Fly at c. 1.00pm from London Heathrow to Berlin Tegel. An orientation tour by coach passes landmarks such as the Reichstag, Brandenburg Gate, Pariser Platz and Unter den Linden. Visit the Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church.

In the morning, visit the Altes Museum, with Classical sculpture and artefacts in Schinkel’s great building, then the Bode Museum, rising from the river Spree, which houses a rich collection of sculpture and paintings. Evening opera at the Deutsche Oper: Tannhäuser and the Singers’ Contest at Wartburg (Wagner), Donald Runnicles (conductor), Kristinn Sigmundsson (Landgraf Hermann), Peter Sieffert (Tannhäuser), Markus Brück (Wolfram), Clemens Bieber (Walther), Lenus Carlson (Biterolf), Paul Kaufmann (Heinrich).

The ‘Kulturforum’ developed before 1989 on wasteland close to the Wall as the site for several major museums, the State Library and Philharmonie (concert hall by Hans Scharoun). The Gemäldegalerie is one of Europe’s major collections of Old Masters, and the Neue Nationalgalerie (Mies van der Rohe) houses outstanding 20th-century art. Potsdamer Platz, for 50 years an even greater expanse of wasteland, became in the 1990s Europe’s greatest building project with an array of international architects participating. Evening opera at the Staatsoper: L’Etoile – der Stern (Chabrier), Simon Rattle (conductor), Jean Paul Fouchécourt (King Ouf I.), Magdalena Kožená (Lazuli), Juanita Lascarro (Princess Laoula), Giovanni Furlanetto (Siroco), Douglas Nasrawi (Prince Herisson de Porc-Epic), Katharina Kammerloher (Aloès), Florian Hoffmann (Tapioca).

Schloss Charlottenburg, the earliest major building in Berlin, is an outstanding Baroque and Rococo palace with splendid interiors. There is also the opportunity to visit the Berggruen Collection (classic modern art) or the Bröhan Collection (Art Deco). Evening opera at the Staatsoper: Orpheus in the Underwold (Offenbach), Christoph Israel (conductor), Evelin Novak (Eurydice), Cornelius Obonya (Public Opinion), Stefan Kurt (Orpheus), Gustav Peter Wöhler (Pluto), Ben Becker (Jupiter), Hans-Michael Rehberg (Styx).

A walk passes through the oldest part of the city, the Nikolaiviertel, to ‘Museums Island’, a group of major museum buildings. Visit the Neues Museum, the stunning new home to the Egyptian Museum (among others), restored and recreated by British architect David Chipperfield. The Alte Nationalgalerie superbly displays European painting of the 19th century including the finest collection of German Romantics. Walk back to the hotel passing some fine 18th-century buildings including the arsenal, opera house, royal palaces and cathedrals, before dinner at the Adlon, Berlin’s most famous hotel.

Christmas Day. Free day: several museums will be open including the Hamburger Bahnhof, a collection of contemporary art. There is also an optional walk in the Scheunenviertel on the theme of Jewish life and a visit to the Pergamon Museum, home of one of the world’s finest collections of Near Eastern antiquities including the eponymous Hellenistic altar from Anatolia. Lunch is in the roof-top restaurant in the Reichstag, with the opportunity (without queuing) to walk around Foster’s dome. In the evening, an optional ballet performance at the Deutsche Oper: Swan Lake (Tchaikovsky), Peter Michael Schmidtsdorff (conductor), Staatsballett Berlin, Orchester der Deutschen Oper Berlin.

Excursion to Potsdam which in the 18th century developed into Brandenburg-Prussia’s second capital and acquired fine buildings, parks and gardens. Sanssouci, created as a retreat from the affairs of state by Frederick the Great, is among the finest 18th-century complexes of gardens, palaces and pavilions to be found anywhere. Visit his single-storey palace atop terraces of fruit trees, the Chinese Tea House and the orangery and see the city centre with its Dutch Quarter and Neo-Classical buildings. Evening opera at the Staatsoper: The Magic Flute (Mozart), Julien Salemkour (conductor), Alexander Vinogradov (Sarastro), Joel Prieto (Tamino), Íride Martínez (Queen of the Night), Maite Alberola (Pamina), Gyula Orendt (Papageno), Narine Yeghiyan (Papagena), Abdellah Lasri (Monostatos).

A coach tour to parts of Berlin not yet seen, largely in the former eastern sector. Visit the Jewish Museum in the celebrated and expressive building by Daniel Libeskind. Fly at c. 4.30pm arriving at Heathrow at c. 5.30pm.