Long before spotting the quays, travellers realize that Potsdam is like no other stop on the Havel. The river widens into a succession of forest-lined lakes, then domes, colonnades and princely rooftops emerge between the trees. The residence of the kings of Prussia for more than two centuries, the capital of Brandenburg spreads around its centre one of the largest ensembles of royal residences and parks in Europe, a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1990.

Arriving along the Havel

Depending on the itinerary, river cruise boats dock at the central quays near the Lange Brücke, a few minutes' walk from the old town, or to the north, on the shores of the Jungfernsee. From the deck, you can already see the dome of St. Nicholas Church, designed by the architect Karl Friedrich Schinkel, which towers over the Old Market Square and the rebuilt City Palace, now the seat of the state parliament.

Sanssouci, the vineyard turned palace

The Sanssouci estate begins about two kilometres from the quays, a distance covered by streetcar, bus or on foot through the elegant streets of the centre. Frederick II had this single-storey summer residence built between 1745 and 1747, set at the top of a terraced vineyard. The central staircase climbs between the trellises to the yellow façade adorned with atlantes, from where the view plunges over the fountains and avenues of the park. Farther into the gardens, the New Palace displays the grandeur the king wanted after the Seven Years' War, while the historic mill recalls the legend of the miller who stood up to the sovereign.

The Dutch Quarter and the streets of the centre

Back toward the heart of the city, Mittelstraße lines up some 130 gabled red brick houses, built in the 18th century to attract craftsmen from the Netherlands. This Dutch Quarter, unique in continental Europe for its scale, has filled up with cafés, galleries and artisans' shops. Two streets away, Potsdam's Brandenburg Gate, built in 1770, predates its famous Berlin namesake by twenty years; it opens onto Brandenburger Straße, the pedestrian street where everyday life beats.

Cecilienhof and the memory of the 20th century

North of the centre, in the New Garden bordering the Jungfernsee, Cecilienhof looks like a half-timbered English manor. It was here that Truman, Stalin and Churchill, and then Attlee, divided up Europe at the Potsdam Conference in the summer of 1945. The negotiating rooms can still be visited. Following the water south, you reach the Glienicke Bridge, nicknamed the Bridge of Spies: during the Cold War, intelligence services exchanged their agents there above the Havel, exactly on the line that separated the two Germanys.

Planning your port call

• On foot from the central quays: Old Market Square, St. Nicholas Church, the Dutch Quarter and the shopping streets.
• By streetcar or bus: Sanssouci Park and the New Palace; allow half a day for the gardens.
• On an organized excursion: Cecilienhof, the New Garden and the Glienicke Bridge combine easily.
• Interiors often require a timed ticket: book early in high season.

Leaving between two shores

In the evening, as the boat resumes its course along the Havel, the parks file past one last time behind the reeds. Potsdam leaves the unique impression of a garden city where every generation, from philosopher kings to the diplomats of 1945, sought to leave its mark by the water. Passengers leave with images of vine-planted terraces and bridges heavy with secrets, and an open desire to come back someday to count the palaces they did not have time to see.