Checkpoint Charlie, the most famous of the inner-German border crossing points and a name known the world over, was where Allied border guards would register members of the American, English and French Armed Forces (and their families) before they visited East Berlin. The "Wall Museum – Museum House at Checkpoint Charlie” is right next to this major tourist spot. The museum displays an incredible number of the original means and tools that people used in their escape out of the GDR: from the hot-air balloon to a mini-submarine, plus plenty of real and fake travel documents.

For a scenic day trip, head to the beautiful and secluded Yushan Island. Tourist infrastructure is limited here, with only a few resorts and a picturesque lighthouse set against the backdrop of crystal-blue seawater. At night, you might even witness the magical blue tears, a phenomenon of mysterious blue lights spotted along Yushan Island's shores, caused by small crustaceans that are washed up on the island's beaches by the rising tides.

After Museum Island, the Kulturforum is the second centre of art in Berlin. It is the home not only of the Neue Nationalgalerie (New National Gallery), the Gemäldegalerie (Painting Gallery), the Kunstgewerbemuseum (Museum of Decorative Arts) and other museums, but also houses the Philharmonie (Philharmonic Hall) and the Staatsbibliothek (National Library). The New National Gallery was designed by a star architect Mies van der Rohe.