Saira

Hello Everyone! It is my birthday the first week of February (turning 31), and I usually travel to a city in Europe. The weather is cold then, but the flight is super-cheap, and I can enjoy the sites without many tourists around. Rome, Paris, Barcelona, Madrid, Cordoba, etc for example, worked out well in the past. This year, I was thinking about Berlin. Any advice on how the weather is then? Is it miserably cold? I love museums but also like to walk around and explore the City. Check out the architecture, etc. Any suggestions? Thanks.

traveller1959

Oh, you picked the coldest time of the year. Expect temperatures between -10 and +10C. If it is freezing it is usually nicer. Not much snow, maybe rain.

Dress properly.

No problem to explore the city by walking. Also public bus #100 is good for easy and chip hop on/hop off sightseeing.

Visit some of Berlin's 175 museums (many of them are world-class). Dive into nightlife!

Any more specific questions?

J62

I was in Berlin in Jan a few years ago with a small group. It was cold, but as long as you are properly dressed there is no reason you can't enjoy walking around and exploring the city.

In addition to hat, scarf, gloves, I bring my full length wool coat which makes all the difference. A cold wind or sitting on cold stone bench can freeze your butt off. Or if you want to travel lighter, then at least bring long underwear - a single layer of cotton covering your legs isn't enough.

My favorite museum is the Pergamon Museum, but since Berlin is a city of sights I like to enjoy my time outside.

The public transportation in Berlin is great. Combination of subway, tram and bus means getting around is easy. If you pick a hotel close to a subway stop, regardless of where it is, you will be ok.

traveller1959

Yesterday, we had the first snow in Berlin.

The first snowmen were made. The football game against Hannover became were exciting, with several Brazilian players dealing with snow...

However, it happened because they did not switch on the lawn heating soon enough. Winter starts earlay this year, but this means nothing.

traveller1959

Excuse me, "were" should be "very"

Sometimes, these automatic correcting systems act very crazy..

marginal_margiela

I, the Great and Powerful Thingorjus, will be travelling to Berlin on December 19, 2007. I will surely write a trip report when I return as my trip reports are legendary here in Fodorville. You can wait to read my report, which will probably be posted the first week of January. This will be just in time for your trip, sweetie darling.

My maid, Esmeralda, is already packing my Louis Vuitton trunks. I just know everyone in Berlin will be mesmerized by my Brioni opera cape and my Martin Margiela tam.

Thingorjus

nytraveler

Berlin is not the arctic. Depending on where you're coming from (NYC? Boston?) Berlin weather should be similar - possibly a little warmer. Certainly not too cold to walk around - as long as it's not for 10 hours at a time.

Liam47

Am out in Berlin studying/sightseeing at the moment and it's certainly getting colder, if you're going out walking wrap up well! There are a lot of interesting museums out here, my personal favourite was the DDR museum, the Museum für Naturkunde is worth a look as well. There's a bit of info about the Naturkunde Museum museum here - http://www.noovee.de/index.php?id=193&L=1
The best bit of the city for walking round is probably Berlin Mitte, plenty to see and lots of shops.

caroline_edinburgh

My first trip was in late April so not very close to Feb (weather was mixed) but a word of warning, I found all the buildings - museums, hotel room, restaurants, etc - *very hot* ! I recommend a warm coat over layers with the ability to strip down to a short sleeved t shirt.

Saira

My goodness, thank you, everyone for the wonderful advice!!

Saira

Taveller1959, I love museums! My boyfriend will be with me, though, and I'm afraid he gets bored easily in museums. So just want to be sure there is lots to do besides museums. I love walking around and enjoying the buildings, the architecture. Thank you for your help. Any tips on things to do besides museums?

Saira

J62, again, thank you for the tips. Everyone here is so kind and helpful. It is so encouraging to hear that it is possible to walk around and explore the city.
You mention that Berlin is a city of sights. Any that you highly recommend? I will do some more research on this.
Thanks, again.

J62

There are a couple of walking areas.

1. Old West Berlin (K'Dam). Shopping (KaDeWe), etc, Kaiser Wilhem memorial church, etc.

2. near the wall - Potsdam platz, from there you can walk past the new holocost memorial (large granite blocks), towards Brandenburg Gate & Reichstag (go up the dome. Along the way you can view sections of the old wall, (there is a brick line in the ground all through town where the wall once stood),

3. Old East Berlin - Alexander Platz, Museum Island. You can go up the radio tower for a great view.

A good (long) walking route is to start out your day near Potsdam Platz and end up near Alexander Platz and hit lots of sights in between.

There are also many other sights scattered around

Best thing is a paper map which you can lay out on a table and plot what is where.

Beware the scam artists with the 'hide the lady game' where they have 3 cups with a ball under one of them. Interesting to watch and see who gets suckered into losing 20-50 Euro (it's a scam). Keep your wallet in your pocket!

PalenQ

Was there Jan of last year and i guess i had great weather - in 40s and sunny

Cowboy1968

Some "guy stuff" that may not bore your boyfriend:

The Airforce Museum
http://www.luftwaffenmuseum.com/inde...e&Itemid=1

The Allied Forces Museum
http://www.alliiertenmuseum.de/en/0.php

Guided tours of the "Berlin Underworlds"
http://berlinerunterwelten.de/en/002/002.htm

Self-driven city tour in a convoy of "Trabis", the (in)famous GDR compact car
http://www.trabi-safari.de/?lang=eng

Cowboy1968

I almost forgot: the Berlinale, the big film festival will be from Feb 7-17, 2008. If you plan to travel to Berlin during that time, try to reserve a reasonably priced hotel room now.

http://www.berlinale.de/en/HomePage.html

Saira

Thingorjus, look forward to reading your report in January. Enjoy your trip!

Saira

Nytraveler, I live in New York City. It can get quite cold here in January-February. It was cold this week and today again was mild.

Saira

Thanks so much again everyone! And Cowboy1968, thank you for posting some guy-friendly ideas. I don't want my boyfriend grumbling. He's just starting to understand that I choose to spend my birthday in Europe instead of going on a cruise in the Carribean.

caroline_edinburgh

Here's a link to my trip report in case it gives you any ideas - http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...p;tid=34614269