Berlin

Reichstag dome to East Side Gallery along the old Wall in three days

Three days in Berlin cover the main sights along the old Wall line. Day one runs from the Reichstag dome and the Brandenburg Gate to Museum Island and the East Side Gallery, day two follows Bernauer Straße to the Topography of Terror, and day three is for Tempelhofer Feld or a trip to Potsdam.

Day one, morning. Start at the Reichstag, with a dome slot booked in advance, then walk through the Brandenburg Gate and a few minutes south to the grey concrete field of the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe. Continue along Unter den Linden past the Humboldt University to Museum Island, where the Neues Museum and the Alte Nationalgalerie are the best choice if you only have time for two.

Afternoon and evening. Cross to the Nikolaiviertel for a late lunch, then ride the S-Bahn from Hackescher Markt to Warschauer Straße and walk the 1.3 km of the East Side Gallery back toward Ostbahnhof. Cross the red-brick Oberbaumbrücke for dinner in Kreuzberg.

Day two. Spend the morning on Bernauer Straße, where the Wall memorial shows the border strip, the watchtower and the line of the old escape tunnels. Walk into Prenzlauer Berg for coffee at Kollwitzplatz, then take the U2 west to Potsdamer Platz and the Topography of Terror, built on the site of the Gestapo headquarters. Finish in Charlottenburg with a stroll on the Kurfürstendamm and dinner around Savignyplatz.

Day three. On a dry day rent a bike for Tempelhofer Feld and the Landwehrkanal, or take the train to Potsdam for the Sanssouci palace gardens. Save the evening for the Philharmonie or a club in Friedrichshain.

Currywurst stands, Kreuzberg döner and Charlottenburg pub classics

Berlin's signature foods are currywurst and the döner kebab, eaten standing at an Imbiss counter. Konnopke's Imbiss at Eberswalder Straße and Curry 36 at Mehringdamm are the best-known currywurst stands, Kreuzberg and Neukölln are the döner districts, and Charlottenburg pubs still serve Eisbein, Buletten and Königsberger Klopse.

Berlin's food culture was built at the counter of the Imbiss. The classic is currywurst, a sliced pork sausage drowned in curried ketchup, eaten standing up with chips. Two stands are institutions: Konnopke's Imbiss under the elevated U2 tracks at Eberswalder Straße, open since before the war, and Curry 36 opposite Mehringdamm station in Kreuzberg, where the queue moves fast late at night.

The döner kebab in its sandwich form took shape in West Berlin among Turkish immigrants, and Kreuzberg and Neukölln remain the places to eat it, along with lahmacun and grilled köfte. On Tuesdays and Fridays the Turkish market on Maybachufer lines the canal with stalls of olives, flatbread and cheap vegetables.

Old Berlin cooking is heavy and porky. Look for Eisbein (boiled ham hock with sauerkraut and pea purée), Buletten (fried meat patties) and Königsberger Klopse, veal meatballs in a caper sauce, in the wood-panelled pubs of Charlottenburg and the Nikolaiviertel. Locals call the jam doughnut a Pfannkuchen, never a Berliner.

Markthalle Neun in Kreuzberg, a restored 19th-century market hall, hosts a street-food evening on Thursdays and good bakeries the rest of the week. For a splurge, the sixth floor of KaDeWe is a department-store food hall that runs the length of the building. In summer, try a Berliner Weisse, the sour wheat beer that bars still serve with a shot of red raspberry or green woodruff syrup.

Grey Januarys, the Berlinale and the Festival of Lights

Berlin is cold and grey from December to February, with January highs around 3C, and warm in July and August at about 25C. The festival year runs from the Berlinale in February through the Karneval der Kulturen at Whitsun, the marathon in late September and the Festival of Lights in October.

The climate is continental for northern Germany: January averages a high of 3C and a low of -2C, while July and August reach about 25C. Rain is spread through the year but rarely heavy; April is the driest month at around 28mm, and July the wettest with 70mm, most of it falling in short summer storms.

February belongs to the Berlinale, the international film festival centred on Potsdamer Platz, when public screenings sell out within minutes and the city fills with critics. At Whitsun (Pentecost) weekend in May or June, the Karneval der Kulturen sends a long parade of samba groups and sound systems through Kreuzberg, followed by a four-day street fair around Blücherplatz. On 21 June the Fête de la Musique puts free concerts on street corners and in parks across every district.

Summer is lake season. Berliners cycle to the Strandbad Wannsee or the Müggelsee, and open-air cinemas run in Friedrichshain's Volkspark and other parks. The Berlin Marathon, one of the fastest courses in the world, takes over a late-September weekend, and in October the Festival of Lights projects artwork onto the Brandenburg Gate, the Berliner Dom and other landmarks after dark.

From late November, Christmas markets open at the Gendarmenmarkt, in front of Charlottenburg Palace and in the old town of Spandau. Days are short and grey, so pair a market visit with an afternoon in the museums.