City Breaks

An exploration of Berlin as a city of film and cinema.  Two museums, a look back at Berlin cinema history and a visit to the Berlinale, the city's annual highly influential film festival. Plus tips on which Berlin cinemas to try out and suggestions for films set in Berlin, some German language (available with English subtitles) and some in English.  Film suggestions                               ...

Fancy adding a theatre or concert visit to your Berlin itinerary?  Here's a look at music in Berlin, with snippets of history, from Frederick the Great to Marlene Dietrich, plus a rundown of the main venues where you'll find all best concerts, operas and musicals. Then, an overview of theatre in Berlin, and advice on finding performances to enjoy even if you don't speak German.   Useful links Musi...

There’s so much more to art in Berlin than the Top 3 Galleries from our last episode. So here’s a look at an artist who has a museum dedicated to her (Käthe Kollwitz), a 20th century art movement with strong links to Berlin (Bauhaus) and the best of the rest: where to find specialist galleries, modern art and street art in Berlin. Useful links   Käthe Kollwitz Museum                               ...

There are so many art galleries in Berlin that it's difficult to choose which to visit. We provide a run-down of the top three in this episode and save the best of the rest for next time! So here's what you need to know about the Gemäldegalerie, the Alte Nationalgalerie and the Neue Nationalgalerie which between them cover everything from the Middle Ages to post World War 2. Useful links   Gemälde...

What has happened to the GDR (German Democratic Republic), the country which was created when the Berlin Wall went up and which then disappeared when it came down? What was life in East Berlin like between August 1961 and November 1989? And where in today’s Berlin can you find out all about it?  Here are three museum suggestions, plus a little of what they tell us. Reading suggestions for this pos...

The story of the Berlin Wall will always fascinate.  And here it is, along with ideas for three places in Berlin you can visit to see the remaining sections and find out more. Author Rory MacLean summed up the impact first seeing the wall had on him: 'At the heart of the continent were watchtowers, barbed wire and border guards, instructed to shoot fellow citizens who wanted to live under a differ...

The Holocaust Memorial is deliberately sited right in the heart of Berlin because this is a city which does all it can to make sure the  horrors of the holocaust are understood by each new generation. This episode begins with the main facts, then focuses on the places you can visit in Berlin today to learn more and to remember the victims, collectively and, in many cases, also as individuals.  Rea...

On this episode, we take a tour of places in Berlin connected to World War 2; the square where the Nazis burned books, the stadium where they held their showpiece Olympics in 1936, the sites of their HQ and of Hitler's bunker and the museums which tell tell the story of war, devastation and resistance.  A little history and a lot of tips on what to look out for on a visit. Reading Berlin 1936 by O...

A tour of four main squares in Berlin: a little history and tips on what to look out for in each.  Baroque beauty in Gendarmenmarkt, the book-burning memorial on Bebelplatz, finding the old East Germany at Alexanderplatz and lastly Potsdamer Platz, the heart of pre-war Berlin which is now an architectural showpiece, and a shopping and cultural hub.   Useful links   https://www.visitberlin.de/en/fr...

There might be fewer 'must-sees' in the western half of Berlin than further east, but they are winners: a glorious park which began life as a 16th century royal hunting ground and is today the green heart of everyone's Berlin; and a fascinating church, rebuilt after the devastation of World War II, combining the remains with a beautiful new church, forming both a memorial of reconciliation and a m...

A wander down Berlin's most elegant street, Unter den Linden, to see its baroque splendour, its iconic buildings - think cathedrals, the opera house and the poignant war memorial, the Neue Wache - and maybe visit a museum or two on an island which is packed full of antiquities and art. Here is a little history, plus lots of tips on how to make the most of a day here in the heart of Berlin.   Usefu...

On a first trip to Berlin you'll probably head straight for the Parliament or the Brandenburg Gate.  We're doing the same, and handily, they are close together and near to lots of other top sites. We bring you a little history to explain why these two iconic monuments represent everything dear to today's Berliners - lessons from history and the freedom enjoyed in the capital today - and explain wh...

There's nowhere like Berlin. A turbulent history, an unrivalled cultural richness, green and modern and laid back all at once, truly a city break destination with plenty for everyone. Here is an overview of the series, offering some geographical, historical and cultural details to set the scene for the remaining 19 episodes when we will tour all the main sites, telling you the stories behind them...

