My friend and I are thinking of going to Berlin for 4 nights in July. We'll be taking Air Berlin from Zürich to Berlin.

I noticed that many hotels are offering specials during this time. To help us with our selection, could you please suggest the best areas to stay in?

Danke im Voraus.

Topping this for you.

I generally stay in the area near the KaDeWe which for my interests I find convenient. However there are so many people here who absolutely insist you stay "in Mitte" I'll let it go.

Enjoy Berlin..it is, IMO, a fabulous city.

Thanks Dukey.

By the way, would you happen to know the best way from Texel airport to Berlin city?

Thanks

Good morning schuler,

Do you need someone to care for your home while you are away??

I don't known if this is the "best area," as you ask, but when we were in Berlin we really enjoyed staying at the Movenpick. In a very quiet area, very safe, 1 minute walk to a subway or bus line, and a 5-10 minute walk to the area near the Sony Center (can't remember what it's called) and near the Checkpoint Charlie area.

In this same area just down the street was an Ibis Hotel also and a Suitehotel, both by Accor. But the Movenpick was wonderful, oh so quiet, and the breakfast buffet was very sumptuous.

We booked thru booking.com. Got a good rate, which included breakfast.

Happy travels!

>By the way, would you happen to know the best way from Texel airport to Berlin city?

There is a bus (10x...) going to the Zoo station, and an express bus (TXL) to Mitte and Alexanderplatz. They are within the normal ticket system (2,10 to anywhere in Belrin). Tegel airport is within the city limits too.

Tegel! Besten Dank Altamiro.

Hi Kopp: Ah, I'm not sure what my husband will think of a stranger sleeping next to him in our bed. He's staying home. Many cows are now in the lower alpine fields. We've got such a field at the back of our house. I'll never tire of those cow bells and the cuckoo birds.

We went on a five hour hike yesterday. We took the cable car up to Stoos and then wanted to take the chair lift to Frohnalpstock. Because of the wind, the lifts weren't operating. So we walked up, being blown left and right by warm winds while gazing at the beautiful enzian in the fields. We enjoyed a cafe Zwetchgen at the top while gazing down at the Mythen, the Vierwaldstättersee and all the mountains around. We walked back down to the village of Stoos and continued our hike down to Morschach, where our car was parked.

Today I can barely walk one flight of steps.

Berlin should be much easier on my knees.

TTT

I would take a look at the Berlin Journey Planner:
http://www.fahrinfo-berlin.de/Fahrinfo/bin/query.bin/en

Use this planner to figure out how long it will take to get from your proposed hotel to the various sites of interest. Of course if you plan to take cabs, it is less valuable.

For my third trip, I have in mind to do a Google mashup of the sites I want to visit.

Personally I think being near lines U6 and/or U2 will make life more convenient for public transit. Being near Friedrichstrasse will assure you are within 20 minutes walking distance of about 80% of the major tourist sites, which may or may not interest you.

That said, I haven't found the areas near Friedrichstrasse to be interesting residential neighborhoods, although I might have missed them, and that's one reason I'm considering another area next visit.

Thanks Will. Will do

Hi Schuler,

I like staying near the Gendarmenmarkt (Sofitel, Hilton,Regent)or more north closer to the Friedrichstr station (Melia, Jolly, Maritim) for easy access to public transportation. I was actually very impressed by the new Melia hotel especially with their club lounge service. Reasonably priced and very close to the museum island & the artsy Prenzlauerberg area.

I also like Pottsdamerplatz (Hyatt, Marriott, Ritz, Mandala) for its ultra modern environment and its major S & U bahn stations. It's also a short stroll away from the Brandenburg gate and Holocaust Memorial. Being so close to the Tiergarten is like staying near the Central Park in New York City.

While Movenpick, Accor, Suitehotel are somewhat within walking distance to Potsdamerplatz, they are not as convenient(IMHO). The trains only stop at the nearby Anhalter Bahnhof when they are going south, so you can't get on/off if the trains are going north. There is some very limited commercial life in the immediate area, but you really need to walk quite a bit to reach Potsdamerplatz. For those reasons I consider Moevenpick & Accor hotels not so convenient.

Like Dukey, I also like staying in Charlottenburg (West Berlin) as an alternative. I've stayed at the Swissotel twice but recently had a grand tour of the Concorde hotel just across the street from it and was thoroughly impressed. West Berlin will give you easy access to see Knut and the Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church & the Lippenstift plus Kadewe and other stores. The Mitte however has a lot more to see and most of the rebuilding of course occured in the Mitte & Potsdamerplatz.

In some of our long Berlin trips we actually split our stay between the west and the east. It's really like staying in two different cities. We love Berlin as much as Paris, perhaps even more.

I recently stayed at and liked Hotel Am Savignyplatz.