Today a modern capital city, it is a fascinating and fun place to spend a break, as you mix some of the world's most important modern history with one of the best nightlife scenes around.

With a U-Bahn (underground train) station called Stadtmitte (City centre) just round the corner, it was clear that our NH Hotel was right in the thick of it.

Offering four stars and a breakfast fit for a king, the Hotel Mitte provided great comfort as well as convenience.

First stop after dropping off our bags was the nearby Checkpoint Charlie – the infamous former crossing point between east and west.
Nowadays the men standing guard wear uniforms just as a tourist attraction, with people paying a couple of Euros to pose for a picture with the American and Communist 'soldiers'.

But seeing in black and white the words 'You are now leaving the American sector' invokes a strange feeling – as you struggle to understand how and why such a divide could happen.

Especially when it was still in operation fewer than 20 years ago.
From there we headed to one of the main tourist zones in the city – where the Holocaust Memorial meets the Tiergarten Park, sloping round to the famous landmarks of the Brandenburg Gate and the Reichstag parliament building.

From a distance the Holocaust Memorial – completed three years ago by architect Peter Eisenman as a reminder of the atrocities inflicted on Jews by the Nazis during World War Two – sends a shiver down the spine, the slabs of dark grey concrete surely designed to resemble grave stones.

Up close – you can walk through the uneven narrow passages between them – the experience is more intense, the oppressiveness of the rock blocking out even a sunny summer afternoon.

The area around the Brandenburg Gate and the Reichstag is more like what you would expect in a typical capital city – as the open top tour buses line up for tourists, and people snap away on their cameras taking pictures of monuments from Germany's past. But nestling on the top of Reichstag – vaguely reminiscent of the controversial pyramid that is now next to Paris's Louvre art gallery – is a dome of glass and mirror, designed by Norman Foster to mark the return of Parliament to the building in 1999.

A trip to the top is free – but, if you can, go up on a week day to avoid the queues.

The views from the roof and the top of the dome are impressive, as you work your way around a 360° cityscape with landmarks including the glistening Jewish Museum made in the shape of the Star of David, the skyscraping Communist television tower, and the sprawling Tiergarten Park.

We found ourselves at the Fahrradstation the following morning, refreshed after a relaxing night in some of the city's more chilled out bars (there were even beds in one, perfect for sipping a gin and tonic after a day travelling and sightseeing) and ready to hire bikes. At just 15 Euros for the day it was cheaper than a day ticket on the U and S-Bahn (19 Euros).

Tentative at first riding along with the busy traffic, the cycle lanes soon had me comfortable and by the end of the day I was whizzing along in the Friday night rushhour.

We headed out to the Hamburger Bahnhof art gallery and then on to the East Side Gallery – a stretch of remaining Berlin Wall which has been covered in graffiti by local people and street artists as a colourful reminder of the city's turbulent past.

Nestled behind a break in the wall on the banks of the river we found the perfect place to rest our weary legs - a beach style bar complete with real sand offering deck chairs, cold beers and traditional Bratwurst hotdogs, all of which went down a treat after a day pumping the wheels.

That night we went for the full Berlin Friday Night Party Experience and headed for the area around the Senefelderplatz for a meal, drinks and club.

Then it was on to the Bassy Cowboy Club – with a DJ playing the likes of Johnny Cash and Bo Diddley.
As with any capital city, there are a million and one things we missed during our weekend break in Berlin.
But it's a place I'll return to so I can experience more.


* Sarah stayed at the four-star Hotel Mitte in Leipzig Strasse, booked through the Hotelopia service: www.hotelopia.co.uk.

It is available for £132 per night on a room only basis, based on two people sharing a double or twim room.

Hotelopia, which gurantees low prices on 25,000 hotels and apartments, from budget to five-star in 900 destinations, is now offering every reader of The Star a 10% discount on all booking made until December 31.

Log onto www.hotelopia.co.uk, search for your hotel, click on the link on the final booking page which states 'I have a discount voucher or code' and enter the code 901260 to access the discount. Alternatively quote the code when ringing 0871 7119494.