Berlin

Prussian kings, Napoleon and Hitler have marched through this neoclassical royal city gate that was once trapped east of the Berlin Wall. Since 1989 it has gone from a symbol of division and oppression to the symbol of a united Germany. The landmark, which overlooks the stately Pariser Platz with its embassies and banks, is at its most atmospheric – and photogenic – at night when light bathes its stately columns and proud Goddess of Victory sculpture in a mesmerising golden glow.

This famous Berlin landmark has been set on fire, bombed, left to crumble, and wrapped in fabric before emerging as the home of the German parliament (the Bundestag) and focal point of the reunited country's government quarter. A free lift whisks visitors to the rooftop for lovely views of the Brandenburg Gate, Tiergarten park and other landmarks as well as a chance to saunter up the spiralling ramp of the glass dome, the building's dazzling beacon designed by British architect Norman Foster.

Few events in history have the power to move the entire world. The Kennedy assassination. The moon landing. The events of 9/11. And, of course, the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989. If you were old enough back then, you may remember the crowds of euphoric revellers cheering and dancing at the Brandenburg Gate. Although little is left of the physical barrier, its legacy lives on in the imagination, and in such places as Checkpoint Charlie, the Gedenkstätte Berliner Mauer and the East Side Gallery.

Berlin's 'Louvre on the Spree', this imposing ensemble of five treasure houses is the undisputed highlight of the city's museum landscape. Declared a Unesco World Heritage Site, Museum Island represents 6000 years of art and cultural history, from the Stone Age to the 19th century. Feast your eyes on majestic antiquities at the Pergamonmuseum and Altes Museum, report for an audience with Egyptian queen Nefertiti at the Neues Museum, take in 19th-century art at the Alte Nationalgalerie and marvel at medieval sculptures at the Bode-Museum.

Berlin's techno temple Berghain may be one of the world's most famous clubs, but when it comes to nightlife, the entire city is your oyster. Gothic raves to hip-hop hoedowns, craft-beer pubs to riverside bars, beer gardens to underground dives – finding a party to match your mood is a snap. Not into hobnobbing with hipsters at hot-stepping bars or clubs? Why not relive the roaring twenties in a high-kicking cabaret, enjoy symphonic ear candy in iconic concert halls or point your highbrow compass towards one of three opera houses?

No other area around town better reflects the 'New Berlin' than this quarter forged from the death-strip that separated East and West Berlin for 28 years. The world's biggest construction site through much of the 1990s, Potsdamer Platz 2.0 is a postmodern take on the historic area that until WWII was Berlin's equivalent of Times Square. A cluster of plazas, offices, museums, cinemas, theatres, hotels and flats, it shows off the talents of seminal architects of our times, including Helmut Jahn and Renzo Piano.

Listen to the sound of your footsteps and feel the presence of uncounted souls as you make your way through the massive warped labyrinth that is Germany's central memorial to the Jewish victims of the Nazi-orchestrated genocide. New York architect Peter Eisenman poignantly captures this unspeakable horror with a maze of 2711 tomblike concrete plinths of varying heights that rise from an unsettlingly wavy ground. The memorial's abstract narrative contrasts with the graphic and emotional exhibits in the subterranean information centre.

Berlin has world-class art, cultural events galore and increasingly sophisticated dining – but so do most other capital cities. What makes this metropolis different is the unbridled climate of openness and tolerance that fosters experimentation, a DIY ethos and a thriving subculture. Hip and funky Kreuzberg, Friedrichshain and Neukölln are all trendsetting laboratories of diversity and creativity. No surprise, then, that some of the city's finest street art is brightening up the streetscapes around here and elsewhere, such as the house-sized Astronaut Mural by Victor Ash.

We can pretty much guarantee that your camera will have a love affair with Berlin's largest and loveliest remaining royal palace. A late-baroque jewel inspired by Versailles, it backs up against an idyllic park, complete with carp pond, rhododendron-lined paths, two smaller palaces and a mausoleum. The palace itself is clad in a subtle yellow favoured by the royal Hohenzollern family and adorned with slender columns and geometrically arranged windows. A copper-domed tower overlooks the forecourt and the equestrian statue of the Great Elector Friedrich Wilhelm.

Conceived in the 1950s, the Kulturforum was West Berlin's answer to Museumsinsel and is a similarly enthralling cluster of cultural venues, albeit in modern buildings. One of the city's most important art museums, the Gemäldegalerie, wows fans with Old Masters from Rembrandt to Vermeer. Other museums zero in on prints and drawings, arts and crafts, and musical instruments. Next door, the Berliner Philharmoniker, one of the world's finest orchestras, has its home base in a honey-coloured free-form concert hall designed by Hans Scharoun.