Team Nomad

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Whether you are in Berlin for a week, or just a weekend – there are stacks of fun and exciting things to do in the German capital.

The first and most important thing to do is secure yourself a place to rest your head. Check out the hotels available with Venere before you get to Berlin to avoid sleeping rough.

Germany is a country full of so much natural beauty and history, so let’s take a look at 5 of the best attractions you wouldn’t want to miss:

The first must-see spot in Berlin is the Tiergarten.  You can pass by the Brandenburg Gate and Unter Den Linden, and make your way into this immense urban park. With its beautiful winding tree-lined trails, canals, and grassy meadows, the Tiergarten shows you the softer side of Berlin.

While Berlin is known for its cutting-edge fashion, art, music and its graffitied cityscapes, it is also overflowing with trees, parks, and waterways. The locals enjoy the natural beauty of their city, especially in the summer, and with a leisurely stroll through the Tiergarten, you certainly can too.

From the Tiergarten, you can double back on yourself and make a visit to the Reichstag. Here you can take an audio tour through its famed glass cupola. From the very top of the Reichstag, you get a full panoramic 365-degree view of the city. The free audio tour guides you as you wind around the spiral platform inside the cupola, noting all the historically and culturally significant sites you pass along the way. The tour and view give you an intimate sense of Berlin, both historically and geographically, and a fascinating entry point into the city.

Up next on your list is a visit to the Jewish Museum (or in the local tongue: Jüdisches Museum) at Hallesches Tor. It  presents 2000 years of Jewish history and culture in Germany.  The museum itself, designed by Daniel Libeskind, also tells the story of Jews in Germany, with its architectural representation of a broken Star of David and severe angular construction.  The museum focuses on all aspects of Jewish life in Germany throughout history, as well as on the disturbing events of the Holocaust.

Your fourth stop should definitely be Museum Island, with a must-see visit to the Pergamon Museum.  There is really nothing like the ancient art, architecture, and artifacts from Greece, Rome, Babylon, and the Middle East housed at the Pergamon.  When traveling through Europe, it’s easy to feel a little overwhelmed and suffocated by museums – but the Pergamon is truly breathtaking and inspiring – a must see.

Fifth, see the famous Berlin Wall.  No trip to Berlin would be complete without a visit to the Berlin Wall, in one of its many current incarnations. It’s recommended that you check out the East side of the Berlin Wall because travellers say it gives you a sense of what it feel like to live in a divided city. As you walk along the East Side Gallery, you get to see all the murals that have been painted on the wall. You also experience the actual size and scope of the wall and the sheer presence it must have had in the city.

Whilst you’re taking a breather between attractions, make sure to grab yourself a traditional German beer in a traditional Berlin Biergarten. For the ladies, shop at the cute boutiques in Mitte and Charlottenburg, take a boat ride on the Spree, dance at an all night club in Kreuzberg, and just enjoy the beauty, art and culture Berlin has to offer.

Happy travels!

If you are thinking about heading out and about this year, maybe you are considering a city break, you need to consider heading to the north of England and taking in everything Manchester has to offer.

If you still have your doubts, then take a look at these 10 awesome things to do in one of the most culturally vibrant places in the UK.

Photo courtesy of Stacey MacNaught

The People’s Museum

Manchester is all about quality over quantity, which is why Manchester only has one national institution. The People’s Museum is dedicated to telling the age old story of British democracy and aims to bring to life the political history of both the country and the local area. The 200 year old story of British democracy is told through plenty of mediums, but the interactive exhibits are something to take note of as they are very special indeed.

Cloud 23

Situated on the 23rd floor of the Beetham Tower, this bar enables you to see Manchester in a completely different way. The bar is surrounded by floor-to-ceiling windows on all sides to allow you to take in Manchester on one side and most of the North West the other. The best time to take in these stunning views is as the sun is setting, you’ll get the beautifully lit horizon that is twinned with the city lights below.

Manchester International Festival

This is a very recent addition to the festival scene, both around the UK and in Manchester, as its first outing was only back in 2007. The bi-annual festival provides the answer to promoting Manchester’s rich culture, with showings of various local artists as well as more national and international stars. Artists such as Damon Albarn, Adam Curtis, Felix Barrett and Carlos Acosta have all contributed to the festival since its inception.

Retail Therapy

Manchester may well not be known for its boutique shops, but that can give you a distinct advantage over other European cities. In Manchester, you actually have the time to shop at your leisure meaning that your overall shopping experience should be a lot better than visiting other cities. The Northern Quarter offers a number of boutique shops for you to visit, all of them catering for the more quirky, whilst the main retail area can be found in King Street.

