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[quote=Anonymous]In many ways Berlin is not the easiest city for a tourist. It is not Munich at all (if you know Munich) or a typical European city with a compact and historic and lovely city center that's easy to get around.

Berlin is a large, sprawling city. Because of the history of the war (near total destruction of the city center and the split into East/West Berlin for 45 years afterwards), Berlin has a disjointed feel to it. The old center, Mitte with the museum island, Brandenberg Gate, Unter den Linden and the other WWII/Cold War museums have been rebuilt but has a distinct touristy feel to it and you easily can tell it's not the true center of the city for Berliners, who primarily live scattered across the various districts around the center and hop from district to district and spend little time in the center proper. Because the sights are scattered it can also take a while to get around, although the public transportation system is top notch with just about everything within easy walking distance of a s-bahn/u-bahn stop. The urban feel is also fragmented, you have surviving pre-WWII neighborhoods cheek and jowl with 1950s Soviet tower block apartments and on the whole it's not a pretty city.

Things to do:

The museums are excellent. The main ones are on Museum Island and do not miss the gallery that houses the bust of Nefertiti, which is one of the few genuine masterpieces in the world. It's breathtakingly beautiful. There is another cluster of museums over by Potzdamer Platz (another sort of failed attempt at recreating a pre-WWII landmark area), which get far less visitor but the art gallery has excellent old masters. There are also museums about WWII and the Cold War, all in Mitte.

For palaces, go to Schloss Charlottenberg (largely reconstructed but still lovely), or go out to Potsdam for the royal palaces. Well worth a visit.

Shopping: Kurfürstendamm is the major shopping street in West Berlin. KaDeWe is a fabulous department store with a wonderful food hall on the top floor. Great for lunches. Note: do NOT go to the buffet style restaurant on the very top floor, but eat at the food stands around the food hall.

There's a lot of great restaurants all over Berlin. I hesitate to spend time offering suggestions because what people want from dining varies greatly so if you want restaurant advice, tell me what kind of restaurant you like and what kind of food you want.

I do not know if it is pertinent to you but Berlin has one of the biggest LGBT scene in Europe and a very well established "gayborhood" with plenty of bars and restaurants catering to LGBT people of all ages. [/quote]

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