Though Berlin, as a whole, is an interesting city, there are specific areas within the city which are particularly popular with visitors and residents alike.

Tegelrsee Area
If you arrive in Berlin on a flight through its Tegel International airport, the first of Berlin’s most popular sites you are likely to pass is its Tegelrsee area. The Tegelrsee area is home to the city’s scenic lake, where you can hire a boat and enjoy the scenery. What makes the Tegelrsee area so popular with many residents and visitors is its wide array of nice restaurants and bars of all types.

Wansee/Zehlendorf District
Wansee is another popular lake-side area in Berlin. Especially during the warmer months, the Wansee area swarms with people. Like Tegelresee, the main attraction with Wansee lies in its wide array of restaurants and pubs of all types, where you can find a cuisine to your liking.

The wider district of Zehlendorf, where Wansee is located, is another popular area in Berlin worth exploring. This is the city’s most affluent area, and home to the city’s premier university – obviously with the extras that come with a huge student population. Most of Berlin’s museums are found in the Zehlendorf district and missing out on a trip to this area would make your trip to Berlin largely incomplete.

The Zehlendorf area is also home to several castles of centuries past. The castles in Zehlendorf include Schloss and Schlosspark Glienke – which was Prince Carl’s residence. Zehlendorf's museums include the city’s ethnological museum, the allied Museum and the Museum of European Cultures, among others.

Other notable museums in Zehlendorf are the Brucke Museum, an artistic museum at Bussardsteig 9, and the house of Wansee Conference, which played an important role in the planning of the holocaust – and which has essentially been turned into a museum.

The Zehlendorf area is also popular for its architecture, and one of the best places to sample this is at its Schloss Grunewald estate. Apart from Wansee, other important lakes in Zehlendorf are Krume Lanke and Schlachtensee. 

Kultuforum District
Berlin’s Kultuforum district is yet another of the city’s most popular districts. This district is home to, among others, Germany’s National Gallery (Neue Nationalgalerie) at Genthiner Str. 38, 10785 Berlin, which is a must-see attraction for visual art lovers.

Visit the gallery’s website at http://www.neue-nationalgalerie.de/ or call 030 266 36 66 for more information on what to expect here. This area is also home to the city’s Museums of Applied Arts – the Kunstgewerbemuseum – among other great artistic attractions.

Mitte
Mitte is yet another popular area in Berlin, and a tour of the city would be incomplete without giving Mitte a visit. Berlin’s popularity with both visitors and residents lies in the fact that it is home to much of the city’s historical and cultural landmarks.

A visitor to Mitte would be spoiled for choice on what attractions to visit to and which ones to omit on their visit.

• Mitte is home to Germany’s parliament, the Reichstag (or Bundestag) – which is open to members of the public to listen to the proceedings in its beautiful glass dome.
• Mitte is also home to Berlin’s tallest building – Park Inn Alexanderplatz – from which you can have an unhindered view of the city and beyond. The top floor of Park Inn Alexanderplatz is also a restaurant, so you  enjoy a great dinner with your amazing view.
• Another popular site in Mitte is Berlin’s Brandenburg gate – which is the only one of Berlin’s gates that remain.
• In Mitte, you can visit Berlin’s victory column – the Siegessaule – which is one of Berlin’s landmark buildings.
• The Berliner Dom (cathedral) is another major Berlin attraction, located in Mitte. This is also where Prussian kings were buried when Berlin was a Prussian capital. You can visit the Berliner Cathedral anytime Monday through Saturday between 9am and 7 pm.

Postdamer Platz
The Postdamer Platz is yet another very popular area in Berlin, as billions of dollars were pumped into this area to make it what it is today. Postdamer Platz was previously a piece of neglected wasteland – which was transformed into a prime area through the huge capital infusion.  One of the most notable works of architecture on Postdamer Platz is  the Sony Center am Postdamer Platz – a clear illustration of the power of money. Postdamer Platz makes an especially popular place for people who like to shop.

Kreuzberg District
The Kreuzberg district of Berlin is the place to visit for a taste of what a ‘less than affluent’ Berlin is like. Some of the most popular parts of Kreuzberg include its Bergmannstrasse, which is a busy shopping street, and Oranienstrasse, which is another major shopping center – but where the prices are, on average, lower.

A quieter – but wildly popular – part of Kreuzberg is Landwehrkanal, where you can enjoy a beer in one of its many pubs.  For art lovers, Kreuzberg is home to Berlinische Galerie.

Friedrichshain Area
Just beyond Kreuzberg is the Friedrichshain area, another popular area in Berlin. Boxhagenerkiez is arguably Friedrichshain’s main shopping street and the prices here are rather reasonable. The area’s Flaming Squeegee, at Gabriel Max Str. 9, is a popular place to find apparel and clothing accessories.

The Friedrichshain area is also home to the famous East side gallery, a great place to catch post-Cold War artwork and a beautiful fountain called Der Maerchenbrunnen. To witness the effects of communism on a city, visit Friedrichshain’s Karl Marx Allee, which was the main street of East Berlin that fell to communism, and compare it with a typical main street in West Berlin.