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Berlin, Germany
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Demelza
Birtchnell enjoys 48-hours in Berlin
“When you visit Berlin
for a week-end break, you’ll wish you had
more than 48 hours in Berlin….”
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With
over 146 million visitors annually, and growing, Berlin
now ranks among the top three most popular European
city breaks after London and Paris. The city’s
compact historical districts and excellent transport
system, along with the relatively late opening hours
of many attractions, will allow you to get a great
taste of the city in a weekend. Just make sure you
save some stamina for Berlin’s legendary nightlife!
The
Berlin Tourism Office is
an invaluable resource when planning your visit. They
offer valuable information on location and contact
details for each of the Berlin Info stores. Nevertheless,
a fantastic way for first time visitors to start their
exploration of Berlin is to get hold of WelcomeCard
and then take a guided tour of the city. Whether
on foot, by bike, or sightseeing bus, these tours
will give you an overview of Berlin’s fascinating
and complex history and point out some of the cultural
and architectural highlights, of which there are many!
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Getting
Around: Armed with a WelcomeCard,
you will find that Berlin is a haven for lovers
of art, history, antiquity, and so many amazing
museums. The Berlin WelcomeCard is a discount card
offering unlimited travel on public transport for
either 48 or 72 hours, allowing you to breeze in
and out of Berlin’s barrier-less train stations,
and discounts on 130 tourist attractions. Nevertheless,
the pass excludes several of Berlin’s most
notable Museums, including the Pergamon and the
wonderful museum of contemporary art, Hamburger
Bahnhof. It is therefore recommended that culture
buffs purchase the Berlin WelcomeCard Culture+ which
gives all the benefits of the WelcomeCard in conjunction
with a three day Berlin Museum Pass, allowing additional
free access to over 70 of Berlin’s museums
and galleries.
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Where
to stay
Berlin has a choice of around 350 hotels and guesthouses
but our choice hotel is Rocco Forte’s Hotel
de Rome because of its exceptional location in the
historical heart of Berlin on Bebelplatz, off Unter
den Linden. Hotel de Rome provides both the perfect
base from which to explore the many delights of
Berlin, and a welcoming place to return at the end
of the day. Like each of the properties in the Rocco
Forte Collection, the Hotel de Rome strikes a balance
between comfort, elegance, glamour, and contemporary
design. Click here
to read our full review of the hotel.
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| Highlights
of Berlin
Allow at least a few hours on Museum Island to take
in the highlights of the Pergamon, Bode Museum, Old
Museum, Old National Gallery, and the New Museum which
will be opening in 2009 to house the Egyptian collection.
Ascend the Reichstag, seat of Germany’s federal
parliament, for sweeping views of Berlin. Allow plenty
of time to queue for the free climb to the dome! An
alternative viewpoint, at 203 metres, is Berlin’s
landmark TV Tower.
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Checkpoint
Charlie
Walk the line at Checkpoint Charlie to enjoy a recreation
of the infamous allied checkpoint. There is a museum
attached, but for a good overview, visit the adjacent
free open air exhibition which has a chronology
of the Wall and the political situation which spawned
it, along with an examination of its impact on Berlin
and its people.
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Brandenburg
Gate
Pose at the superbly reconstructed Brandenburg Gate
to keep a souvenir of one of the most recognisable
symbols of Berlin. It is the only remaining gate of
a series through which one formerly entered Berlin.
One block to its north lies the Reichstag. The gate
was once the monumental termination of Unter den Linden,
the renowned boulevard of linden trees which led directly
to the royal residence. It was commissioned by Friedrich
Wilhelm II as a sign of peace and built by Carl Gotthard
Langhans from 1788 to 1791. It is today one of Europe's
most famous landmarks.
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Friedrichstadt
Memorial
Visit the Memorial of the Murdered
Jews of Europe in Friedrichstadt. This holocaust memorial
which was designed by architect Peter Eisenman and
opened in 2005, demonstrates how powerful abstraction
and symbolism can be. Menashe Kadishman's installation,
Fallen Leaves, in the Jewish Museum Berlin also portrays
a moving expression of the loss of so many lives during
the Holocaust.
Sadly, the permanent exhibitions in the Jewish Museum
fail to provide a truly comprehensive and coherent
interpretation, despite a collection which includes
some fascinating contemporary and historical pieces.
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East
Side Gallery
Visit East Side Gallery, one of the longest stretches
that has been preserved of the Berlin Wall, and
a huge street canvass for artists then stroll down
the monumental boulevard Karl Marx Allee, built
between 1952 and 1960 by the German Democratic Republic
as a showcase for Socialist architecture and post-war
reconstruction.
Potsdamer Platz
Admire the ambitious contemporary architecture commissioned
at Potsdamer Platz to fill the huge voids of no-man’s
land in Berlin post-unification. Potsdamer Platz
has its own unique atmosphere: This is the place
where modern architecture and a lively metropolitan
ambience meet Berlin history.
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Nightlife
in Berlin
If nightlife is your thing, then Berlin’s streets
are perfect night walks because one restaurant is next to
the other. The city also has stylish lounges which are very
popular to enjoy a drink before or after hurling into the
nightlife. There is also clubbing, fun bars and singles
parties, dancing, live music, gambling halls and adult venues.
Finally, you cannot complete your weekend break without
soaking up the splendour of Stattsoper, Berlin’s grandest
Opera House on Unter den Linden, adjacent to the Hotel
de Rome. Originally constructed in 1743, the opera house
is very much like Berlin’s notable architecture, destroyed
in World War II. It was rebuilt in the 1950s to the original
designs of Georg Knobelsdorff and today presents opera along
with ballet and concerts. Click
here for a production calendar.
Other Successful
48-hour destinations
Groningen,
Holland
Malta
Tallinn, Estonia
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