Peacock Island

The Pfaueninsel (Peacock Island) lies in the Havel in the southwest of Berlin, and its roughly 166 acres (67 hectares) make it one of the most unusual landscape parks in the city. It became famous under King Friedrich Wilhelm II, who from 1794 had the striking white Schloss Pfaueninsel built here in the form of a mock ruin. Later the garden designer Peter Joseph Lenné reshaped the island into an English landscape park. Since 1990 it has been part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site along with the palaces and parks of Sanssouci in Potsdam and Schloss Glienicke.

The only way onto the island is a small ferry that crosses from the mainland in a few minutes. Cars, bicycles and dogs are not allowed, which is exactly why the place feels so quiet and almost outside of time. The peacocks that give the island its name wander freely across it, alongside historic buildings such as the Kavaliershaus, the dairy and the former menagerie, which supplied the founding animals for the Berlin Zoo. Wide meadows, old oaks and views of the Havel invite lingering and picnicking.

Give yourself enough time to walk the paths without hurrying and take in the palace from outside along with the park architecture. The palace interior can be seen on guided tours, usually limited to the warmer months. There is a fee for the ferry crossing, while the park itself is free. On weekdays outside peak season the Pfaueninsel feels like a silent green refuge from the noise of the city.