Gärten der Welt im Erholungspark Marzahn

Poetically named ‘Gardens of the World’, this sprawling recreational park offers just that: an exotic escape into global garden architecture. Europe is represented with an Italian Renaissance garden, a German country garden and an English maze, but it’s the five Asian gardens that steal the show. Cream of the crop is the Chinese Garden, the largest of its kind in Europe and a collaborative effort between Berlin and its sister city Beijing. It takes up 2.7 hilly hectares in the southern park and is anchored by a large lake. At an authentic teahouse you can relax over green tea or take part in a traditional tea ceremony (0179-394 5564; per person €6), reservations required. Another favourite place to unwind in Zen-like tranquillity is the much smaller Japanese Garden, a spiritual gem designed by Yokohama-based priest and professor Shunmyo Masuno. A harmonious jumble of water, rocks and plants creates an oasis of serenity and spirituality. It’s on the park’s eastern edge, just south of the Korean Garden, where you can meditate in a pavilion and wander among authentic sculpture intended to ward off demons and bad spirits. Keep going and you’ll soon get to the Balinese Garden. Inside a greenhouse, it re-creates a traditional family home in a jungle setting and puts on a dazzling tropical show of lush ferns, perky orchids and fragrant frangipani trees. Great in winter! Finally there’s the romantic Oriental Garden, tucked into a walled courtyard where a fountain feeds water into four beautifully tiled pools surrounded by roses, jasmine, oranges, oleander and other redolent beauties.