TravellerK

Hello, folks!First post ever cause I really need help to finish my itinerary for Berlin. I'll be there in July, arriving on a saturday (noon) and leaving a week later, on a sunday (8:30 PM). Berlin has so many things to do I've realized that I won't be able to do everything I want. So, I`m asking for help to know if I`m covering the major attractions and, mostly, to know if waht I`ve planned for each day is doable without rush.

I'll be travelling with my wife, we're in our 30's and in good shape. We like to walk around, people-watching, and also love museums, history and culture. We'll stay near Lutzowplatz. The plan is as it follows:

Saturday (Berlin Wall day): arriving at 12 PM; check-in; take the U-bahn to see the East Side Gallery; walk to and around Alexanderplatz; U-bahn to Berlin Wall Memorial@Bernauerstrasse.

Sunday (Contemporary Art day): Hamburger Banhof; guided tour to Sammlung Boros; Tacheles; Berlinische Galerie

Monday (Under den Linden day): Brandenburger Tor; Bebelplatz; Humboldt University; Neue Wache; Deutsche Historisches Museum; Gendarmenmarkt.

Tuesday (Potsdam day): day trip to see Schloss Sans-Souci and gardens, Charlottenhof and Cecilienhof. Checkpoint Charlie after return to Berlin.

Wednesday (Kudamm day): breakfast at Winderfeldtmarkt; Gemaldegalerie (buy the 3-day MuseumPass); Potsdamer platz (Film Museum and Sony Center); Kudamm (KWG Kirche, KaDeWw, Savignyplatz).

Thursday (Museum Island day): Pergamon, taking as many time as necessay; break to see the Berliner Dom; lunch at Hakesche Hofe; return to MuseumInsel, since it will be open until 10PM and go to Neues Museum and Altes Nationalgalerie.

Friday (WW II day): Olympiastadion (arrive at opening hour, 9AM); Haus der Wansee Konference; Holocaus Memorial; Topographie des Terrors.

Saturday (Bundestag day): We have booked guided tour to the Bundestag at 1h30 PM. After that, we will stroll through the Tiergarten. What could we do in the morning, before the Bundestag?

Sunday (Charlottenburg day): Schloss Charlottenburg and gardens. Departure flight at 8h30PM. Would we have time to do anything besides Charlottenburg?

In July Berlin has sunlight until 9PM?

Sorry for the looong post. Any suggestion will be really appreciated.

Thanks in advance.

treplow

Last question first: Yes, daylight lasts late;the EU is on dailight savings time, and you are quite a bit north in terms of latitude.

Overall,you seem to cover things pretty well. If you find that you have bitten off more than you can chew, so to speak, you an always adjust your schedule.

A few suggestions. On the first day, if the weather cooperates, take a Spree/Landwehrkanal boat tour. This will give you a nice overlook of the major parts of the city and a glance of the places you plan to visit later.

Alexander Platz is more a traffic hub than sights. Chances are, you will be changing traffic modes there at any rate, so you don't have to make it a separate outing.

Reichstag: I did not take the tour, but made a reservation at the "KAefer" restaurant in the building for afternoon coffee. That gives you a specific time, and you don't need reservations (and now waits!)for the Bundestag section. You can easily do your own thing. They gave me a brochure that explained everything very nicely. Besides, the Eisbecher (parfait) was sinful! For the Kaefer, you enter the building from a side door.

Potsdam: There I took a hop-on/hop-off type of bus, right in ront of the RR station.They take you to some of the key points, including the forbidden city during the Russian occupation and Cecilienhiof, where I skipped a bus. I finally got off the bus at the palace stop, and again did my own thing, finally taking a city bus back to the station.I regret that I did not spend any time to visit the old (restored) part of the city. Nice place to eat or have afternoon coffee is Moevenpick,right across from the back side of the palace.

Cowboy1968

WOW..you sure found a bit more than the usual suspects for your itinerary.

In early July sun rises bit before 5am and sets at 9.30pm. So you will have until 10pm till it gets really dark.

Day by day

Saturday
Take U-Bahn to Schlesisches Tor, walk 10min across Oberbaumbrücke/ bridge to East Side Gallery. Also at night you have a nice view over the river to the city center east from the bridge.
Don't walk to Alexanderplatz from there. It's a dull long walk along an 8 lane thoroughfare. You can take the S-Bahn from Warschauer Str. (5min walk from East Side Gallery)

Sunday
If you are into photography, try the c/o Berlin gallery (near Tacheles)

Monday
There isn't much to see at Humboldt Uni except the exterior.
Check out current exhibition at the Guggenheim on Unter den Linden if there is anything you like.

Tuesday
Not sure if you still be up for a visit of Checkpoint Charlie (and probably the museum?) after a long day in Potsdam.
It may fit in better on Monday as you will visit just one museum then, and you will be in the neighborhood (assuming that both museums are open mondays).

Wednesday
The Film Museum is very much geared towards the history of film in Germany, not film in general. It's fine if you know what to expect, but unless you are an aficionado you won't recognize too many actors or directors. But there is a nice Dunkin' Donuts next to the Film Museum ;-)

Friday
I understand that you wish to group the sights thematically, but the Olympiastadion (which has a tower for a better view of the area), Haus der Wannsee-Konferenz and the Memorials are scattered over very different parts of Berlin.
Holocaust Memorial and Topography of Terror would be easier to incorporate into your Monday itinerary.
The House of the Wannsee conference could fit into your Potsdam trip (geographically). But probably too much for one day. But works in combination with Olympiastadion.
Or you walk from the House to Glienicker Bridge and Palace along the Wannsee (appr. 1- 1 1/2 hrs), see the Russian church of Nikolskoe in the forest, have a rest at one of the beer gardens on the lake, and take the bus to Wannsee S-Bahn station. Or take a dive into the lake.

