Tiergarten

The Großer Tiergarten is Berlin's answer to Central Park: 520 acres (210 hectares) of woodland, meadows and small lakes right in the middle of the city. It began as a royal hunting ground, which is why the paths radiate out from a few grand intersections instead of following a grid, and it was replanted almost from scratch after Berliners cut the trees down for firewood in the winters right after World War II.

The Siegessäule, the Victory Column, stands at the center on a traffic circle, and you can climb the stairs inside for a view straight down four avenues at once. Elsewhere in the park are the Englischer Garten, a cluster of memorials, and the Café am Neuen See, a lakeside beer garden with rowboats for rent that is one of the most pleasant hours you can spend in Berlin on a warm afternoon.

The Tiergarten is the connective tissue of the center. It runs from the Brandenburg Gate in the east to Zoologischer Garten station in the west, with the Reichstag, Schloss Bellevue, the German president's residence, and the Kulturforum museum complex around its edges. Walking the full length takes roughly 50 minutes at an easy pace.

S-Bahn and U-Bahn stations line every side, so you can cut in or out wherever it suits your route. On summer weekends the lawns fill with families grilling, and the park is a genuinely useful way to break up a heavy sightseeing day rather than a destination you need to schedule.