Our program allows you plenty of time to discover your new country, culture and customs. Below are some of our recommended highlights. Some tours and packages can be organized when booking your program, please see the program price page for more information.

city tour
Berlin even suffered the ignominy of losing its capital status as the West German government fled south to Bonn. Today, the city is a forest of cranes as a New Berlin emerges from the dust and rubble of the no man's land that used to be its dead heart, in the biggest construction project in Europe since World War Two.

Postdamer Platz is the largest project, but the most symbolic recent construction is at the Reichstag. British architect Lord Foster has rejuvenated the German parliament with an impressive glass dome that symbolizes the new transparency in German politics, that of a nation with nothing to hide that has freed itself from the ghosts of its past.

Coupled with this avalanche of new construction is a city laden with historical charm, from the old streets of East Berlin where little has changed in fifty years, through to the grand architecture of Museumsinsel and Unter den Linden and the green lung of the Tiergarten park.

Tourism is on the rise as visitors come to savor the intoxicating mix of old and new. The vast sprawl of the city has no definite center with pockets of attractions dotted all over the city.

To the north of the Infobox lie the Brandenburger Tor (Brandenburg Gate) and the Reichstag, sporting Lord Foster's new glass dome. TheKaiser Wilhelm Gedächtniskirche, which is an old church, serves as a brutal reminder of World War II. The nearby Zoo and Aquarium also are worth visiting.

Visitors will be pleasantly surprised by a city with some of the liveliest nightlife in Europe. In Berlin today there are everything from authentic beer halls and old Soviet era haunts, right through to buzzing style bars and Latino nightclubs. Berlin's climate is equally eclectic with hot summer days giving way to freezing temperatures, with clear blue skies, in winter.

Today's quintessential Berlin experience is to laze through a summer day in the Tiergarten with the rabble of construction just out of earshot, sipping on a chilled pilsner beer, while you witness a city reinventing itself as one of the great European capitals.

Berlin has maintained a cultural richness, sustaining a fascinating and diverse selection of museums and monuments. Still a city of two sides, the west embraces alternative lifestyles with a vivacious nightlife and inherent atmosphere of mounting excitement while the east is a journey through the remains of the socialist experiment, a living breathing museum of utilitarian buildings and hidden delights. Beyond the main thoroughfares there are lively bars, all night entertainment and interesting little cafes.

berlin wall and checkpoint charlie museum
160 kilometers of mainly fossil remains mark the end of the 28 year division of East and West. Parts of the wall have been preserved near the Hauptbahnof and the Reichstag. The East Side Gallery is the largest open air gallery in the world where the longest remaining section has been painted in bright, optimistic colors. A museum using film and photographs to illustrate the history of the Berlin Wall. Upstairs there are exhibitions with a focus on various human rights issues.

brandenburg gate
Commissioned by Friedrich Wilhelm II to represent peace, the gate was ironically embedded in the Berlin Wall and firmly locked for the duration of Communist rule. The gate now symbolizes reunification and stands majestically in the center of Berlin physically joining the two sides of the city.

pergamon museum and museum island
One of the most significant museums of ancient history in the world holding the acquisitions of nineteenth century German archaeologists including the spectacular Pergamon Altar of Zeus(180 BC). Museum Island, this is the location of some Berlin's best museums; the Pergamon Museum, Altes Museum, the Nationalgalerie and the Bodemuseum. The Berliner Dom, church of the Hohenzollern family and built in1894, stands next to the Altes Museum and houses the remains of 90 family members in its vault.

new national gallery
Cityscapes by Otto Dix and George Grosz highlight this comprehensive collection of German paintings.

schloss charlottenburg
Sumptuously restored palace commissioned by the future Queen Sophie Charlotte in 1695 with Karl Friedrich Schinkel providing the final touches in the early nineteenth century. Beautiful gardens open from dawn to dusk and a collection of romantic paintings inside provide the perfect combination for a days relaxation.

victory column
Moved from the front of the Reichstag to the center of the Tiergarten in 1938, the Siegessaule, or Victory Column celebrates the military successes of Prussia. 285 steps to the top guarantees one of the best views of Berlin.

zoological garden
Notable modern zoo where animals are housed in enclosures simulating their natural habitat. Set in the peaceful wooded Tirgarten, beside the peaceful LandwehrKanal.

jüdisches museum berlin/jewish museum berlin
An extensive collection of artefacts documenting the tragic history of the German Jewish community. Various artworks including sculpture, painting and design offer an artistic impression of the Jewish cause.