N MITTE


WHY GO? The historic centre of Berlin can eat up days in its own right. Forget chocolate-box cutesiness – Mitte is all stern, pompous buildings, historic import and must-see museums. This is the place to do serious tourism, whether that’s walking tours around the sites linked to the Nazi regime or getting a dose of classical art and antiquities on Museum Island. It is also home to Berlin’s icon, the


Brandenburg Gate, with its quadriga statue of four galloping horses on top. Most tours leave from either outside here or from the Alexanderplatz TV tower. But there are signs of real life too, notably


around Hackesche Markt, where terrace cafes and indie shops line the pavements, as well as some quality street art if you start nosying down the passageways on Rosenthalerstrasse.


WHAT TO DO Next to the Brandenburg Gate, the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe is a field of grey, concrete stelae of different sizes. It’s deliberately abstract, and hugely unsettling to walk through. It should be paired with a visit to


Topographie Des Terrors, which is unflinching in explaining how the Nazi regime took power and the horrors of the system. Then gear up to explore the excellent museums of Mitte. The DDR Museum, which looks at life in the former East Germany, is in equal measures grim and quirky, but Museum Island contains the big-hitters. The Neues Museum majors in ancient Egypt, the Altes Museum in Greece and Rome, the Pergamonmuseum is the place for monumental ancient architecture and the Alte Nationalgalerie houses an abundance of 19th-century art.


travelweekly.co.uk


DESTINATIONS BERLIN | GERMANY


TIERGARTEN


WHY GO? In a city that can be quite full on, this sprawling park is the place to chill out, go for a stroll and maybe have a drink in a beer garden. It is full of monuments and memorials, and adjoins the most energetic sections of West Berlin. Shopaholics should hit up the designer-lined Kurfürstendamm strip or newer, more indie-inclined Bikini Mall for a spree.


WHAT TO DO There are several pretty spots in the Tiergarten, but the Rose Garden is a guaranteed winner in season. Just south of the park, the Bauhaus Archiv delves into the development and execution of Bauhaus architecture, while the German Resistance Memorial Centre looks at those who fought against Nazi rule.


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