IDENTITY CARD

Area code +49 (Germany), 30 (Berlin).
Time difference : None.

GETTING THERE

AIGLE AZUR has been serving Berlin Tegel airport from Paris Orly since December 2017, with two daily flights lasting 1 hour 45 minutes. The route is operated by single-class Airbus A320 aircraft with a capacity of 180 seats. Frantz Yvelin, Chairman of the airline, said at the inauguration of the new service: "Ich bin ein Berliner! Germany is France's most important partner, and the links between our two countries are very strong". Founded in 1946, Aigle Azur is now France's second-largest airline, offering almost 300 scheduled flights a week from six French cities to Algeria, Portugal, Mali, Senegal, Beirut, Sao Paulo, Beijing and now Berlin.
Tel: 0810 797 997 - Internet: www.aigle-azur.com

JOONAir France's new-generation airline, operates thirty-eight flights a week from Paris CDG to Berlin Tegel.
Tel: 0820 320 820 - Internet: www.airfrance.com

EASY JET offers 34 weekly flights from Paris, most from Roissy CDG to Berlin Scönefeld and Tegel, with others linking Paris Orly to Berlin Tegel.
Tel: 0826 103 320 - Internet: www.easyjet.com

HOTELS

HOTEL I 31

Here's a pretty four-star design hotel, opened in 2013 and located between the main station and the bohemian Oranienburger-strasse district. An ideal location both for enjoying trendy Berlin and for getting around the city for business meetings. In all, this beautiful, bright hotel has 121 spacious rooms, all in white, most overlooking a large, peaceful garden adorned with a huge Buddha.
Invalidenstrasse 31 - Phone: +49 30 338 400 0 - Email : info@hotel-i31.de - Internet: www.hotel-i31.de

25 HOURS HOTEL BERLIN BIKINI

Opened in 2014, this beautiful hotel from the German chain 25 Hours is located in the heart of the Ku'damm district. What makes it special? It is housed in a former office building that is now part of the Bikini Berlin shopping and entertainment complex. Another original feature is that half of its rooms, the so-called 'Jungle' rooms, have a direct view of the Berlin Zoo and its expanse of trees. The 'urban' rooms overlook the famous Memorial Church. The hotel is full of amusing touches, such as hammocks in the rooms and communal areas, a sauna with a view of the zoo and the loan of an Austin Mini.
Budapester Strasse 40 - Phone: +49 30 12 02 21 0 - Email : bikini@25hours-hotels.com - Internet : www.25hours-hotels.com

HOTEL ZOO

Also located in the zoo district, as its name suggests, this kitschy establishment has a lot of charm of its own. With its opulent, burlesque decor and elegant interior courtyard, it is housed in a beautiful old building. In all, the establishment offers 144 rooms in this business district ideally connected to the rest of the city.
Kurfürstendamm 25 - Phone: +49 0 30 884 37 0 - Email : info@hotelzoo.de - Internet : www.hotelzoo.de

SOFITEL BERLIN GENDARMENMARKT

Elegance and refinement abound at this 92-room hotel, housed in a former Communist-era building. Situated a stone's throw from the monumental Konzert-haus concert hall, which looks like a Greek temple, and the Französischer Dom, the church of the Huguenots, the Sofitel Gendarmenmarkt is a grand business hotel which has established itself in Berlin as a paragon of luxury 'à la Française'.
Charlottenstrasse 50-52 - Phone: +49 30 203 750 - Email : h5342@sofitel.com - Internet : www.sofitel.com

Other major business hotels

INTERCONTINENTAL BERLIN

Budapester Strasse 2. - Phone: +49 30 2602 0 - Internet: www.berlin.intercontinental.com

PESTANA BERLIN TIERGARTEN

Stülerstrasse 6 - Phone: +49 30 31175 9000 - Internet : www.pestana.com

GRAND HYATT BERLIN

Marlene-dietrich-Platz 2. - Phone +49 30 25 53 12 34 - Internet : www.berlin.grand.hyatt.com

