in the midlle of February I would like to take a trip of approx.4-5 days.I know the weather is cold in both cities, which city is a must for a first time visitor ?? Thanks in advance for your help!!! vineta63

Berlin vs. Prague equals
New York vs. Cincinatti

not sure I agree with PP at all.
Depends on your interest and likes:
Berlin is a very big city with numerous historical sites,
great museums and galleries. It is a not beautiful or charming but has great modern vibe..
Prague is lovely, atmospheric, easy to get around.
Very "Old Europe" ; many restaurants, bars, beer halls and cafes; beautiful churches and interesting Castle.
I was in Prague for 4 days, Berlin 5 just this summer.
They are very different cities. I would go back to both any time.

Berlin or Prague

Paris or Strasbourg
London or Salisbury
Rome or Verona
Madrid or Toledo
New York City or Poughkeepsie

You get the picture?

Vineta63, I think danon gives you an excellent and most helpful reply and I would agree entirely.

Neither city is amust for a first-time visitor. The musts are London, Paris and Rome.

I love both cities - but they are quite different.

Prague has cornered the market in quaint, since Chamberlain handed it over to appease Hitler it wasn't bombed in WWII - and so is the only large city with the old parts of the towns undamaged - it;s all original, not reconstruction. It has an incredibly lively music scene and enough sights to keep you busy for 4 or 5 days. It has caught up with western europe in a lot of ways - including having all the chain restaurants and branches of many of the designer stores. Generally prices will be a little bit less.

Berlin is an incredibly lively city and has a bunch of great museums. It also has a split personality. the western section was rebuilt under Coke capitalism and a lot resembles Rte 17 in New Jersey. the eastern side was largely reconstructed to match prewar Berlin. (Naturally it was completely destroyed in the War.)

It's very hard to choose - but Prague is overall more different than is Berlin.

London is clearly not a must, Paris and Rome are.

danon and ny offered good advice on the cities you inquired about. Here is a little information on both cities to help you decide. Richard http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/berlin http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/prague or www.inyourpocket.com [free downloads if information]

Prague has a wonderful transport system which means there are large areas of the city which are virtually car free - that makes things so much more pleasant.
Jeremy
http://www.jeremytaylor.eu/prague_photos.html

As some of the previous posters have said, it depends on your interests.

I enjoyed both cities, but if I could only return to one, it would be Prague.

Berlin has fantastic musuems and, of course, WWII associations. It is very large, modern and not at all charming (with the exception of the very small, historic Nikolai Quarter). Indeed, there is still a lot of (re)construction going on. I also got a rather "cold" feeling there (not temperature) that I didn't feel in other parts of Germany (including other areas of former East Germany).

Prague, on the other hand, was not bombed during WWII and, consequently, has an amazing array of original architecture. It is a beautiful city with many great areas to visit, such as Prague Castle, Old Town, Josefov, Mala Strana. It doesn't have the fabulous museums to compare with Berlin, but it is extremely charming and high on atmosphere.

PRAGUE !
PRAGUE!!
PRAGUE!!!

OR 2 days Prague- Overnight train to berlin- and 3 nights Berlin.
5 days at any of these place is a bit more. ( 4 days each is max) but you can get best of both the worlds.

Why not 3 days Prague- 2 days Budapest-
Both very romantic.
Then you are done with the majour cities of Eastern europe ( barring Warsaw and Krakow)
You can visit Germany later on. Even a month is less there.