For better or worse, Berlin never stops changing. Wars start and, thankfully, end. Walls go up and down. One thing that remains the same is the city’s continuing commitment to culture, and nothing exemplifies this better than Berlin’s Museum Island, in the historic East Mitte district.

Begin your day on the city’s grandest boulevard, with pastries and coffee at the Opernpalais Opera Café (Unter den Linden 5, tel 49 030 20 26 83). After breakfast, head to the Museumsinsel (http://www.museen-berlin.de/e/loc/m.html). The narrow spit of land between the river Spree and the Kupfergraben canal is both a time machine and a breathtaking tribute to the glories of human civilization. Make your first stop the Pergamon, to marvel at the museum namesake’s altar. Dedicated to Zeus, this two-story marble monument was excavated from present-day Turkey in the 19th century and painstakingly reassembled. Then stroll through the intricately tiled Ishtar Gates, one of the portals into the legendary city of Babylon (Museumsinsel, Am Kupfergraben, tel 49 030 20 90 55 77).

Enjoy a legendary lunch at the nearby Restaurant Weihenstephaner. Located in Hackescher Market, this outpost of the Bavarian State Brewery boasts beverages from the oldest operating brewery in the world. The beer is perfect for washing down such traditional specialties as roast pork with dumplings and herbed venison with spaetzle. (Neue Promenade 5, tel 49 025 76 28 71, http://weihenstephaner-berlin.de/eng/index.html)

Back on Museumsinsel, gorge on more antiquities at the Altes Museum, which boasts the famous one-eyed bust of Nefertiti, along with a pharoah’s ransom of finds from Egypt’s golden past and an exquisite collection of Greek and Roman treasures. When night falls, make the switch from historic to hip at any of Mitte’s happening spots. Counter one sort of culture with another at Newton Bar, a luxe lounge decorated with Berlin-born iconoclast’s Helmut Newton’s stunning photography. (Charlottenstrasse 57, tel 49 30 2061-2999, http://www.newton-bar.de) Or dine in the restaurant then dance in the back bar at Oxymoron, which features a cool clientele and plenty of grooves (Hackesche Hofe, Rosenthaler Strasse 40-41, tel 49 30 28 39 18 86, http://www.oxymoron-berlin.de).