nylilly

Hello all - I'm in the early stages of planning a quick visit to family in Germany and wanted to seek input. The most basic plan is to depart NYC (or Hartford or Logan) on Thursday night, March 28th. My dates are not flexible because I'm a teacher and must limit myself to a school calendar. Arrive in Europe (Zurich or Basel, probably) on Friday and take the train to Freiburg which is nearby to much of my family. We'd likely spend three nights in the Black Forest before heading to Berlin for an additional 5 nights before flying from Berlin back to the States. I've visited Berlin once before, but was lucky enough to turn it into a road trip with family and we broke things up by spending a night in Nuremberg. This time around, we'll be reliant upon public transit, ideally train. I'm looking for ideas about the best way to get from Freiburg to Berlin and how far in advance we should make reservations. Also, if we chose to break up the trip, what's a good spot (walkable, pretty, good food/drink) to spend an evening/morning along the train route? Any other tips or suggestions are welcomed. Danke!

Michael

To maximize your limited time, take the one direct train from Freiburg to Berlin:

https://www.google.com/search?client...ih=557&dpr=1.5

dfourh

You'll have to wait a couple of months before that train is bookable, but when it is, I would book it right away to snap up the super discounted fare. Arriving March 29th and spending 3 nights puts the Berlin trip on Monday, April 1st (no foolin'!) and below is a Monday schedule in December from https://int.bahn.de/en . That direct train leaving 9:48am arriving 432pm looks just perfect. That is a standard Deutsche Bahn train - - there is also a Flixtrain (private company running maybe 1 train per day; shabby interiors) but going with the regular Bahn train, at a price like that, gives you much greater protection than Flixtrain in case of any irregularities - - and if it were me, I would spend the extra 12 Euro to upgrade to 1st class (that 12 Euro includes a seat reservation, which you need to pay independently if you buy a 2nd class ticket). 7 hours in lush, comfy 1st class is the most relaxing, pleasant, renewing, refreshing way to spend a day of travel I can think of - - just perfect in the middle of a quickie trip in chilly early Spring.


Monday in December Freiburg-Berlin

dfourh

As far as breaking up the trip, you will probably wind up paying double the fare, because if you stop more than 45 minutes (maximum connection time allowed) you buy two separate tickets, and they will probably be 29.90 Euro or more each (with an additional 12 Euro for 1st class). Fulda, Erfurt, and Leipzig would be the places of interest - - but with a couple of hours you can't really do them justice, and it would basically mean a lunch. I would pack a lunch and take the train straight through, in perfect comfort - - a day of internetting using the onboard free server, sorting out the pictures from Freiburg, and total relaxation.

nylilly

I think your recommendation is excellent - thank you! Since the timing on the train, at least as it seems, is perfect, we can bring a picnic along and perhaps a bottle of spatburgunder, for the ride. No need to stop along the way at all.

bigtyke

Get the first class ticket !!

nylilly

Ok - bought plane tickets over the weekend: Boston to Frankfurt, Berlin to Boston, both flights via Iceland. Looks like Airbnb and Berlin have had a breakup. When I last visited Berlin in 2017, we stayed in a lovely little house behind an apartment building. When I tried to again book that place I received a message about the stay being too brief and that we would need to stay 90 days. Not an option! It seems that Berlin has gotten quite expensive in the past 6+ years, but I did find a decent enough looking place (Hotel Aquino Berlin on Hannoversche Strasse) for $680 for 4 nights for 2. Does anyone have personal experience with this hotel or, perhaps, another place they preferred? We're pretty simple travelers and our ideal accommodations are fairly central, near public transportation and clean. We also decided to remain in Freiburg for Easter Monday and will be looking for train tickets (first class!) for Tuesday instead. Thanks for the tips I've received already

dfourh

Please do give your exact dates in Berlin. From week to week, day to day, prices can vary hugely - - depending on events in the city, weekends, etc. - - like night and day. If you give your exact dates then people can have a better shot at helping out with specific suggestions.

nylilly

Arrive Berlin April 2nd. Fly out April 6th.

dfourh

If you want to save a bunch of money and still stay at a property rated at 8.0 or higher at Booking.com check out the KuDamm area (stretching WSW from Bahnhof Zoo) - - just use the map function at Booking.com. This is "old school" West Berlin, but in many ways it has more charm and by far nicer architecture than "Mitte", and plenty good restaurants, and is not far from Savignyplatz, and has great U-Bahn and bus connections anywhere. Hotel Aquino is closer to Brandenburger Tor, but the area is really nothing special, and you may as well stay somewhere that is more easygoing and pleasant, with direct connections to anywhere you plan to go in Berlin where the travel is itself a worthwhile experience.

nylilly

Still considering accommodations for Berlin but booked train tickets today for Frankfurt - Freiburg and Freiburg to Berlin. Gave us 1:45 from arrival in Frankfurt to train departure time. Does that sound reasonable? We will only have carryon luggage.

bilboburgler

outside the map function?

nylilly

I'm not sure what you mean. It looks like Icelandair flies into Terminal 2 and the long distance train station at the Frankfurt Airport is in Terminal 1. According to the airport website, it only takes a few minutes to travel on the monorail between terminals.

Christina

Private vacation rentals are largely illegal in Berlin nowadays, that's why you got that message.

I guess you know Easter is a big deal in Germany for reasons I don't know given they aren't that religious. But both Good Friday and Easter Monday are public holidays.

nylilly

Hi Christina - Thanks, yes, I determined what the issue was and was able to book something on Booking instead for my dates. Also, in deference to the holiday, I decided to avoid Easter Monday as a travel day, opting to go to Berlin on Tuesday instead. I can't avoid traveling on Good Friday, though.

Funny thing about Germans and religion - one of my aunts and two of my great aunts were nuns in Freiburg. My mom (she's 85) said that when she was a child, they went to mass every day, with Sunday being a marathon mass!

dfourh

That really should be doable. 98% of the time, no problem. It's good to know your options though, if your flight is delayed. This will NOT happen, you will have a GREAT and easy flight and transfer at Frankfurt, but for those 2% of us who obsess about things like this, if the pilot gets the hiccups and they have to divert to Reykjavik or something like that, your considerations are: 1) if you have bought a 'SuperSparPreis' fare or another "so sorry" type of fare, then the regular, short notice fare you would have to buy to replace your missed train is something like $85; 2) however - - DO download the bahn.de app on your phone, so they can send you notifications - - if the train you booked are are 'tied' to is delayed by something like 20 minutes or more, then you will get an e-mail telling you that you are no longer bound to the train schedule you booked - - you instead are free to take ANY train that follows a similar routing on that day of travel; since so many Bahn trains are delayed nowadays, this could be your 'get out of purgatory free' card, but do download the app so that they can send you the notification that you can take any train if there is a delay; 3) another option is to buy travel insurance that will protect you in case of your pilot getting the sniffles and needing to land at Gander - - but look at the fine print - - you only have 1:45 time for connection, and the (yearly coverage) insurance I have only protects if 2 hours were allowed for the transfer. You pay your money, you have a good time no matter what, as you will.

nylilly

I so appreciate your confident wit! Danke. I know it all be fine…unless, of course, I miss a flight like that time in Barcelona when my son and I had a far too leisurely lunch which resulted in our being denied boarding to our flight and necessitated our taking a combination of 3 buses to get to Lisbon. Nah, it’s all going to go perfectly - and if it doesn’t, we’ll figure it out!