THE FIRST 24 HOURS...

S Bahn it!

If you haven’t already, take the S Bahn (regional train) between the Alexanderplatz and Zoo Station. No other city in the world offers such a comprehensive panoramic view from public transport alone. It takes in the  government quarter, Potsdamer Platz, Alexanderplatz with TV Tower, Zoo Bahnhof with the Memorial Church and the new main  terminal Lehrter Bahnhof: Europe’s largest station – its massive curved glass roof is  spectacular.

The Museum Island

Private Tour Idea: The Pergamon Museum to the Egyptian and the Bust of Nefertiti with Insider Tour Guide and Archaeologist Jamie Sewell.

This is a truly formidable collection of Museums of which the Pergamon is world famous. The Pergamon is a must not only for art enthusiasts, but for all visitors to Berlin.  Besides countless Greek,  Summerian and Islamic artefacts, the museum features three major architectural monuments from the ancient world: The Hellenistic Greek Pergamon Alter from the 2nd century B.C., the Roman Miletus Marketplace from the 2nd century A.D. and the Ishtar Gate, built by  Nebuchadnezzar II in the 7th century B. C. during the time of the Babylonian Exile. Stunning.

The Insider Tour

Take our walking or bike tour for a "perfect introduction," (The Melbourne Age), to this most remarkable city and its tumultuous history – it’s the ideal way to visit all main sites (especially the less apparent ones i.e. the war bunkers) with our "Superb," (Let’s Go), tour guides and get your bearings. 

The Reichstag Parliament

Private Tour Idea: WWII & the Rise of the Third Reich with Insider Tour Guide & former British Soviet Military Attache Nigel Dunkley.

Ascend the glass dome atop the German Parliament. This heavy set earth bound  building speaks of the German Reich. The facade's  inscription Dem Deutschen Volke or "For the German People" is made out of melted down French cannon  –  a popular building material around these parts. This  parliament has a short lived (1896) but intense history:  the Reichstag fire led to Hitler’s assumption of absolute  power, the battle for the Reichstag spelt its end.  (See Third Reich Tour) The dome with its  fantastic spiral ramp affords great views over the city.

The Staatsoper or Philharmonie

The court Opera  of Frederick the Great is one of Europe’s leading performance venues, Strauss was once head  conductor, today Barenboim continues the legacy.  Hans Sharoun’s golden tiled Philharmonic building is a brilliant piece of modernism in which the seating  is assembled around the orchestral pit – there is no bad seat. Tickets are ludicrously inexpensive to see Sir Simon Rattle conduct the world’s most famous Philharmonic – you’d be mad to miss a performance  at either considering you’ve got the opportunity.

Visit the Soviet War Memorial in Treptower Park

Private Tour Idea: Soviet Occupation & the Cold War with Insider Tour Guide & former British Soviet Military Attache Nigel Dunkley.

The Soviet Union’s memorial to its fallen heroes of war depicts a Soviet soldier clutching a child in one arm  (inspired by a true account of war bravery) and a  broadsword in the other with a smashed swastika at  its base. This mammoth statue stands atop a mound of earth – buried beneath are 5000 Soviet war dead from the battle of Berlin. The friezes are also  fascinating – they’re essentially a stone Stalinist  comic book version of the war.

The New Jewish Museum – designed by Daniel  Libeskind

Private Tour Idea: Jewish Berlin: from Prussian Tolerance to the Third Reich with Insider Tour Guide & former Intern to Prime Minister Netanyahu, Political Scientist Nadav Gablinger.

The most visited museum in Germany  at present and also the most significant piece of  contemporary architecture in Berlin. Its silver jagged form appears as if a smashed Star of David and is  laden with symbolism and philosophical themes. Inside the windowless Holocaust Tower and the  pillared Garden of Exile provide an unsettling feeling  of isolation and disorientation as experienced by  Europe’s Jews in exodus from the Nazis.

Evening idea: check out the Prater Biergarten (Berlin's oldest) in the hip area of Prenzlauer Berg and then head to a  restaurant nearby i.e. Trattoria Paparazzi - one of Germany's best Italian restauarants (and cheap too!) and finish up with a bar popular with the locals i.e. Wohnzimmer

& then the next day...