Berlin Area Travel Guide

In Berlin there is more than one downtown area. Berlin has many boroughs (Bezirke), and each borough is composed of several localities (Kieze) — each of these boroughs and localities have their unique style. Originally Berlin was officially divided into 23 boroughs, and although in 2001 they were reduced to 12 for administrative efficiency, the 23 remain foremost in popular conceptions of the city and are generally of a good practical size and cultural division for visitors as well.

The boroughs can roughly be grouped into six districts. Mitte is the historical center of Berlin, the nucleus of the former East Berlin, and the emerging city center. Cafes, restaurants, museums, galleries and clubs are abundant throughout the district, along with many sites of historic interest. In City West, Ku'Damm (short for Kurfürstendamm) is, along with Tauentzienstraße, one of the main shopping streets in former West Berlin, especially for luxury goods. Many great restaurants and hotels are here and also on the side roads. The district also contains the Schloss Charlottenburg, Tiergarten and the Olympic Stadium. The East Central area is associated with left wing youth culture, artists, and Turkish immigrants. This district is somewhat noisier than most, packed with lots of cafes, bars, clubs and trendy shops, but also with some museums in Kreuzberg near the border to Mitte. These districts are undergoing gentrification as they are popular with students, artists and media professionals alike. In the North district, Spandau and Reinickendorf are beautiful old towns which feel much more spacious than the inner city. Pankow was once synonymous with the East German government, and the villas the SED leaders inhabited still exist. THe East district is home to the museum at the site of the 1945 surrender to the Soviet army, as well as the former Stasi prison, an essential visit for anyone interested in East German history. Marzahn-Hellersdorf has a not entirely deserved reputation for being a vast collection of dull high-rise apartment blocks, as it contains the Erholungspark Marzahn, a large park where various ethnic styles of garden design are explored. The South is a mixed bag of different boroughs. Zehlendorf is one of the greenest and wealthiest districts in Berlin, while Neukölln is one of the poorest of the city. Köpenick's swaths of forest around Berlin's largest lake, Müggelsee and the nice old town of Köpenick itself beg to be discovered on bikes and using the S-Bahn.