Berlin Mediaspree: if you have a bit of time

This is where the Wall used to run: Kreuzberg to the west, Friedrichshain to the east. From one bank to the other, Mediaspree stretches across two neighbourhoods that may be neighbours, but have long been divided by history. This bleak post-war period has at least had the merit of bequeathing to the district its main tourist attraction: the East Side Gallery, an open-air exhibition bringing together almost a hundred works painted since 1989 on the city's largest surviving stretch of wall - 1.3 kilometres.

 

Alongside the new-generation office buildings, Mediaspree is also the ideal district in which to discover 'alternative' Berlin. A district of wastelands, community bars and revamped industrial wastelands. RAW-Gelände, just behind Warschauer Straße station, is a prime example. The former train repair sheds have been taken over by bars, clubs, theatres and other creative workshops.

Other attractions include the red brick of the Oberbaumbrücke, the Treptowers, the Molecule Man water sculpture and the astonishing play of mirrors at the Energie Forum. You can also explore the surrounding area: Alexanderplatz and its television tower upstream from the Spree, and Treptow Park downstream, with its troubling reminders of the statues from the Soviet occupation.