Connecting with the real Berlin

A very good way to spend three hours in Germany's ever-mutating capital is to join the underground culture tours offered by Alternative Berlin. Alternately walking and moving between neighbourhoods on trams and trains, you will see highlights of the city's famously burgeoning street art scene and visit a number of artists' squats and collectives. Stop briefly to refuel on tasty Caribbean and African fare at YAAM, one of Berlin's beach bars. Even on a chilly and overcast day, this is enjoyable.  

The tour is 'free', which means you pay the guide what you think the experience has been worth. It's unlikely that you won't want to hand over a decent fistful of Euros, because the tour is informative and absorbing - just enough detail to tell you something new, not so much detail as to risk boredom or brain-ache. The pace is just right and while you could feel a little footsore by the end of your journey, you will feel you've really connected with Berlin and the secrets of its varied alternative culture. Throughout, reference is made to the creeping gentrification of areas once favoured by artists and musicians at the cutting edge of the lively creative scenes for which the city has long been known. So perhaps this tour will look different if you join it in a year's time and more different still if you tag along two years from now. It'll still be worth it, though. These guys know the real Berlin and are on top of how it's continuing to evolve.