Berlin is rising fast in the city-break popularity stakes, and soon you’ll be able to get there on brand-new services from four UK airports. EasyJet is launching low-price flights from Liverpool and Luton (both starting on April 28), Newcastle (from May 1) and Bristol (from May 20). Return fares on all four routes will start at £41, including taxes. To book, visit www.easyjet.com or call 0871 750 0100.

Meanwhile, Aer Lingus (0818 365000, www.aerlingus.com) is launching a direct service from Dublin, starting on March 28, with return fares from €147.

Why go? The ambitious remodelling of the German capital is nearing completion, and already, swaths of the cityscape have been transformed — from the upmarket Mitte, with its designer shops and hotels, to the architectural showcase of Potsdamer Platz, reborn as an impressive 21st-century plaza. The whole city is packed with culture, history and attractions. Berlin is impressive, enjoyable, challenging — and never quite what you expect.

The sights: the transparent dome of the Reichstag, on Platz der Republik, is architecture at its best, offering great views every which way you look. You can gaze down into the debating chamber of the German parliament; across the void to the ingenious double walkways that spiral to the summit; or out onto the Brandenburg Gate and across the vast Tiergarten park to the Kurfürstendamm.

As well as superb shopping, riverside walks, churches and palaces, Berlin has more than 170 museums. The heart- stopping Pergamon (Museum Island; admission £5; 00 49 30-2090 5201) was purpose-built to house a colossal, frieze-filled altar from the ancient Greek town of Pergamon, as well as Babylon’s stunning Ishtar Gate and processional way. The Film Museum (Potsdamer Strasse 2; £5; 300 9030), has an intriguing Marlene Dietrich exhibition; and there’s the engrossing Jewish Museum (Lindenstrasse 14; £3.40; 2599 3300), with a uniquely arresting building and collection.

And until September 19, while the Museum of Modern Art in New York undergoes refurbishment, the New National Gallery (Potsdamer Strasse 50; £7; www.das-moma-in-berlin.de) has the loan of 200 displaced masterpieces. Its exhibition includes iconic works such as The Dance by Matisse, Van Gogh’s Starry Night and Roy Lichtenstein’s Drowning Girl — brought together for the first time outside the USA.

June 3, meanwhile, will see the opening of the German Museum for Photography (Jebenstrasse 2), where more than 1,000 of the late Helmut Newton’s portrait, news, and fashion photos will go on display. Newton, who was born in Berlin and studied there before fleeing the Nazis in 1938, presented this collection to the city only last October.

Less highbrow is the newly opened Aqua Dom and Sea Life Centre (Spandauer Strasse 3; adults £9, children £7; 99280), with more than 30 tanks illustrating marine habitats in and around German waters. One leads you through a glass tunnel into the North Sea, while the final tank contains a glass lift that starts on the “sea bed”, then whisks you clear out of the water, 90ft above, for terrific views over the city.

Where to stay: two new hotels have opened on Potsdamer Platz this year. The Marriott (Inge-Beisheim-Platz 1, 0800 221222, www.marriott.com; doubles from £95) has an elegant 10-storey atrium to match its clean lines and contemporary feel. And the new Ritz-Carlton (0800 234000, www.ritzcarlton.com; doubles from £112) is rumoured to have spent €1m on each of its bedrooms, which draw their decor inspiration from the opulent German imperial style.

The Radisson SAS (Karl Liebknecht Strasse 1, 00800 3333 3333, www.radissonsas.com; doubles from £108) is even newer — it opened this month. It is on the banks of the River Spree, opposite Museum Island, home to several of Berlin’s big-hitting museums.

If you’re on a tight budget, head for the Circus Hostel (Rosa-Luxembourg Strasse 39; 00 49 30-2839 1433, www.circus-berlin.de), where the rooms are spotless and the staff are extremely knowledge-able about the city. Rates start at £10pp in a six-bed room, rising to £41 for a two-bed ensuite apartment with balcony.

Where to eat: inside the exclusive Schloss Hotel, you will find the baroque-styled Vivaldi rest- aurant (Brahmsstrasse 10, 8958 4521), which recently picked up its first Michelin star. The decor is by Karl Lagerfeld; main courses start at £24.

Borchardt, at Französischestrasse 47 (2038 7110) is a Berlin institution with an unfussy interior and fine French cuisine; main courses from £11. Or go local at the Altes Zollhaus (Carl-Herz-Ufer 30, 692 3300), a restored canal-side customs house where German and international dishes are served in a tranquil setting; menus from £24.

Nightlife: for traditional slurping from steins, head for the vast beer garden at the Café am Neuen See (Lichtensteinallee 2).

Something more stylish? Try the Trompete (Lützowplatz 9), with its soft settees and live music. There is also a fun cluster of bars and restaurants at the Hackesche Höfe, a restored block of old industrial buildings.

Later on, try Dorian Gray, on Potsdamer Platz (2529 2172, www.doriangrayberlin.de), which is celebrating its first anniversary this year. Intimate it ain’t, but with four bars spread across three floors, it packs in an eclectic crowd with an accessible programme of themed nights, from R&B to 1970s disco.

Excursions: Potsdam was the surreal creation of the megalomaniac king Frederick the Great. You’ll stumble on a Dutch windmill and a Chinese tea pavilion — and don’t miss the Neues Palais and Schloss Sanssouci. S-Bahn trains from Zoo station (20 minutes).

A couple of stops along the S-Bahn back to Berlin, you’ll find the largest inland beach in Europe, at Wannsee. A small bridge leads to what was once Goebbels’s private island, and there’s a museum at the venue of the infamous Wannsee conference of 1942.

Getting around: until 2007, when the vast new Berlin airport is due to open, the city will be served by three airports — Tegel, Templehof and Schönefeld. EasyJet will fly to Schönefeld, from where half-hourly trains to town take 30min (£1.50 each way).

For a short stay, the best option is to buy one-day tickets from the orange-and-yellow machines found at the U- and S-Bahn stations — they cost £4 and allow unlimited travel until 3am the next morning. A three-day Museum Pass (£8) allows access to 50 museums.

Further information: call the German National Tourist Board on 020 7317 0908, or visit www.berlin-tourist-information.de.

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