Parking in Berlin

• Parkhaus on Krausenstrasse (10117) is open seven days a week and is only moments away from the Cold War landmark, Checkpoint Charlie.
• On street parking is available across Berlin, including in Charlottenburg, Mitte and Tempelhof-Schöneberg. These spaces usually have an hourly charge.
• Rathauspassagen (10178) shopping centre has a parking garage, close to Alexanderplatz and the Rotes Rathaus, with 600 spaces available.

Speed limits in Berlin

• Residential areas have a speed limit of 30km/h (18mph).
• City streets, except where marked, have a limit of 50km/h (31mph).
• Autobahns have an advisory speed limit of 130km/h (80mph).

Key roads in Berlin

• The Berlin Inner Ring or Berliner Innenstadtring encircles the historic centre of the city, snaking through Pankow, Mitte and Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg.
• Unter den Linden is one of the famous avenues in Berlin, running from the east to west, from the Royal Palace to the Brandenburg Gate.
• Bundesautobahn 100 is often known as the City Ring or Stadtring, even though this 13 mile stretch only covers the southwestern part of the city. It’s one of the busiest roads in all of Germany.

Congestion zones and charges in Berlin

There is a low emission zone inside the S-Bahn ring of Berlin, which means that only cars displaying a green sticker can drive inside it.

Traffic in Berlin

Rush hour in Berlin is from 8am to 10am in the morning, and 5pm to 7pm in the evening.

How to get from Berlin to Hamburg

German’s second city is full of half-timbered buildings and enchanted by music. It takes just over three hours to drive there form Berlin.

1. Join the A114 and follow signs for A10 towards Hamburg.
2. Merge onto the A10 for around 19 miles.
3. Continue on the A24 and stay on this road all the way to Hamburg.

Where to stay in Berlin

SO / Berlin Das Stue

Drakestrasse 1, 10787

Lavishly appointed rooms and Michelin-starred dining, in a former Danish Embassy built in the 1930s? Why not? From the gasp-inducing entrance, through to the soothing spa, this is the perfect city stay. It also overlooks the zoo, so you can animal-spot over a fabulous breakfast.

The Westin Grand Berlin

Friedrichstrasse 158-164, 10117

It’s all about the location here, right on Friedrichstrasse shopping street and a few steps away from the leafy pathways of Unter den Linden Boulevard. If you can leave your spacious room or the full service spa, you’re close to both Checkpoint Charlie and Brandenburg Gate.

Provocateur Berlin

Brandenburgische Str. 21, 10707

Slightly less central, Provocateur scores on the seductiveness of its interior – subtle it isn’t. Expect bold colour choices, extravagant fabrics and a touch of kitsch, making it the ideal accommodation for a romantic weekend retreat.

Best restaurants in Berlin

Restaurant Tim Raue

Rudi-Dutschke-Strasse 26, 10969

Close to Checkpoint Charlie, a meal at Tim Raue is a memorable affair. Recently ranked in the world’s top 50 restaurants, the unstuffy venue has a striking modern design and signature menu. Its brevity of description, ‘wagyu beef, beetroot, jalapeno’, for example, belies the invention in each dish. There’s also a separate vegan menu available.

Coda

Friedelstrasse 47, 12047

While it’s billed as a ‘dessert bar’, there’s more to Coda than that. Sat in the fashionable Neukölln District, this playful restaurant is all about applying dessert and pastry techniques to savoury ingredients. Notably, they eschew refined sugar and draw out the natural sweetness of their other ingredients, for a unique culinary approach your tastebuds will love.

Villa Rixdorf

Richardplatz 6, 12055

A great choice for family meal, Villa Rixdorf is a welcoming restaurant that’s big on atmosphere and happy to accommodate children. Food runs the gamut from German classics to Italian, so hop from perch fillets, wiener schnitzel and pork knuckle, to pizza and pasta.

What to do in Berlin

Berlin Wall

Bernauer Strasse 119, 13355

There isn’t much of the Berlin Wall left to see and most of it is now distributed around museums and as keepsakes in the homes of those there the night it came down. This memorial, however, does a fantastic job of explaining what it was, what it meant, how it came to be and how it ended.

Museum Island

Berlin, 10178

Five museums occupy this island in the Spree River, between them spanning thousands of years of history. From the Altes Museum, to the Neues Museum, you’ll find everything from medieval-era sculptures and architecture, to painting and staggering collections of Roman and Egyptian antiquities.

Street Art

Berlin

Graffiti and street art have made the leap from urban areas to Berlin’s galleries. However, much of the best new material still springs up in areas once derelict and now reclaimed. Have your camera ready as you take yourself through Mitte or Kreuzberg or join one of the walking tours to unearth new compositions.