Berlin

Perhaps what makes short breaks to Berlin so exciting is the city's optimism. "Berlin is a city that never is, but it is always in the process of becoming" wrote the historian Karl Scheffler in 1910, and it seems that little has changed nearly a century later. Keen to consign her past to the history books, Berlin is a forward-looking, cutting-edge city that never stands still.

Having acted as a magnet for the avant-garde in the 1920s, Berlin looked set to steal Paris's crown as the European capital of culture and decadence. But WWII was shortly followed by the Cold War, which carved the city into sectors. After nearly 30 years of division, in 1990 the wall was torn down and the city united.

Most remarkably, decades of turmoil have failed to flatten the Berliner spirit, and interacting with the locals is as likely to be as much a highlight of city breaks to Berlin as the myriad sights.

A good way to get your bearings on short breaks to Berlin is to take in the views from Norman Foster's glass dome, which covers Germany's parliamentary seat, the Reichstag.

With the lion's share of the wall now chipped down into souvenir-sized chunks, the most recognisable icon of Berlin's divided history is the Brandenburg Gate. In Berlin, however, gone doesn't mean forgotten and the Jewish Museum (in Potsdamer Platz) traces two millennia of Jewish history. The Checkpoint Charlie Museum retells the story of the wall and those who tried to make it across.

A positive legacy of Berlin's divided past is that she now has almost twice as many museums and galleries as any other city - cultural exploits well worth a look while on city breaks to Berlin. The Ägyptisches Museum beautifully located in Schloss Charlottenburg to the west, and the world-class Pergamonmuseum in the east are just two worth a visit.

As you would expect from the city that gave us both cabaret and techno, Berlin has some of the best nightlife in Europe. Mitte, Freidrichshain, Kreuzberg and Prenzlauer Berg are all packed with bars and clubs, making city breaks to Berlin a very popular concept for party people. World-class orchestra and underground dance music live together in harmony, and Berlin's events calendar is packed with festivals, concerts and parties.

With so much to do, you'll also be pleased to find that there's no such thing as closing time in Berlin.