Hey, i'm off for a long weekend in Berlin soon and after much research i've come up with the following. I think i've got most of the sites covered, but would apreciate your comments, particulary if there is anything you think i have missed out.

Thurs night - arrive late, so a few drinks and then bed!

Friday - new berlin free tour, to get a feel for the place, then to the Checkpoint Charlie museum

Saturday - Sachsenhausen tour (6 hours)

Sunday - walking around re-visiting sights from tour, especially Reichstag, Brandenburg Gate, Jewish Memorial and the Olympic Stadium

Monday - free so far.

What do you think, i've been careful not to cram too much in as i want to take my time. I chose the tour after many recommendations on various sites and also i believe it will take me around the major sites and then i can go back to look at ones of interest. The concentration camp tour is a must for OH as he is really interested in that period of history.

What are your thoughts?

You might like the Pergamon Museum on the Museum Island, about a mile east of the Brandenburg Gate. The museum has an amazing frieze taken from a Greek temple in Turkey and an equally good walkway and arch from ancient Iraq. Another interesting sight is the Potsdammer Platz office complex about a mile south of the Brandenburg Gate. If you're interested in such things and have the stomach for it, the Topography of Terror open air museum near Potsdammer Platz may still be open. This is a set of Gestapo "interrogation" facilities discovered in the course of office construction about ten years ago.

Definitely choose the Pergamon over the Checkpoint Charlie site. CC is overrated, and most visitors consider it a tourist trap.

Depending on how long your initial tour on Friday takes, you will likely have plenty of time to walk thru the Pergamon. Allow an hour for a quick visit, 2-4 hours for a more extensive one.

Hi there - where will you be staying? Mitte?

We just returned from a long weekend in Berlin and had a fabulous time. Just a reminder that many museums are closed on Monday so check that out before you finalize your schedule. Pergamon is a must Checkpoint Charlie is not special. Try to visit the Dept. store KaDeWe in West Berlin. The 6th floor has an amazing food hall and you can have a great lunch. Also I would suggest the Jewish Museum, the Topographie of Terror where you can see a piece of the wall, the Frank Ghery building (inside) near the Branderberg Gate.

I must disagree with the negative comments about the Checkpoint Charlie museum. I found it very moving, and I would consider it a must-see.

You can probably see both the Pergamon and the Checkpoint Charlie Museum, because the Checkpoint Charlie Museum stays open later.

If you like art, there are some wonderful museums in Berlin. And you could consider a boat ride along the Spree, perhaps even as far as Schloss Sansouci in Potsdam.

Hope that helps!

This info will be a big help as I plan our upcoming March trip to Berlin.

Is a tour the best way to visit Sachsenhausen? How difficult is it to visit on our own via public transportation?

yes i will be staying in Mitte and i've noted the comments about the Pergamon, will probably try and add this is on the Friday before the CC museum as this is open later.

KaDeWe - i will definitely be visiting, as i love shopping, just need to convince OH that it is a must seee!!!

Regarding the Sachsenhausen tour, i thought about doing it independently but as this tour is only 12euro and seems to be comprehensive, we decided to go with this

You are going to LOVE Berlin!!! Be sure to have your drinks on Thursday at Newton Bar on Gendarmenmarkt. This bar is in honour of Helmut Newton and when we visited, was all candlelit. We then went for dinner across the street at Lutter & Wegner - i think this is 200 years old. We also did a walk (3rd Reich) with Berlin Walks, that was really informative and a great way to see the city. We ended up on the waste ground that was the site of Hitlers Bunker. This has now been transformed into the new Holocaust memorial, which you are planning to visit. www.berlinwalks.com. I think your itinerary looks really good. Be sure to visit Museum Island - it's very photographic

My husband & I thoroughly enjoyed the Checkpoint Charlie Museum as well as the Pergamon.

We went to Berlin for 5 days, 2 years ago, loved it and are going back in 3 weeks ! Here's a link to my trip report from last time, in case it's helpful - http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...p;tid=34614269

We didn't go to Checkpoint Charlie, Sachsenhausen or the Olympic Stadium, and don't plan to this time, so I suppose they are not amongst my 'must-sees', but we all have different interests.

I went on the tour of Sachsenhausen, probably the one you are going on. Well worth it, you will learn a lot more about the camp with a leader. Things aren't really well labeled. It was very moving, and I'm glad I went.

What is this "new berlin free tour"?

Link?

Sachsenhausen is a concentration camp tour?

Which U-Bahn or S-Bahn is the KaDeWe on?

Is that the one with the food hall bigger than the department stores in London?

Are there other department stores with takeaway food in East Berlin, closer to Mitte or Gendarmenmarket?

What about Alexanderplatz? Nobody mentioned that or Charlottenburg palace, Tiergarten.

Or day trips?

Googling "new berlin free tour" brought up the link:
http://www.newberlintours.com/nbt/

Also Brewer tours offers a half day free tour:
http://www.brewersberlintours.com/

Thanks. It sounded generic.

Anyways, now I'm subscribed to this topic and you put the links in here.

Now I can check back on this just before my July trip.

Just did a day trip from Berlin to Lutherstadt-Wittenberge, a nice enough town with several edifices associated with Martin Luther's pastorship in the city, where legend has him nailing demands to the castle church door i believe. Anyway pleasant town just 45 minutes from Berlin by train.