BMW Welt

Lonely Planet review

Next to the Olympic Park, where Lerchenauer Strasse meets Petuelring, a glass and steel double-cone 'tornado' spirals skyward. It's arrested only by a roof the size of an aircraft carrier yet imbued with the lightness of a cloud. Open since October 2007, the BMW Welt is an architectural showstopper, a cathedral to cars, a place of pilgrimage for those who worship at the altar of the auto.

The lucky ones get to drive away with their dream car, for BMW Welt is first and foremost a car pick-up centre. Everyone else can admire the latest models, straddle a powerful motorbike, browse the 'lifestyle shop' or take a guided 80-minute tour. On the Junior Campus, kids learn about mobility, fancy themselves car engineers and even get to design their own vehicle in workshops. Classical and jazz concerts, many of them free, take place year-round. Sure, it's all a brilliant PR ploy, but let's not get too cynical...