Potsdam - drive or train? stay the night?
 

Hi - I am planning a trip to Germany and we want to visit Potsdam from Berlin. We are going to rent a car at some point to drive down to Dresden and sites south. My question: should we:
1) Rent the car in Berlin, drive to Potsdam in a morning, see some sights, stay the night and then see more of Potsdam and leave that afternoon?
2) Take a train to Potsdam in the morning, see some sights, stay the night and rent a car in Potsdam to continue on our trip?
3) get on a tour from Berlin that takes us to Potsdam in a day

I guess my main question is - is there ample parking in Potsdam for a rental/is it worth it? We like to meander so I'm suspecting we'll need to stay a night to see the sights of Potsdam (the two main palaces, the town, maybe the brewery). Forgive my ignorance - we were last in Croatia where parking was a real issue and we don't want to get the car earlier than we need to but we don't want to be dragging luggage on the train for one night either (I tend to overpack).

Your comments are welcomed (other than comments about me overpacking!!!!)

If you are planning to do both palaces inside and outside that is going to take some time. They are within walking distance of one another but that walk is going to take more than just a few minutes.

Are you willing to take the train out, do the visit, take the train back to Berlin and stay overnight and then go to Dresden the next day?

IMO a lot depends on just how much you want to do and see in Potsdam

Potsdam is super easy to get to from Berlin by train, by yourself. There are buses and trams that get you from the Potsdam train station to any of the palaces as well as to the center of town (if you want to see the center - it's OK, nothing special). You of course might get more out of a guided tour, but it's not necessary at all.

I'm not sure why you would want to spend a night in Potsdam. Would you find it easier to drive a car out of Potsdam than out of Berlin or something?

You could of course take the train to Dresden too. But I have no idea what you are planning to do after that that would require a car. If there are more than two of you, driving can be more economical than driving.