A tour of Edinburgh through the eyes of the travellers, poets and novelists who captured its essence.  London, compared to Edinburgh, wrote Charlotte Bronte, is as 'prose compared to poetry.'  Well, we bring you lots of both, from centuries past and right up to the present day.     Useful links: https://edinburgh.org City Breaks: all the history and culture you'd research for yourself if you had t...

A chance to dream of wonderful Scottish produce (think highland beef, Scottish salmon, raspberries), to unravel some mysteries (What are rumbledethumps? Or clootie dumplings?), to discover what’s in Scotch broth and what Burns wrote in his ‘Address to a Haggis’ and to reminisce about a proper Edinburgh afternoon tea in the 1920s.  We may even mention the deep-fried Mars bar. Useful links: https://...

A tour of Edinburgh's galleries and a chance to get to know some of Scotland's best-known artists and paintings.  That includes portraits of royalty and Enlightenment thinkers, plus the great and the good from more recent times: Sir Chris Hoy, Ian Rankin, Muriels Spark and Gray. We also cover Scottish landscape painting and scenes from rural life in the past: Pitlessie Fair, Neil Gow, (18th centur...

Not an episode for the faint-hearted!  We have collected together a host of Edinburgh's stories on witches, grave-robbers, spectres and apparitions.  Is it the 'majestic gloom' of Edinburgh's dramatic setting?  The dark unknowns of the Old Town's tenements and wynds?  Or the city's long history of violent murders, plagues and hangings?  For whatever reason, Edinburgh is known as 'the city of ghost...

'It's impossible to live in Edinburgh without sensing its literary heritage everywhere' said J K Rowling and that's why we need a second episode on Edinburgh writers.  We bring you the 15th century William Dunbar, writing 'The Thistle and the Rose' for the wedding of James IV and Margaret Tudor; and Ian Rankin, who says each of his novels is 'another piece of the jigsaw that is modern Scotland'; a...

Edinburgh was the first city to be designated a UNESCO City of Literature and whole books have been written about its writers and their legacy. The city's Writers' Museum is dedicated to 'the big three', Robert Burns, Sir Walter Scott and Robert Louis Stevenson. Here's a rundown of the life and works of each, plus ideas for where else to 'find' them in Edinburgh today. Enjoy! Useful links     http...

A short bus ride from Edinburgh city centre will take you to Leith, the city's port, or you can go on foot along the mile-long Leith Walk from Princes Street.  You'll find a working harbour, a range of pretty cafes, restaurants and galleries, a definite whiff of seafaring, past and present, and one of Scotland's most visited attractions, the Royal Yacht Britannia.     Useful links     https://www....

This is our round-up of Edinburgh's history museums.  We point you towards lots of goodies; the original National Covenant document, (4000 signatures opposing Charles I and his liturgical reforms), the dog collar and feeding bowl which belonged to Greyfriar's Bobby, the Lewis chess pieces, the Democracy for Scotland tent .....  Or maybe you just want to hear about the wealth of medical horrors and...

Suggested walks, starting in the Old Town, with tales from Cowgate and the Grassmarket, Greyfriar's Bobby and J K Rowling's Hogwarts.  In the New Town, plenty more squares, circuses and crescents and some idyllic detours, north through Stockbridge to the Botanic Gardens or west into Dean Village. There's Dorothy Wordsworth on Arthur's Seat, the explanation for 'Scotland's disgrace' on Calton Hill...

Update: From now on, City Breaks episodes will go out on a fortnightly basis.  Episode 08 of the Edinburgh series will be made available next week, on January 26th and the remainder of the Edinburgh series will follow at two week intervals.  The Edinburgh series will be followed by a new, as yet, mystery series.  Suggestions welcome!  You can e mail us at: citybreaks@citybreakspodcast.co.uk www.ci...

The highlight of this episode is a visit to the Scottish Parliament, Holyrood.  But first, the colourful story of who ruled Scotland over the centuries, the Scottish kings, the ongoing tussles with England, the Act of Union and subsequent rebellions and finally the Scotland Act of 1998 which led to the founding of the new parliament where a speaker could proudly announce that 'the Scottish Parliam...

Four travel bloggers share their inspirational city break ideas, covering everything from the quirky to the practical. The seven cities featured range over three continents, including cycling the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco and making the most of Bangkok's markets, not forgetting five historical gems from Europe.  Something, we hope, for every taste and budget. Have a listen!      Useful l...