The magnificent architecture of Berlin

Berlin recently overtook Paris as the number two most-visited European city, just behind London. Business travelers have driven much of this since 1990, when Berlin again became the capital of a reunited Germany. But, increasingly, tourists are coming to see the cutting-edge architecture, hundreds of art galleries, sites of historic importance (including the remains of the Berlin Wall), and 175 museums, which have gathered the nation’s best collections together.

Another attraction for English speakers is that seemingly everything, from the metro system to museum signs, is also in English and a majority of the city’s 3.4 million residents speak it well enough to provide directions and are eager to be helpful. The entire city has been reengineered to be easy to navigate, making it one of the most visitor-friendly cities in the world (North Americans and many other foreign visitors don’t even need visas to get in).

NEW BERLIN

The New Berlin is also perfect for travelers on a budget, delivering more top culture per euro (about $1.33) than just about anywhere else. The place to start is to click on the British flag at www.visitberlin.de.

There are several keys to saving money. Most important is finding a good hotel at a value price. We made a mistake by aiming too low our first night, staying in a hostel, which was far too noisy to sleep. The next day we went to one of the Berlin InfoStores for visitor services and in minutes we had a reservation at Hotel Ambiente www.ambiente-hotel.com, with a comfortable double-bed room in a quiet south-central neighborhood of antiques dealers near the metro for 89 euros ($118).

The second tactic for saving money is to forego eating at restaurants. German food is available in any major city, so giving it up was no sacrifice. The hotel provided a robust breakfast buffet, we put dinner from the grocer in the refrigerator, and carried healthy Clif Bars