SO/BERLIN DAS STUE

Drakestrasse 1 - Phone :+ 49 30 311 722 0 - Internet : www.das-stue.com

WALDORF ASTORIA BERLIN

Hardenbergstrasse 28. - Tel: +49 0 30 814 000 0 - Internet: www.waldorfastoriaberlin.de

HILTON BERLIN

Mohrenstrasse 30 - Phone: +49 30 20230 0 - Internet: www.hiltonhotels.com

Budget hotels

IBIS HAUPTBAHNHOF

In 2015, AccorHotels' budget brand added a new 172-room hotel just opposite the main railway station. As well as being wonderfully well-connected to all public transport networks, and located just a few minutes' walk from the major institutions, including the Reichstag, it offers all the comforts needed for any business stay. Very cosy 'sweet bed' bedding, flat-screen TV, ultra-fast Internet, varied breakfast, bicycle hire, 24-hour reception service...
Invalidenstrasse 53 - Phone: +49 30 7109600 - Email : H8601@accor.com - Internet : www.accorhotels.com

MERCURE CHECKPOINT CHARLIE

Those nostalgic for the Berlin of yesteryear will love this hotel, located on the former border between the American sector and East Berlin. In all, 139 rooms with a minimum surface area of 30 m2, some of which overlook a leafy courtyard.
Schuetzenstrasse 11 - Phone: +49 30 20 6320 - Email : H3120@accor.com - Internet : www.accorhotels.com

RESTAURANTS

NENI

On the top floor of the all-glass 25 Hours hotel, the setting itself is already fabulous, overlooking Berlin Zoo and, in the distance, the Siegessäule, the famous golden column filmed in Wings of Desire. The menu, meanwhile, is more Mediterranean, with Israeli inspiration. The ideal option? Choose the "Best of Neni", an array of succulent mezze, hummus, pepper confit with walnuts, meatballs with tahini, broad bean salad with grapefruit... End the evening in the adjoining Monkey Bar, for a cocktail with a view of... the zoo's inhabitants. And a trip to the toilets, which are well worth the diversions.
Budapester Strasse 40 - Phone: +49 30 12 02 21 20 0 - Email : neni.bikini@25hours-hotels.com - Internet : www.25hours-hotels.com

BANDOL SUR MER

If you'd like to impress your German counterparts at one of France's gastronomic hotspots, head to Bandol sur Mer, in Torstrasse, right in the heart of Mitte. The menu at this Michelin-starred restaurant includes surprises such as confit potatoes with green strawberries. As for the classics, escargots and foie gras are on the menu, revisited of course.
Torstrasse 167 - Phone: +49 30 67 30 20 51 - Email : mail@bandolsurmer.com - Internet : www.bandolsurmer.de

ORANIA RESTAURANT

An open kitchen, a fabulous cocktail bar with subtle and unexpected creations and, above all, a speciality: Peking duck. Surprising? Not entirely, given that the chef spent several years in China and drew his inspiration from the woks of the Far East. The rest of the menu is much more European: pumpkin salad, veal with grapes, tortellini with parmesan, all with a touch of Asian fantasy, like aubergine with miso and wakame, for example. On the wine list, there are plenty of whites from Germany.
Oranienstrasse 40 - Phone: +49 30 6953 9680 - Email : restaurant@orania.berlin - Internet : www.orania.berlin/restaurant

LITERATUR HAUS

Set in a marvellous winter garden overlooking a sublime garden in the heart of the city, this 19th-century pavilion is a place out of this world and out of time, where you can hold a business meeting over a Kaffee-Kuchen, the typical German 'coffee cake'. You can also enjoy a simple lunch accompanied by white Moselle wines.
Fasanenstrasse 23. - Tel: +49 0 30 887 286 0 - Email: info@literaturhaus-berlin.de - Internet : www.literaturhaus-berlin.de

PRACTICAL GUIDES

BERLIN CARTOVILLEGallimard (2018)
A GREAT WEEKEND IN BERLINHachette (2018)
BERLIN IN A FEW DAYS, Lonely Planet (2018)
ROUTARD GUIDE BERLINHachette (2018)