Berlin - an amazingly vibrant city with loads to do!

II was lucky enough to live in Berlin from Oct 2011 to Dec 2012, and want to share with you what a great place it is to visit, with no end of things to do - iconic sights, museums, great shopping, an exciting music scene and loads of history!

Not many cities can claim to have been divided in two as Berlin was, until the 1990 reunification. This is one of the reasons why the city is so diverse and has so much to offer culturally. Each area or suburb has a distinct feel to it. All Germans pay a tax towards rebuilding so the East of city is now nowhere near as stark as it once was. However, there are still some great examples of communist architecture, such as the Karl Marx Allee, a 2km long monumental socialist boulevard built in the 1950's to showcase how great and powerful the GDR was!

For those interested in the history of the GDR and the much feared STASI (East German Secret Service), there are many museums which tell the history of the communist state. The old STASI detention and interrogation prison is really worth a visit, with tours led by former inmates! The Wilhelmstrasse in the Mitte district used to be the centre of government for the Kingdom of Prussia and later for the German 3rd Reich. The Topography of Terror exhibition here is a very moving museum/exhibit on the brutality of the Nazi regime. There is also the old headquarters of the Ministry of Aviation, built for Herman Goering, a stunning example of National Socialist architecture. The site of the Hitler bunker is on this street, but a sprawling East German pre-fab concrete block of flats was built on top many years ago.

Going from the former East to the West there are many well-known landmarks and sites. Two of the most notable are Checkpoint Charlie and the Berlin Wall. Although much has been demolished there are still parts of it left so you can see where it all was and get a feel of what it must have been like. The stunning Brandenberg Gate at the end of Unter den Linten is a must see on any visit!

For those who like museums, the 'Museuminsel' or Museum Island is a unique ensemble of five museums including the amazing Pergamon. This is now a UNESCO World Heritage Site where you could spend literally days looking around.

Berlin is a shopper’s paradise, from the opulent and world famous KaDeWe (Kaufhaus des Westerns.....'department store of the West') in, not surprisingly West Berlin, to the beautifully redeveloped Frederichstrasse in the former East. It is now home to every designer store you can imagine, plus a branch of the famous Paris institution Galleries Lafayette. In the Hackescher Markt area there are lots of quirky individual designer stores and nice places to eat. It is well worth a browse for really unusual things! Remember that shops are usually closed on a Sunday, so if you are having a long weekend shop on Fri and Sat!

Potsdam is well worth a visit if you have time. There are three palaces - the New Palace and Sanssouci, both built by Frederick the Great (Fritz - the potato king), and the Cecilienhof, where the Allies held their conference after WWII. It's Germany's largest World Heritage Site. You can get the S-Bahn and it’s only a 30 minute journey away. With a massive choice of hotels and restaurants, Berlin is amazing value and is not nearly as expensive as other European cities.

Here are my top tips for Berlin: - Make sure you try a Currywurst - the German national dish! It's a sausage chopped up with curry sauce and chips that you buy and eat on the street - they are excellent! - Do a walking tour around the Schoeneberg district and find out about the heady pre-war 30's in Berlin - it was wild! - Take the bus or U-Bahn out to see the now disused iconic Tempelhof Airport, and do a Segway tour of the airfield which is now a park. In general public transport is excellent and runs 24 hours a day. Buy a multi-day travel card as it works out a lot cheaper. - Consider a sightseeing bus tour - but you can almost do the same route on the number 100 and 200 buses at a quarter of the price, just no commentary! - Make sure you visit the Alexanderplatz, where the public demonstrations started the downfall of the GDR and see the station famed by the Cold War espionage - Visit the zoo, one of Europe's best and right in the city! - November or December are a great time to visit as there are around 50 Christmas markets – the Gluhwein is fantastic!

If you are thinking about a trip to Berlin I'd love to have a chat with you and share some of my insights so please get in touch. I look forward to hearing from you!