Where to eat
Gugelhof
If you want to eat the best of echt Alsatian cuisine and sit in the very chair Bill Clinton sat in when he visited Berlin, this relaxed restaurant in Prenzlauer Berg is the place for you. +49 (0) 30 442 9229, gugelhof.de
Café Einstein
A Berlin institution, this Viennese-style coffee house is frequented by writers. Apfelstrudel and long afternoons lingering over the papers are the order of the day. +49 (0) 30 261 5096, cafeeinstein.com
Grill Royal
Achingly fashionable and arty, this restaurant on the banks of the Spree is slap-bang in the middle of Mitte. +49 (0)30 2887 9288, grillroyal.com
Fast food
Berlin’s contribution to international cuisine is its street food – bratwurst, knackwurst, flattened meatballs (Boulette) and Currywurst, a big grilled sausage cut up and slathered in piquant sauce. Various locations.
Where to play
Fernsehturm
The DDR’s former television tower may be an ugly, brutalist spike, but its 207m-high viewing deck offers the best panoramic views. There’s also a restaurant offering breakfast, lunch, dinner and snacks. +49 (0) 30 242 3333, berlinerfernsehturm.de
Stasi Museum
Take a tour around the former offices of the Stasi Police, where rooms have been preserved in their original state. Among the exhibits are cameras hidden in ties, devices for secretly opening letters and data-collecting tape reels. +49 (0) 30 553 6854, stasimuseum.de
Museumsinsel
The Museum Island in the middle of the Spree River at the junction where Unter den Linden becomes Karl-Marx-Strasse is home to Berlin’s big five: the Pergamon, with its vast architectural antiquities, the Alte Nationalgalerie (Old National Gallery), the Bode (containing sculptures and Byzantine art) and the Altes (Old) and soon-to-be reopened Neues (new) – as well as the Renaissance-style Dom (cathedral), which was restored in 1973. Unter den Linden
KaDeWe
The suitably grandiose name of the largest department store in Europe is a contraction of Kaufhaus des Westens (literally ‘shopping house of the West’), and is most famous for its sumptuous food hall on the sixth floor. kadewe.com
Flea market
The bustling weekend market in the shadow of Tiergarten park’s looming gold Siegessäule (victory column) has antiques, secondhand clothes, collectable records and books, all at competitive prices. Strasse des 17, Juni, TiergartenFor further shopping, Kurfürstendamm is still a safe bet for upmarket stores, while the restored and beautiful buildings of the Hackesche Höfe offer quirkier boutiques.
Where to stay
Hotel de Rome
On Bebelplatz, off Unter den Linden, this ornate Rocco Forte hotel is in a building that dates back to 1889 and housed the head office of Dresdner Bank until 1945. Doubles from £370. The Hotel de Rome (+49 (0) 30 460 6090, hotelderome.com) is offering an exclusive discounted two-night package to High Life readers. For details, visit bahighlife.com/competitions.
Hotel Adlon Kempinski
Rebuilt on the site of the original hotel of the same name that opened in 1907 and burned down after WWII, the 337-room Adlon is a favoured haunt for visiting dignitaries, diplomats and film stars. Doubles from £289. +49 (0)30 2261 1111, hotel-adlon.de
Hotel Q!
Winner of several awards for design and all-round coolness, the Hotel Q! has a delightful restaurant, bar (open only to hotel guests and members) and spa offering seductive massage treatments. Doubles from £170. +49 (0)30 810 0660, loock-hotels.com/hotelq
Art’otel Berlin Mitte
Right on the banks of the Spree River in Berlin’s Mitte district, this hotel is a showcase for the works of German artist George Baselitz and has designer furniture and bathrooms. There’s another Art’otel on Joachimstalerstrasse just off Kurfürstendamm if you prefer a more West End feel. Doubles from £150. +49 (0) 30 240 620, artotel.de
Pension Kettler
Small, quirky, reasonably priced pension on restaurant-laden Bleibtreustrasse. Décor includes a genuine chunk of the Wall (rather than a lump of concrete that’s been decorated by an entrepreneur with a spray can). Doubles from £80. +49 (0)30 883 4949
British Airways flies to Berlin from London Heathrow. Book a flight on ba.com now.
Join the Executive Club and earn up to 1,159 BA Miles when you fly Club Europe to Berlin. For details, go to ba.com.
Since the Wall fell in 1989, Berlin has seen an astonishing transformation. Find out how far it's come in 20 years.