As you still have some hours left on your last two days, I would not fill those up already. But rather leave them as a buffer for the sights you might not have time or energy to visit during the week.

Have fun!

danon

Hamburger Banhof and Berlinsche Galerie are long way from one another.
You have made it a very full schedule..... a lot of time inside museum and galleries.

Berlin has a number of great spots to relax outdoors for a few hours and sample excellent German beer.

TravellerK

Thanks for your comments!

Treplow, a boat tour was in my plans, but I had to give up on it. I'll try to put it back, but I don't think it will be on our first day.

When I say Alexanderplatz, I'm including the arounds, like the TV Tower (without going up), the Rathaus, the Marx-Engels Forum, maybe the Nikolaiviertel. Too much? From what I've read, there's no more lines for the Bundestag with the booking thing. And I'm interested in the history of the building besides the cupola and the only way to walk inside it is through a guided tour. Thanks for the Potsdam infos.

Cowboy, thanks for the tip on the ESG-Alexanderplatz walk. Gonna take the U-Bahn. About C/O, according to their website, the only exhibition taking place is about Larry Clark. Not my thing. The Guggenheim will be exhibiting Roman Ondák. Don't know, but will do a research.

I'll remanage Checkpoint to another day. But I guess I won't spend much time there. I've read that the documentation center at Bernauerstrasse is much more interesting, right?

I'm aware of the Film Museum focus. Love Fritz Lang and german expressionism. We want to know more about Dietrich and Riefenstahl also.

Thinking about danon's comment, I'm inclined to drop the Wansee House in favor of more free time.

When I finished the first draft of this itinerary, I had the same feeling that I would be spending most of the time indoors, loosing the real Berlin. That's the "problem" with this city: there's so much interesting things to do! Eight days are not near enough. But I have no idea, besides the Wansee House, of what I want to left aside.

One other question: I think the Philarmonic will be off-season in July, right? There will be any lunch concert, or any concert at all? Couldn't find anything scheduled for the Philarmonie and the Konzerthaus sites for the days we'll be there.

Thanks!

PatrickLondon

I agree that there's not a lot to see actually in and around Alexanderplatz (unless you have tickets to go up the TV tower, but even in the depths of winter I noticed there was quite a gap before the next time-slot would be available, so you would need to book in advance, I suspect). On your Wall day, you could instead stop off at Friedrichstrasse station to see the (free) exhibition about the Wall and people's experiences of dealing with it, in the former "Tränenpalast" (the extension building which used to be the border crossing-point).

Cowboy1968

Yes, you may spend quite a time indoors. But you also have the walks from one sight to the next.

In July, it may come as a blessing in disguise that you have many (air conditioned) museums on your list. Last years, temps often hit upper 90s. And few real Berliners hang out at in touristy Mitte in the baking heat then anyway. The usual hang outs would be the artificial city beaches along the Spree river.

In summer, most "street life" won't start until 10 or 11am. But lasts longer into the night.
If you want to catch more of the local atmosphere, you can just walk around and between subway stations Görlitzer Bahnhof and Schlesisches Tor in Kreuzberg in the evening.
Or around Kollwitzplatz and Wasserturmplatz to subway station Eberswalder Str. for a touch of Prenzlauer Berg.

Each district has its focal points for pubs and restaurants, and most "hotspots" advertised in travel guides are now geared towards the tourists' tastes. The latter is especially true for Mitte / Hackescher Markt area.
But the Savignyplatz area still is a good spot for somewhat more upscale (but not that much more expensive) restaurants and bars, and quite close to your hotel.

For more info on what's on or what's hot or not you can check
http://www.exberliner.com/visiting
or
http://visitberlin.de/en

sssteve

K:

I think you've covered just about everything. Berlin is a very lively city and we enjoyed our recent visit very much.

Maybe my web page on our visit will help you in your planning.

http://www.travel.stv77.com/berlin/berlin.htm

danon

I don't know what time in July you'll be there...
Two summers ago, third week in July, I had to buy a jacket because it was rather cool , then it turned really warm after 3-4 days.
Last year, second week in July, it was mild with occasional rain.

danon

I also like Savignyplayz especially if you stay in the western part of the city.
Rather upscale and not very touristy.

Berlin is addictive.....I am going again in mid. July

TravellerK

Thanks for all the links.

Sssteve, I've read your trip report before. Found it here in the forum when doing my research. It is really useful!

Berlin really seems addictive! I'm looking forward to it.

danon

Don't know if you are interested, but this is a great gallery


The Neue Nationalgalerie was opened in 1968 as the counterpart to the Nationalgalerie located on the Museumsinsel Berlin (Museums Island Berlin) in the eastern part of the city. As part of the Reunification, a collection of 20th century art is now located in the spectacular building by Mies van der Rohe.

The focus of the collection is on works by representatives of cubism, expressionists, of the Bauhaus, surrealism of the Group Zero and of American color-field painting as well as artists like Pablo Picasso, Ernst Ludwig Kirchner, Paul Klee, Max Beckmann, Otto Dix

danon

P.s.
Bundestag Tour is very interesting...make sure it is not on the days the Dome os closed ( several days in July)

TravellerK

I've read about Neue Galerie, Danon, but have put them aside. And so many other things! The Zoo, the thousands of other museums, the turkish neighbourhood, Grunewald, Saschenhausen Camp, the Stasi sites, so many parks... Oh, I guess this won't be our only trip to Berlin!

I don't even know if we'll be able to do everything we've planned, since we are flexible and won't mind scratch something if we are enjoying elsewhere. And won't be worried if we leave Berlin willing to return in the future

The dome will be open when we got there, thanks!