museum at the site of the 1945 surrender to the Soviet army is of interest, as well as the former Stasi prison, an essential visit for anyone interested in East German history. Marzahn-Hellersdorf has a not entirely deserved reputation for being a vast collection of dull high-rise apartment blocks, as it contains the "Gardens of the World", a large park where various ethnic styles of garden design are explored.

Tegel International Airport (ICAO: EDDT, IATA: TXL) located in the north-west of the city is the main airport for international carriers (British Airways, Air France-KLM, United, LOT, etc.) and a hub for domestic flights on Lufthansa and Air Berlin. The original airport was designed as a hexagon but today two other terminals try to handle the flights of Air Berlin (most flights in Terminal C) and other budget carriers (mostly in terminal D). All flag carrier flights leave from the main terminal building A (Terminal B nowadays contains just the bus gates of Terminal A for Non-Schengen flights), and is also where all airlines lounges are. The airport might close on 2017 depending on the construction progress.

Schönefeld (ICAO: EDDB, IATA: SXF) This airport — formerly serving the capital of the GDR — southeast of Berlin is the base for most low-cost airlines (e.g. easyJet, Ryanair and Germanwings) and charter flights in addition to traffic from Eastern Europe.

Berlin is serviced from over 350 destinations in Europe. Long distance buses arrive at Zentraler Omnibusbahnhof (Central Bus Terminal) in Charlottenburg, Masurenallee. There are numerous buses to all directions or do a 5-minute-walk to the U-Bahn (Theodor-Heuss-Platz or Kaiserdamm or to the S-Bahn (Messe Nord/ICC). Follow signposting.

Berlin is served by ICE, InterCity and EuroCity trains by the national German train corporation Deutsche Bahn (DB) which offers connections between Berlin and other German and major European cities.

Night trains from Amsterdam, Zurich, Vienna and Budapest run every day. Booked in advance they can be as cheap as €29. Popular with backpackers so reservations are strongly recommended.

Long-haul trains from Eastern European cities, Kaliningrad, Kiev, Minsk, Moscow, Saint Petersburg and Warsaw amongst others, stop both at Hauptbahnhof and Ostbahnhof. Make sure you have a reservation because these lines are also very popular.