Pfaueninsel (Peacock Island)

This island nature reserve and UNESCO World Heritage site is one of those incredible Berlin discoveries you would never expect to find near an urban area. Just a forty-minute drive from the center of the city, in the Wannsee district, the island started out as a passion project of Prussian king Frederic William II. On its nearly 200 acres, he built a fanciful castle and introduced a flock of peacocks, while his successor Frederick William III had parts of it landscaped and turned into formal gardens.

Today it’s an incredibly varied natural enclave, parts of it hardly manicured with wild expanses, forests as well as beautiful gardens and fountains. It’s a fabulous place for a day trip, to stroll around and picnic while marveling at the roaming peacocks. Potsdam, with its Sans Souci Palace is just a 15-minute drive from the island.