Help with trip to Berlin
 

My wife and I are planning to arrive in Berlin November 27 and stay 5 days. Then we plan to tour by car and return to Berlin for departure December 17. Would appreciate help with questions.
1- Five days enough to visit Berlin?
2- Well located hotel in Berlin with character< $ 200 per day
3- Suggestions with tour itinenary
4- X'mas events, markets etc...
Thank you for your help.
Alex

whatever you do beware of the 3 box/shell game - it's a scam through and through. Very prevalent around Alexanderplatz.

5 days is plenty to visit Berlin. I've done several 1-2 day trips recently, and while I haven't ever done everything I could, I've enjoyed my visits.

There are several around the city bus tours that may be helpful your first day to get the lay of the land, but Berlin is a very easy city to navigate with subway, bus, tram, or around many of the popular areas by foot.

Several of the museums on Museum island are great (pretty close to Alexanderplatz and the Hackersher Markt (shops and many good restaurants). I like the ancient history museum with some great Mediterranean and middle eastern antiquities.

The area around Brandenburg Gate and the Reichstag are within walking distance of Potsdamer Platz the latter of which has been magically transformed from a no man's wasteland between East and West to a thriving business hub.

The main drag of the old West, K'dam, has one great departement store that should not be missed for the top floor food area - KaDeWe is the name.

You can add a day trip to Potsdam from Berlin. Dresden is about 2hrs by car from Berlin, directly to the south. Definitely worth a couple of nights.

Gotta run now. I'm sure other swill chime in with ideas.

Berlin also have

I've stayted at the Hotel Alsterhof purchased on priceline for about $100/night - simple but pleasant 3* hotel near K'dam, close to a subway stop which made getting around town easy.

Look at biddingfortravel.com to familiarize yourself with pl if you're not a skilled user.

I've used Priceline a couple years ago for Berlin and was pleased with the results (the Westin Grand for a bid of $61 USD, plus taxes and fees). This time around, I found a good deal for my trip in a couple weeks, at http://www.accorhotels.com - a centrally located 3* hotel for 57 Euros per night.

Thank you for input, very helpful