The city state of Berlin which is the capital and largest city of Germany is steeped in history. Once a divided city, which was brutally cut in half by the looming Berlin Wall that divided East Germany and West Germany, united Berlin today is a vibrant city which is known for its thriving cultural scene which is populated by numerous museums, art galleries and theatres though the city is also known for hosting many diverse annual events like the Christopher Street Day Parade( a world famous gay and lesbian event), The Berlin Jazz Festival, the Love Parade(which took a hiatus for a few years but is now back on Berlin’s event calendar) and more. Additionally Berlin is also for its exciting and pulsating nightlife which is known throw up new sounds and trends periodically.
However despite its playful character, Berlin which is the capital of Germany is now home to nearly 147 embassies and diplomatic missions and the city is also a important and major transportation hub in Germany that is transited by hordes of business and leisure travelers all year long. Further the city also occupies a prominent position in the world of academia and research as it is home several great universities and research institutes though as a cultural epicenter it almost unmatched as it is home to 175 arte-fact laden museums, three opera houses , seven symphony orchestras and more than 130 theatres.
On the business and commerce front, Berlin had to overcome much lost ground due to the fact that the city was divided by the massive Berlin Wall for over thirty years...Read More. This wall which also divided families and friends was erected to keep socialist east German apart from the West however once the wall was brought down in 1990 and the city was reunited, economic growth and development resumed at full speed in Berlin and the city today has several important industries like information technology pharmaceuticals, biomedical engineering, biotechnology and media.
If you are a fan of 20th century World History or just a culture-vulture with an eye for what’s new and happening, then Berlin represents an ideal destination for a visit. However if you are flying to Berlin from a US city then perhaps you might want to consider business class air travel to Berlin. Your flight to Berlin is likely to extend over ten hours and will classify as a long haul flight for which business class travel is the perfect antidote as it helps you escape the exhaustion-inducing jet lag which plagues most long haul travelers.
However you need not be alarmed at the cost of flying business class to Berlin for cheap business seats to Berlin are always available if you know where to look for them. In fact Germany’s low cost business carrier Air Berlin offers business class seats to Berlin from various US cities. These business flights to Berlin are usually indirect and have one or more stopovers. Aside from Air Berlin, several other American and European carriers also offer business air connections to Berlin from the US and often these carriers themselves offer special business class deals to Berlin which are well worth looking out for.
These discount business class fares afford you with all the regular business class amenities and facilities that are associated with regular business class fares and ensure that you arrive in Berlin adequately well rested and ready to start your holiday. However if such cheap business class airfares are beyond your reach then you could always turn to an airfares consolidator who almost always has a huge selection of discount business class tickets to several worldwide destinations due to exclusive consolidator contracts with various airlines.
Berlin experiences a climate that characterizes various European cities as the city often gets cold and frosty winters where temperatures usually register highs of 4 °C (39 °F) and lows of -2 to 0 °C (28 to 32 °F). These winter months in Berlin tend to last from December to February. Summers in Berlin when the days are longer and temperatures are milder at around 22–25 °C (72–77 °F) during the day, tend to extend from the months of June to September. The summer months are actually the best time to visit Berlin though the seasons of spring and autumn are also considered to be good enough for a visit to this fascinating city.
Since Germany is a part of the Eurozone, legal tender in Berlin like in other parts of the country is the Euro. As for electrical voltage, Berlin also has the 220V with 50 Hz standard which is so common in many other European countries and electrical sockets in Berlin accept the two pin round plugs that are also used in various other parts of Europe.
Berlin is served by its Berlin-Tegel airport which is located at a distance of 5 miles (8km) to the north west of the city center. The best way to commute from the airport to the city is by taxi though the airport is also served by a bus sevice which connects to the subway and the over ground trains. The public transport system in Berlin is efficient and extensive and is made up of buses, trams, ferries, the U-Bahn( the underground) and the S-Bahn( over ground trains). Taxis are also plentiful in Berlin but it’s cheaper to hail one on the street rather than call for one.
Berlin also offers the Berlin Welcome card which is a card that is geared towards tourists and offers unlimited travel for an adult and three children on all modes of travel over three transport zones in the city. This card can be purchased with a validity of 48 or 72 hours and represents exceptional value for apart from public transport use it also offers discounts at many museums, theaters and other tourist attractions. The Berlin Welcome card can be purchased online before your arrival in Berlin at the official website of the card so that you are good to go as soon as you arrive in Berlin though you can also buy the card from railway stations and tourist information bureaus in the city.
As for attractions in Berlin, they are plentiful and cater to all kinds of individual preferences. If you are a history buff you will especially enjoy attractions like the Brandenburg Gate which once was inaccessible as it lay behind the Berlin Wall. Today access to this magnificent gateway which is topped by a statue of the Goddess of Victory has been restored and now it offers another attraction in the form of the pedestrianised Pariser Platz which links the gate to the beautiful Unter den Linden Boulevard. Yet another attraction from the cold war era is the border crossing of Checkpoint Charlie. This crossing which is located in Friedrichstrasse was the only link between West and East Berline and it today hosts an museum which is shrine to the divisive wall that brutally portioned a city and many lives.
Berlin is chock a block with museums and some of the most popular museums include the Berlin Museum, the Jewish Museum, the Story of Berlin, the Pergamon Art Museum, the Altes, and Bode Museums. If you do want to take in as many museums as you can on your Berlin sojourn then you should try and purchase a SchauLUST Museen Berlin ticket, which bears a validity of 72 hours and offers you free entry to over 50 museums.
Berlin is also known to be an art lover’s paradise for the city hosts numerous galleries that showcase the works of avant-garde contemporary artists. However one of the most famous art galleries in Berlin is the Hamburger Banhof which housed in a former railway station. The Hamburger Banhof like many of Berlin’s other buildings was almost decimated by the events of World WarII but now it has been beautifully restored and it has permanent exhibits of contemporary art masters like Andy Warhol and Roy Lichtenstein though it is also a popular exhibition venue for temporary travelling exhibits. Mention must also be made of the Eastside Gallery which actually is an open-air art space that contains the longest and only surviving section of the famous Berlin Wall. This section of the wall extends from Ostbahnhof station to the Oberbaumbrucke and hosts the multi-colored works of graffiti artists from the entire world who could have no better stage to display their uni Hide