The Cultural Corridor

Visiting Manchester would not be complete without some time spent in the cultural corridor. This is where you will find an array of different galleries and museums that aim to cater for art, history and architecture lovers. It is highly recommended that you check out the Cornerhouse, which is the city’s acclaimed contemporary art complex, and, if you have the time, you should also try and visit the spaces between the Manchester Museum and the University of Manchester’s campus. It is here that you will find a number of Gothic buildings designed by Alfred Waterhouse.

The Warehouse Project

If you are a lover of all thing’s dance, then you will love the Warehouse Project. This annual season of underground events and parties runs for about 12 weeks, from September through to New Years Day. It features many different smaller events that are run in both the day and night, and it has played host to a number of the best DJs to be found anywhere in the world. It is not only the big DJs that are playing here throughout the three months, but lots of other smaller acts play here too, often acting as a springboard to bigger and more commercial success. If you are around in Manchester during the Autumn months and a fan of dance music, then you should make visiting the Warehouse Project a priority for your stay.

Michelin-starred Eateries

Manchester is a great place to visit especially if you love your food. There are a number of restaurant that you could visit to satisfy your hunger whilst out and about within the city.

You could visit the basement of Abode, where it is currently masterminded by Michelin-starred chef Michael Caines. It has scooped various awards since it opened back in 2007, and it is not hard to see why.

Lowry Arts Centre

As you will have seen so far, Manchester is a bit of a melting pot when it comes to culture. This should be celebrated. The Lowry Arts Centre, located on a landmark waterside building at Salford Quays, houses an extensive collection of Lowry’s own work as well as exhibitions and programmes from other local, national and international artists. However, the Lowry Arts Centre is not just about art. The steel clad building hosts a number of award winning dance, opera, ballet and music productions in its two well designed theatres.

Headline Hotels

Although not an attraction as such, Manchester offers its visitors the chance to stay in some amazing accommodation. Cliff Richard’s Arora could be one of the places you stay, depending on whether you are a fan of his music or not, or you may prefer staying within the Lowry.

Alternatively, you can book yourself into an apartment that is based within the city centre of

Manchester. Citybase Apartments give you a high standard of accommodation within walking distance of everything Manchester has to offer.

Manchester United or Manchester City

Last, but not least, is football. Manchester now has two very successful football teams, and much like Liverpool has with both Liverpool and Everton plying their trade in the Premiership since its inception.

Manchester United fans can take a look behind the scenes with one of the stadium tours, taking in the history of the club through the museum and walking down the players’ tunnel. Whilst Manchester City fans can head to their stadium to take in their museum and take a tour there too.

If you are not a supporter of either Manchester club, but you still enjoy football, then you can head along to the National Football Museum where you can see various FIFA and FA collections, which includes the hallowed ball used in the 1966 World Cup.

Ryanair has dropped its decade-long opposition to working with global distribution systems as it seeks to double the number of business passengers within two years.

The low-cost airline today announced the signing of a deal with Travelport that will allow travel agents and travel management companies that are connected to the American company to book Ryanair flights.

The deal with Travelport, which includes the Galileo and Worldspan GDS brands, represents a U-turn for Michael O’Leary, the airline’s chief executive, who had until recently opposed the idea of working with a GDS.

The controversial Irishman cut his links with the big GDS systems a decade ago after balking at having to pay 10 per cent commission to the travel agent and another 10 to 20 per cent to the GDS.

Mr O’Leary said last July that he would like to work more closely with travel agents, who already account for more than 10 per cent of sales, but added: “Not if it involves us operating on GDS systems.”

He had appeared less implacable in his opposition in recent weeks, however, conceding that, for Ryanair to boost its share of the business market, it night have to follow easyJet and secure GDS distribution, albeit “very cheap distribution”.

Launching the Travelport deal, Kenny Jacobs, the carrier’s chief marketing officer, declined to reveal the terms, but said: “You’re seeing and hearing a new Ryanair.”

Mr Jacobs added that further tie-ups with GDS were likely as part of the airline’s strategy of doubling the number of business passengers over the next two years from its total of 19 million — 22 per cent of total customers.

He said that the focus on the higher-yielding business market was itself part of a wider aim of lifting Ryanair’s total number of passengers from 81.5 million to 110 million.

As part of the courting of corporate customers, Ryanair has started to address some of the biggest bugbears, introducing seat reservations, fast-tracking through airports, mobile boarding and the flexibility to change flights.

Mr Jacobs said that, while such premium services would carry a fee, it would “still be the best price” in the market.

Customers who book through a Travelport-connected agent will pay a surcharge to the agent, with Travelport receiving a facilitation fee from Ryanair on a monthly basis.