GlobalSpa
06-Nov-2025
Born of creativity, history, and a refusal to conform, Berlin transforms your vacation into a journey of discovery.
Berlin is a city of metamorphosis; historic facades drip with culture and sophistication dances alongside street art and nightlife. Street murals and Michelin stars, repurposed warehouses and elegant shopping arcades, the city is a layered celebration of contradiction. Yet beneath its creative pulse lies a quiet sense of luxury inviting visitors to slow down, look closer, and experience a city where refinement and reinvention coexist with effortless poise.
Markets of Berlin
(Flea market at Boxhagener Platz in Friedrichshain, visit Berlin/Dagmar Schwelle)
Berlin’s most famous and elegant shopping boulevard, Kurfürstendamm, represents its definitive luxury shopping destination with countless flagship boutiques of top designer brands, fashion stores, and exclusive restaurants, bordered with wide pavements and historic buildings. The Kaufhaus des Westens, located at Wittenbergplatz, is Europe’s largest department store, offering luxury goods, designer fashion, and a gourmet food hall. For quaint, chic boutiques, the side streets running north from Kurfürstendamm, including Fasanenstrasse, house fancy stores on the ground floors of elegant 19th-century apartment buildings.
Pure Relaxation in Berlin
(Tiergarten Park, visitberlin/Maxi-Lena Schuleit)
The city’s wellness diaspora is as unique as the rest of it. Vabali is an enchanting Balinese sauna village located near the central railway station, according to its opulent, tropical wellness right in the heart of the city. Liquidrom, on the other hand, is starkly postmodern with its saltwater pools, ambient sounds and techno downbeat immersion. Verdure serenity is sustained by extensive outdoor destinations, such as the Gärten der Welt. Literally the Gardens of the World, it features 22 different garden installations designed by landscape architects from around the world. You can also visit Tiergarten, a royal hunting ground transformed into Berlin’s largest and most frequented inner-city park.
Dining in Berlin
(Freischwimmer, Berlin-Kreuzberg, GNTB/Jens Wegener)
Berlin’s culinary scene has matured with multifarious restaurants, chef’s tables and innovative gastronomy in stylish settings. Rutz, specialising in modern Nordic cuisine, holds the city’s only three-Michelin-star designation. At Tim Raue, bold, Asian flavours meet exacting German precision, while at Facil, bamboo gardens and minimalist design set the tone for serene, contemporary European cuisine. In Mitte, Katz Orange is a bohemian favourite known for serving slow-cooked dishes in a candle-lit courtyard that feels worlds away from the bustle. Heimlich Treu, known only by those in the know, pairs a speakeasy vibe with modern German plates that feel like home.
Cultural Experiences in Berlin
(Brandenburg Gate, GNTB/Dagmar Schwelle)
Sightseeing in Berlin cannot be mentioned without the Brandenburg Gate, a 26-meter-high neoclassical symbol of German unity, which can be followed by the Reichstag, a neo-Renaissance, historic legislative building featuring a distinctive, clear-domed roof symbolising Germany’s political shift from tyranny to transparency. A short distance away, the Checkpoint Charlie, once the most famous crossing point between East and West Berlin, now stands as a poignant reminder of the city’s divided past, complete with museums and memorials chronicling Cold War escapes and espionage.
(East Side Gallery in Berlin, GNTB/Dagmar Schwelle)
An evening can be spent on a leisurely stroll along the East Side Gallery, which preserves a 1.3-kilometre stretch of the Berlin Wall as an open-air gallery. The Museumsinsel on the River Spree is a UNESCO World Heritage Site housing five museums, and serves as a strong magnet for art and history enthusiasts. Einstein Kultur, situated in historic vaults beneath Maximiliansplatz, serves as an interdisciplinary cultural centre, offering performances in theatre, dance, music, literature, and visual art. Come autumn, and Berlin’s Festival of Light bathes all these landmarks in glowing hues, creating a spectacle of art and light.
Hidden Gems of Berlin
(The Museum of Natural History, Berlin, GNTB/Dagmar Schwelle)
Berlin’s illustrious neighbourhoods hide some of its many characterful gems. RAW-Gelände is a former industrial complex that has evolved into one of Berlin’s premier creative and cultural hubs. The constantly changing graffiti covering its walls ensures that every visit feels fresh and unique, with art evolving in tandem with the city’s creative pulse. Teufelsberg, built atop a Nazi military school, is now an abandoned Cold War-era spy station crowned with impressive street art and panoramic views of Berlin. Another venue offering fantastic views of the city is Klunkerkranich, a unique rooftop bar perched atop a shopping centre parking garage.
Berlin’s allure lies in its contrasts. Here, innovation grows from the cracks of history while experiences and unassuming gems coexist seamlessly, each reflecting a different facet of the city’s restless creativity.
Cover Image Credit- Berlin, Cathedral, GNTB/Francesco Carovillano
Dr. Pratik Thacker
