Berlin

Of strategic importance since it first straddled the Spree River in the 13th century, Berlin went on to hog centre stage in the turbulent twentieth. Today the city, restored as the nation’s capital, is the focus of a mammoth project of reunification and the barometer of Germany’s moods.

Berlin is a veritable motherlode for lovers of art, architecture and artefacts. Its great clusters of museums will keep the most dedicated culture addict happy. The layers of the city’s history, from war and violent division to imperial fancy, exist in fascinating proximity to its dynamic present.