Berlin for families

Must-see attractions

Berlin's must-see list is a lesson in not believing the postcards. The city sells itself in icons (a triumphal gate, a parliament, a broadcasting tower, an island of museums) but each is denser, stranger, and more contradictory than the picture on the magnet. This is a city that rebuilt itself around its scars; the obvious shots are obvious for a reason, and the second look almost always pays better than the first. The twelve below run roughly from west to east across the centre, then loop back through the western park. They are walkable across two long days at a deliberate pace. Skip the open-top sightseeing bus: Berlin reads on foot, slowly. None of these is hidden, none undiscovered, and all of them reward attention. The point is rarely the photograph at the front; it is the second look, and the third.