For more information and to book please visit www.mrandmrssmith.com or let us arrange your whole trip, by calling +44 (0)20 8987 4312 or from the USA dial 1 866 610 3867.
Willkommen to perhaps Europe’s most fascinating city. Lines of bars and clubs, blaring out rock, techno and everything in between, have now replaced the famous Berlin wall, and are testament to the city’s resilience and upbeat character. Indeed, the collapse of the Iron Curtain has allowed its dormant creativity to flourish. Art galleries have sprung up in almost every vacant warehouse space, theatre and cabaret venues continue to pack them in, and awe-inspiring buildings such as the metal-and-glass Reichstag have brought iconic design to the Soviet-era cityscape. Add to this a vibrant culinary scene, offering everything from traditional würst to elaborate Asian fusion, and this city is one you’ll never want to leave. Berlin? It’ll take your breath away.
See the city as those who lived behind the Iron Curtain did, and drive a Trabant – the tiny tin box on wheels that the State decreed suitable for East German citizens – around East Berlin’s Communist-era landmarks. A Trabi-Safari guide will take the lead in another car and provide commentary via radio. For more information, call +49 (0)30 2759 2273 or go to www.trabi-safari.de.
…sampling currywurst, sliced wiener sausage slathered in thick spicy sauce and sprinkled with curry powder, from the famous Konnopke’s Imbiss snack bar (+49 (0)30 442 7765) in Prenzlauer Berg.
Our round-up of the hippest hideaways and romantic boutique hotels in Berlin
A beautiful Berlin boutique hotel housed in a 19th-century apartment block just around the corner from Alexanderplatz, Lux 11 is the ideal place in which to relax and unwind amid the urban maelstrom.
Planes, trains, automobiles, or maybe even helicopter – we tell you the best way to go.
June The city’s biggest gay carnival (and, believe us, there are quite a few), the Christopher Street Day Parade, sees more than 400,000 take to Berlin’s streets in all manner of flamboyant costumes. Expect lots of piercings. October Commemorating the day in 1989 when the wall finally tumbled, the Day of German Unity on 3 October sees street parties being held throughout Berlin. December Christmas markets spring up throughout the city – pretend to do your shopping whilst joining the locals in getting subtly sloshed on schnapps and glühwein.
An old-fashioned but elegant Viennnese coffee house in Tiergarten, this airy café serves up schnitzels and noodles against a backdrop of mahogany and oversized mirrors.
58 Kurfurstenstrasse, D-10785 Berlin
It may be the post-pub, pre-brawl food of choice in the UK, but the doner kebab is a far more acceptable snack in Germany. The combination of pitta and sliced meat was invented here, at Hasir, in 1971 by owner Mehmet Aygun.
10 Adalbertstrasse, D-10999 Berlin
This long-established gay and lesbian hangout near Heinrich Von Kleist Park in Schöneberg was a favourite of David Bowie and Lou Reed when they shared an apartment next door in the 1970s. It’s still an atmospheric haunt.
157 Hauptstrasse, D-10827 Berlin
Who'd have thought you could indulge in hearty southern German cuisine such as sausages, sauerkraut and schnitzel in a stylish environment? There’s not a heaving dirndl in sight.
9 Gartenstrasse, D-10115 Berlin
This bistro-style restaurant down by the river on Schiffbauerdamm specialises in Austrian cuisine. Try its veal sausages or gnocchi in a creamy cheese sauce.
6–7 Schiffbauerdamm, D-10117 Berlin
Young Michelin-starred chef Michael Hoffman does astonishing things with seafood at this hip Unter den Linden hangout.
78 Unter den Linden, D-10117 Berlin
Just along Rosa Luxemburg Strasse from Lux 11, Susuru is an excellent Japanese noodle bar with chic decor. Its udon selection makes for a good lunch option.
17 Rosa Luxemburg Strasse, D-10178 Berlin
Kitsch Bavarian-style eatery, which stops just short of lederhosen and oompah bands. The menu, however, is excellent – and you’ll find everything from veal sausage and sauerkraut to piping-hot apfelstrudel here.
31 Witzlebenstrasse, D-72413 Berlin
Wonderful Alsatian restaurant (as in the region, not the dog) that specialises in sturdy choucroute and tartes flambées. Bill Clinton stopped by a few years ago…
37 Knaackstrasse, D-10435 Berlin
Set in the middle of Kreuzberg’s Turkish quarter, Abendmahl is perhaps the city’s finest vegetarian restaurant. It also serves fish.
9 Muskauer Strasse, D-10997 Berlin
One of Berlin’s finest restaurants, this is where chef Bobby Bräuer serves up Michelin-starred cuisine to a sophisticated, urbane crowd. The 1920s-inspired interiors are beautiful, too.
14 Eislebener Strasse, D-10789 Berlin
Drink in the evening at this atmospheric café bar with an old-fashioned ambience. Dress up – it's frequented by Berlin’s beautiful people.
11 Gipsstrasse, D-10119 Berlin
The city’s favourite spot for an alfresco drink when the weather’s fine. The tree-shaded garden fills up quickly in summer with fashionable Berliners who come here for cocktails and food – and for a nightclub called ‘Bastard’.
7–9 Kastanienallee, D-10435 Berlin
A long room dominated by a Thirties-inspired mural at the far end, this stylish Mitte cocktail bar serves up delicious concoctions to a hip thirtysomething crowd. Low-key techno with a Latin bent is the soundtrack of choice.
11 Novalisstrasse, D-10115 Berlin
Perhaps the best known – courtesy of its namecheck in Cabaret – of Berlin’s numerous sex clubs. This is the place to come for fetish parties and to meet other liberal (and we’re talking extremely liberal) consenting adults.
2–14 Bessemer Strasse, D-10179 Berlin
©2009 Mr & Mrs Smith
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