Berlin for The Three Generations: a Friday-to-Monday weekend

Two domed churches and Schinkel's concert house on one flat square, with the steps of the Konzerthaus to sit on and the children counting columns.

The nave only, no climb: Sauer's organ, the gilt and the Hohenzollern sarcophagi at ground level, with a lift to the crypt.

Bavarian long tables and a lift from the street, Weißwurst for the small ones and a roast for the elders, loud enough that nobody has to whisper.

A lift to the roof and a gentle spiral ramp up Foster's glass dome with the audio guide, benches at the top; register online beforehand.

A brewery restaurant under the Sony Center tent roof, long tables, Schnitzel and pretzels, and a lift to every floor.

Everyone sits for an hour and the city does the walking: the Museum Island, the Chancellery and the bridges from a deck chair.

A twenty-minute lake crossing to Kladow on an ordinary transit ticket, the boat flat and roomy, villas and sailing boats either side.

A beer garden on the slope above the lake with a self-service counter, Bratwurst and Flammkuchen, and a sandpit the children find themselves.

The painter's garden at a stroll, flat paths to the water and the pictures of the same garden upstairs; tea on the terrace to finish.

The gate at a civilised hour, Unter den Linden stretching east and benches under the trees; the photograph everybody wants, taken without a crowd.

Europe's fastest lift, twenty seconds to the 24th floor, then a terrace with the whole city laid out and a café for whoever prefers to sit.

Goulash soup and Apfelstrudel at a marble table a block from the gate, lift-free at street level, close to the airport buses.