"nigelw6443's new Germany Page" Germany by nigelw6443

Germany Travel Guide: 56,159 reviews and 164,445 photos

I moved here a couple of years ago and was totally surprised at what a beautiful city Berlin is. I live in north west Berlin. My house is a few metres away from a forest with a lake in the middle. The forest is really nice any time of year. There is a large variety of birds including hawks, also the occasional deer and the resident wild boars. Across the street we have another lake, much larger and here you can take ferry trips and also several party boats. A nice way to spend a summer evening. You can also take canal cruises through the city and they depart from different locations and vary in cost dependinding on how long a trip you want to take. Well worth it!

Berlin is easy to get around with a great underground system, the U bahn. Also a normal train service and of course buses. But it is a big city and lots of the sites are quite far apart. There are two main tourist areas. One in the west part of Berlin and one in the east. The former east part is where all the museums and cultural sites are, this district is called Mitte. In this area you will find also some good shopping on Freidrichstrasse,
also plenty of bars and restaurants on Oranianburger strasse. On friedrichstrasse you will also find Checkpoint Charlie and the Checkpoint Charlie museum is worth a visit.

In the west of Berlin there is the Kurfurstendamm which is perhaps the most famous boulevard in Berlin and a central place to begin many of your journeys. It is lined with movie theaters, restaurants, hotels and chic shops. A key intersection is the Tauentzienstr, which not only has more of the same, but also sports the gigantic Europa Center - 22 stories of even more movie theaters, restaurants, hotels and chic shops, not too mention a planetarium and ice skating rink.

To the northeast of the Kurfurstendamm is Tiergarten Park. This is the largest park in Berlin, of which there are many, and where you will find the Reichstag. The Reichstag used to be where the German government sat, but was gutted by a more than suspicious fire in 1933. Since then it has been restored and makes for quite an impressive sight in its new livery. Also in Tiergarten Park you will find the Zoologischer Garten (the Berlin Zoo), an aquarium and the Neue Nationalgalerie (the New National Gallery) which houses a collection of 20th-century art as well as the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra.

Berlin is a very large city and there are also many other attractions worth seeing. I have basically given you the two main areas which can be seen in a long weekend visit. I would suggest longer!!

Intro Updated Mar 11, 2003
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Mauzl Jul 3, 2003 at 5:43 AM

very nice intro & great tips - well done :o) can't wait for more...
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MissyWQ May 26, 2003 at 11:11 AM

Great city, Berlin ! Read my Berlin Page, bitte.
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jide08 Apr 1, 2003 at 4:09 AM

Good start.
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JourneyOf1 Mar 11, 2003 at 12:45 PM

Great tips for Berlin, hope to meet you there if possible!
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Drphoto Mar 6, 2003 at 5:16 AM

go on !!!