Britzer Garten

The Britzer Garten is one of the loveliest landscape parks in Berlin and opened on July 8, 1989. It grew out of the grounds of the 1985 federal garden show and was meant to give the south of West Berlin a large space to get outdoors. Across roughly 222 acres (90 hectares), the landscape architects Wolfgang Miller and Georg Penker shaped a deliberately modeled cultural landscape of gentle hills, wide meadows and a main lake of about 25 acres with naturalistic shorelines. Unlike a city park that grew over time, the Britzer Garten is a fully composed work of garden art in which every sight line and planting was planned.

There is a lot to find here. The Karl Foerster perennial garden, the rhododendron grove, a rose garden and the carefully laid out themed and seasonal gardens show new sides through the year. The landmark is the Britzer Mühle of 1985, a fully working windmill and one of the few surviving mills in Berlin. For families the narrow-gauge Britzer park railway is a highlight, running a route of about three miles with several stops through the grounds. Big playgrounds, sunbathing lawns and the lakeside café make this a favorite for an easy day outdoors.

The park is at its most impressive during the big flower festivals. In spring the "Tulipan" show turns broad areas into a sea of hundreds of thousands of tulips, and in fall the "Dahlienfeuer" delivers a blaze of color. Add open-air concerts and the summer solstice festival. One tip: for quiet, come on a weekday and early in the morning, since sunny weekends draw a crowd. Comfortable shoes are worth it, because the grounds are large and the loop around the lake is a real walk.