The place to go for those in the know

The Deutscher Dom, left and the Gendarmenmarkt place in Berlin. AFP

Berlin might be 975km from the Baltic Sea but it still has its own beach.

It is handy little facts like this you need to know if you want to make the most of any short visit to this overwhelming city.

Although Berlin is a big place, it comes in bite-size pieces and if you know in advance just where to sink your teeth, it will deliver up a very tasty time.

If you're there on sunny day, just jump the S-Bahn metro, line S1, to the Wannsee, an art deco lido built in 1929 situated on a lakeside south-west of the city. With an imported swathe of sand and hidden from the city's bustle by woods, it is a Berliners' retreat, so if you make it there, you'll be with those in the know.

And after your day at the beach, have dinner at one of the many restaurants around the Gendarmenmarkt, some dating back to Napoleonic times. The square was first built in the 17th century and is one of Europe's most beautiful examples of baroque architecture. It was largely destroyed during Second World War but has been lovingly restored. Today, it frequently hosts open air orchestral concerts and is dominated now by a statue of the German poet Friedrich Schiller.

It is also handy for the city's traditional shopping street the Friedrichstrasse and the all-new entertainment district at Potsdamer Platz, which lies 1km south of the Brandenburg Gate and the Reichstag (German parliament building), and close to the south-east corner of the Tiergarten park.

Potsdamer Platz was laid waste during the Second World War and then left desolate during the Cold War era when the Berlin Wall ran through it. Since reunification however, it has been the rejuvenated, with hotels, bars and eateries.