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Berlin has had a chequered history, particularly in the last century. Nobody, of course, can ignore the ignominious part it played in Hitler's rise and ultimate fall, followed by the stark division for so many years. Yet now it is firmly back on its feet as the capital of a re-united Germany, and a booming city eager to restore itself to its former glory.

Served by three airports into which you can get cheap flights from almost anywhere, travel into the city centre is fast and inexpensive. Schönefeld, in the former East Germany, is perhaps the furthest out, and the rumbling metro takes almost 45 minutes to trundle slowly into the city. Tegel and Tempelhof are closer in and also easily accessible by public transport, though Tempelhof is due to close in late 2008. Berlin is also reachable very easily on DB's rail network, including the high-speed ICE trains and many overnight sleeper services.

The story of Berlin is of course important in European history. At the end of the Great War the Weimar Republic was proclaimed in Berlin and by the 1920s it was a mecca of the glamour set – Marlene Dietrich was singing in Berlin's clubs by then, one of many such fine artists who gave the hedonistic city its risqué side.

By 1933 Hitler had come to power and then began a reign of terror, resulting in many thousands of deaths, both in Berlin and throughout mittel-Europa. Along a small section of the Berlin Wall (see below) is a startling and moving open-air museum (free), the Terrain of Terror, recounting the rise of the Nazi Party within Germany, based literally on the spot where this brave exhibition now stands.

The Kristallnacht progrom drove thousands of German Jews from the city, many ending up in concentration camps. Millions were to be killed in the years that followed. The Second World War had started and Berlin was to be bombed almost beyond recognition in the latter stages of that deadly conflict. Hitler committed suicide in his bunker in April 1945. The site of the bunker has now been all but erased from Berlin's collective memory – the Soviet regime built over it and it consequently became a car park. It is unmarked these days and difficult to discern. The Soviets advanced from the east, the Americans, British and French from the west. Berlin was caught in the middle and reduced to smoking ruins.

Berlin then became a divided city; the Allied sectors (i.e. non Soviet) were besieged by the Russians in the Berlin Blockade of 1948-49. Only a massive airlift saved the citizens of "west" Berlin. Things got worse and in the early hours of 13th August 1961 the Soviets erected the Berlin Wall, literally cutting the city in two. In the next 28 years hundreds of people fled across the Wall (or under it) to escape the totalitarian regime of East Germany. Hundreds more were shot as they attempted to cross.

Yet in 1989 a dramatic movement of popular opinion, hastened, it must be said, by the lenient and enlightened attitudes of Russian leader Mikhail Gorbachev; the Wall was breached and broken. Germany was to be re-united and the capital moved back to Berlin (from Bonn for West Germany).

Today a small section of the Wall still stands, protected now and a symbol to Berliners and others, a memory of not-so-good times past. Nearby is a smaller piece of reconstructed Wall outside what was Goering's SS headquarters and in whose basements torture regularly took place. On this Wall is inscribed the words "Never Again". It can be found in Nieder-kirchenstrasse near Potsdamerplatz.

Nearby is Checkpoint Charlie, which was the crossing point between East and West Berlin. A couple of actors wearing US Army uniform stand "guard" as thousands of tourists take their photos each day. The Checkpoint Charlie Museum is well worth a visit.

Life today is of course, very calm and Berlin has a building frenzy underway as many of the areas that were under eastern control are rejuvenated. Alexanderplatz is big and shiny, full of shops and restaurants; the Brandenburg Gate is daily besieged by hordes of camera-wielding tourists; the newly redesigned Reichstag building with its odd glass dome designed by Norman Foster (and which looks totally out of character).

The Berlin Philharmonic building stands in a cultural area near the Tiergarten (a beautiful city-centre park) though fire recently damaged the roof; and through the middle of the city runs the river Spree, charming in places where its banks have been restored. A holocaust museum, two cathedrals and many museums adorn the modern Berlin, featuring art, history, science and music-making.

The area around the Kurfurstendamm is full of glitzy shops and closer to the Zoo station full of sex shops; the food in Berlin is good if not as light as you might find in other countries. The hop-on-hop-off tourist buses are good value and you can travel anywhere by U-bahn or subway, very cheaply, though buy a day pass or card for longer stays.

A three-night stay in Berlin should give you enough time to see everything you need, without rushing. You'll be glad you came.

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