Berlin

Germany's Dynamic Capital

Whether it is one of Europe’s great travel destinations probably depends how you define that term. Though it may lack Rome’s antiquities, London’s sophistication, and the romance of Paris, no other European city can match its risk-taking, cutting-edge style, its extraordinary contemporary architecture, or its ability to get the visitor in touch with some of the 20th century’s most significant events.

Of course, we are talking about Berlin, a town that has undergone the municipal equivalent of a face-lift, tummy-tuck, liposuction and multiple organ transplants. It seems only yesterday that it was two cities, one dispirited and crumbling, the other vital and lively but hemmed in by concrete, barbed wire, and armed watchtowers. Traces of the divided city can still be found, but they are fast disappearing.

Berlin is a city of cultural as well as urban renewal, with frequent openings of new and restored museums, monuments, and institutions. A prime example opened in 2006: the spectacular, glass-canopied, multilevel Lehrter Bahnhof, said to be Europe’s largest transportation hub, able to handle nearly a quarter of a million passengers daily. Another fairly recent addition to the long list of Berlin must-see destinations is the haunting Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe, a short distance from the Brandenburg Gate.

Berlin is also a place of vast parks and waterways, nonstop nightlife, Germany’s best shopping, and the finest and most varied cuisine of any city in the Germanic world. Best of all, its hotels and restaurants are priced lower than any major city in western Europe.