Occupying the north-east section of the central city, Prenzlauer Berg has come to be identified by a single icon: the baby stroller. A trip to the Saturday open market on Kollwitzplatz should be enough to convince anyone that this is no empty cliche. The area boasts the highest concentration of babies in Germany and possibly all of Europe.

Prenz’lberg (as it’s often called) is rich in history, culture and landmarks. Planned in the mid 19th century as a working class district, it had developed a counter-culture climate even under the Communists – the Gethsemane church on Stargarder Strasse was a focal point for dissidents in the years leading up to the fall of the Wall – and continued to do so in the first decade following reunification.

The area is still rich in these turn-of-the-century buildings, but the scaffolding now goes up everywhere, as renovations and rent hikes scrub away the former Communist grime – as well as its anarchic post-Wall period. What you might have trouble spotting these days is anyone who actually lived here during the GDR times.

It all makes for pleasant, albeit less-than-edgy exploring. Nightlife, particularly north of Danziger Strasse, and near Senefelderplatz, is still robust. South of there, upscale cafes, restaurants and boutiques dominate. A burgeoning gay district has been evolving in the northeast around Schönhauser Allee. And as for getting into the fabric of Berlin life, its people, and the contents of their cellars and storage sheds, the Sunday Flohmarkt (flea market) at the Mauerpark (on the site of the former Berlin Wall ‘death strip’) is considered the best in Berlin.