We are planning our trip for Germany June 09. My daughter is planning on visiting a friend in Bremerhaven(sp?). Anyway, We are using miles and credit card points so we have to fly to Frankfurt. I thought that on the day of arrival, we'd ride the train (and rest) to Hamburg. Our daughter will go on w/ her friend, and I thought my husband & I would use Hamburg as a base. Is there enough to do for 5 nights/days?
Then, we thought we'd go to Berlin, again for 5 days/nights. I feel like there's enough to do in Berlin for that amount of time...but I'm curious. I haven't been in Germany since 1984!

Any suggestions would be appreciated!

IMO, you'll find plenty to do in Berlin for five days, especially if you're at all into history. Pergamon Museum, Schloss charlottenberg, The Reichtag, the Jewish Museum, Check Point Charlie, Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial; a day trip to Wanssee or Potsdam. The list seems endless. We were there four days and couldn't do half of what we wanted.

Too long? Nah.

In Hamburg, spend one or two days in Lubeck. You could spend another day in Wismar. Both are short train rides from Hamburg. Plan on a couple of city cruises. One around the docks, another around Alster Lake (the two hour cruise is better). Some trivia: Hamburg has more bridges than Venice and Amsterdam combined.

Plenty of things to do in Berlin. A day in Potsdam is almost required. A cruise along the Spree is a good way to see Berlin. The Dressler is a bistro on the Ku'damm that is a great place to discover your love of coffee and cake, among other things.

If your worried about too much time in those two cities, spend a few days in Dresden, Cologne, or Frankfurt, to name a few options.

I'm sure a lot has changed since your visit in 84. You'll love it.

5 days in Hamburg:

Yes, of course. Hamburg is a vibrant city with lots to see and to do. Besides, it is a good base for daytrips. Not to miss:

- Bremen (the mother town of Bremerhaven): A beautiful old town (Schnoor, the medieval City Hall, a UNESCO World Heritage), several outstanding museums (Überseemuseum, an ethnological museum, Universum Science Center, Hafenmuseum/Harbour Museum), churches, gothic and renaissance buildings etc. 55min by train from Hamburg.

- Lübeck. A medieval cityscape with an impressive gate and many old houses. Have a drink or meal in the historic Schiffergesellschaft. Home of Germany's most famous marzipan factory. 45min by train from Hamburg.

- Helgoland. A beautiful island with impressive rock formations. A full daytrip by ship from Hamburg.

- The coasts with many beaches, fishing villages etc. Most famous is the island Sylt with excellent seafood. 3:02 by train from Hamburg.

On the way from Hamburg to Berlin, you may stop in Schwerin to visit the impressive castle.

5 days in Berlin are nothing. One day should be devoted to a daytrip to Potsdam with its gorgeous castles. 23min by train from Berlin. The remaining four days can easily be filled with lots of museums and attractions.

I would say 5 days is to much for Hamburg unless you do some of the day trips. Berlin is a different matter loads to do and see in the city. Take the tour bus it is excellent and well worth the cost as you can get on and off at so many sights.Potsdam was excellent,you need a full day to see the best bits.We have been twice and stayed once in Mitte and once in Prenzlauer Berg which we loved,great restaurants and a wonderful market on Saturdays.

Traveller gave you the best recommendation. I've been to Hamburg 4 or 5 times and really enjoyed the comfortable metropolitan city even just to do nothing but overcome jetlag. Hamburg has many luxury hotels with very reasonable prices.

If you decide to use Hamburg as a base, stay near the main train station to make it convenient to travel to nearby cities. One of my favorite hotels in Hamburg is the Park Hyatt where we could walk from our hotel room to board the train in less than 10 minutes. I would buy the ticket on the internet and walk down to the train knowing which gate the train departed from. It's one of the best Park Hyatts and also the most reasonably priced Park Hyatt. It's located on a nice shopping street. The famous cityhall is only a few blocks away with lots of waterfront sceneries. We've trained to both Bremen & Luebeck a couple times, both are worth a full day trip each. We've also wanted to go to Sylt which is like the Martha's vineyard of Germany but we just couldn't handle a 3 hour train ride each way on a daytrip.