My husband and I will be in Berlin for 3 days next August. Can anyone suggest any day trips outside the city? Should we rent a car for the day? My husband loves to drive. Or take a tour with a tour guide? Love to see countryside, explore towns, hike, bike, etc.

Thanks

3 days in Berlin are not enough to see it, so i do not thin that you can visit something out of Berlin.
But if you like small towns, countryside, etc, maybe you can go somewhere else, not in this big city.

Hi, anitas,

we did a three-day trip to Berlin in July 2006. there was quite enough to fill 3 days in the city itself. also it was very hot so the air-conditioned museums were a great draw.

one day we took a taxi to the Charlottenburg palace and got the boat back, which was very pleasant. it was a half-day+ trip, and took us all round the canals near the parliament buildings on the way back.

i wouldn't try to hire a car - Berlin suffers like all big cities from traffic problems, plus the suburbs are very big and would take you ages to get out of.

if you want to get out of town, what about a train trip to Potsdam? I think it is also possible to get a boat, but it takes a long time.

regards, ann

Hi
Three days is not really enough time to see Berlin. It is a large spread out city with its many sights not concentrated in a center. You can take a train to Potsdam and then a bus to San Souci to spend a nice day if you like. Berlin is a very interesting capitol city. There is much to see.

If you like to hike and natural areas then yes hop the train to potsdam and hoof it thru the town centre to Sans Soucci park - a huge park with trails everywhere and palaces etc. including the Prussian Versailles San Soucci palace (not sure what the park is called)

I did this recently and then from the palace walked up thru the unique Russian Colony of russian country houses set in a farm built for the Czars when they were in Berlin i think

then i walked down from this hill to the Wannsee and over the Gluckner Bridge (? name) famous for where Cold War spies were exchanged and the former dividing line of West and East Berlin along the Wannsee shore to Peacock Isle (read about it - a weird but neat place) then walked back to the Wannsee S-bahn station for trains back to Berlin

You can hop buses or trams along the way as the walk is about ten miles or so.

I passed thru nude beaches along the Wannsee so don't be bashful

Ask the S-Bahn stations in Berlin for a Wunderbar map with the hiking paths on them - really a neat natural setting

One thing about Berlin is that lots of people bike <i>in</i> the city itself (people commuting to work, school, etc.) There are special bicycle lanes on the sidewalks and/or streets. Because Berlin is so spread out, we thought that cycling would be a fun way to tour around, although we didn't end up doing that ourselves. You can rent bicycles - we saw one place just south of Checkpoint Charlie.

Potsdam makes a nice day trip, and some Berlin transit cards can be used for transportation there also. We saw the Russian enclave (built for workers from Russia, I believe) as well as the Dutch-style buildings along the lake.

We did a half day trip to Spandau, which used to be a separate town near Berlin but was later incorporated into the city, although it still retains an old town center and small town feel. There are some lovely old buildings including a renaissance-era fortress and a medieval church.

But really, as you've heard several times already, 3 days will barely scratch the surface of Berlin.

There are many nice day trips possible from Berlin.

The region north and northwest of Berlin is dotted with literally hundreds of lakes - also a good opportunity for a swim on a hot August day.

The region does not boast any world class attractions (with the exception of Potsdam and its parks and gardens and palaces). It's mostly small towns, lots of lakes, forests, and &quot;nature&quot; in general. You will find stands with local produce on the roadside, fresh smoked fish in the lakes region, many local potteries or small glassworks...

Typical routings could be:

Berlin (leave city via freeway A111 and Hwy 96) - Oranienburg - L&ouml;wenberg - Rheinsberg (town, castle &amp; park, lake, boating) - (lots of opportunities to hike and bike in the M&uuml;ritz National Park) Mirow - R&ouml;bel (on Lake M&uuml;ritz, again pleasure boats, boats for rent)- and back to Berlin via A19/24.

Berlin (leave via Hwy 2) - Eberswalde (detour to Niederfinow to see the huge historic boat lift if that interests you) - Chorin (ruins of the monastery, quite romantic) - Joachimsthal (Lake Werbellin) - back to Berlin via Hwys 198/167/109 (on way back you can take a look at the ex GDR Politburo village near Wandlitz)

By the way, Poland is just 40-50 miles East of Berlin, and seeing both sides of the River Oder is also a nice day trip. But you got to check if your rental car contract covers driving into Poland.

I, The Great and Powerful Thingorjus, have just returned from Berlin. You will not see the city properly with only 3 days at your disposal. To travel outside the city with only 3 days to spare would be foolhardy.

My top draws of Berlin:

1. Dome of the Reichstag Building
2. Brandenburger Tor
3. Pergamon Museum
4. Gemaldegalerie
5. Walking the streets around the Hackescher Mkt to see the trendy design stores and art galleries
6. Rathaus and the surrounding streets
7. Berliner Dom
8. Potsdamer Platz
9. Checkpoint Charlie
10. Restaurants and clubs/Synogogue on the Orienburgerstrasse

I will post my trip report soon.

Berlin: A Sexy Place For Poor People

I was there in July with three teenagers and for only three days also. There is so much to do and we would love to go back to do even more. We did do a bike tour right after we arrived with Fat Tire Bike Tours. It is located near AlexanderPlatz. It was a wonderful way to get a feel for the city, layout, etc, and to decide what we wanted to go back and see more.