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City West & Charlottenburg

The glittering heart of West Berlin during the Cold War, Charlottenburg is a big draw for shopaholics, royal groupies and art lovers. Its main sightseeing attraction is Schloss Charlottenburg, with its park and adjacent art museums. About 3.5km southeast of here, the City West area, around Zoologischer Garten (Zoo Station), is characterised by Berlin's biggest shopping boulevard, the Kurfürstendamm. After dark, the many fine restaurants and bars in this sedate and well-heeled borough teem with locals as well as tourists overnighting in the area's abundant hotels.

Explore City West & Charlottenburg

  • Schloss Charlottenburg

    Charlottenburg Palace is one of Berlin's few sites that still reflect the one-time grandeur of the Hohenzollern clan, which ruled the region from 1415 to…

  • Zoo Berlin

    Berlin's zoo holds a triple record as Germany's oldest (since 1844), most species-rich and most popular animal park. Top billing at the moment goes to a…

  • Schloss Charlottenburg - Neuer Flügel

    The palace’s most beautiful rooms are the flamboyant private chambers of Frederick the Great, designed in 1746 by the period's star architect Georg…

  • Museum Berggruen

    Classic modern art is the ammo of this delightful museum where Picasso is especially well represented, with paintings, drawings and sculptures from all…

  • C/O Berlin

    Founded in 2000, C/O Berlin is the capital's most respected private, nonprofit exhibition centre for international photography and is based at the iconic…

  • S
    Schlossgarten Charlottenburg

    The expansive park behind Schloss Charlottenburg is part formal French, part unruly English and all picturesque playground. Hidden among the shady paths,…

  • Kaiser-Wilhelm-Gedächtniskirche

    Allied bombing in 1943 left only the husk of the west tower of this once magnificent neo-Romanesque church standing. Now an antiwar memorial, it stands…

  • Museum für Fotografie

    A former Prussian officers' casino now showcases the artistic legacy of Helmut Newton (1920–2004), the Berlin-born enfant terrible of fashion and…

Top attractions

These are our favorite local haunts, touristy spots, and hidden gems throughout City West & Charlottenburg.

  • See

    Schloss Charlottenburg

    Charlottenburg Palace is one of Berlin's few sites that still reflect the one-time grandeur of the Hohenzollern clan, which ruled the region from 1415 to…

  • See

    Zoo Berlin

    Berlin's zoo holds a triple record as Germany's oldest (since 1844), most species-rich and most popular animal park. Top billing at the moment goes to a…

  • See

    Schloss Charlottenburg - Neuer Flügel

    The palace’s most beautiful rooms are the flamboyant private chambers of Frederick the Great, designed in 1746 by the period's star architect Georg…

  • See

    Museum Berggruen

    Classic modern art is the ammo of this delightful museum where Picasso is especially well represented, with paintings, drawings and sculptures from all…

  • See

    C/O Berlin

    Founded in 2000, C/O Berlin is the capital's most respected private, nonprofit exhibition centre for international photography and is based at the iconic…

  • See

    Schlossgarten Charlottenburg

    The expansive park behind Schloss Charlottenburg is part formal French, part unruly English and all picturesque playground. Hidden among the shady paths,…

  • See

    Kaiser-Wilhelm-Gedächtniskirche

    Allied bombing in 1943 left only the husk of the west tower of this once magnificent neo-Romanesque church standing. Now an antiwar memorial, it stands…

  • See

    Museum für Fotografie

    A former Prussian officers' casino now showcases the artistic legacy of Helmut Newton (1920–2004), the Berlin-born enfant terrible of fashion and…

Guidebooks

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