Reichstag
 

We will be in Berlin in NOvember and want to visit Reichstag. I have just read there is a restaurant and that is one option to see the dome instead of the other reservation system. I understand you need to provide information for secuity purposes to dine or do the tour only. Any thoughts as to do the tour or do lunch. About how long does it usually take for the visit?

Tour and Lunch are not mutually exclusive. You can do both in no particular order as I describe below.

I have done the breakfast option. There are four things on the rooftop: the rooftop where you can walk around, the audio guide counter (west side), the dome, and on the other side of the dome looking from the audio guide counter is the Käfer rooftop restaurant (east side.)

I used http://www.feinkost-kaefer.de/english1/?start=home, "Restaurants", "German Parliament", "Contact Restaurants."

This is how it worked.

1. I filled up the online contact info. I got a reply back by email confirming the time/date with further request for me to 1) confirm the reservation 3 weeks before and 2) provide passport and other personal info for security check.

2. The breakfast reservation was at 9am, BUT, we got to the ground level security trailer setup at the west side of the building at 8:15am and were allowed to proceed.

3. We went thru airport like metal detector and then told to wait in a group with other people. You cannot just walk up to the building. You need to be escorted to the entrance.

4. You go thru trap door security entrance, then grouped into a unit that fits in a elevator and get escorted to the top.

5. When you step outside the elevator, you are at the audio guide counter. Grab an audio guide and start the visit of the dome.

We were done with the visit of the dome - walk up one spiral and down another, and we had about 5min to return the audio and walked around the rooftop a little bit before the restaurant opened at 9am. The restaurant filled up quickly. After the breakfast, we walked around the rest of the rooftop and the photo exhibit at the bottom of the dome before heading down the elevator. I followed the audio guide instructions and listened to most of the guide pointing out the landmarks I could see from the dome. I think you might want a little bit more time if you listened to all the guide.

The bottom of the dome and the restaurant are in the same physical level as well as in the same security area, so you can go back and forth between the two. This was not clear to me until I actually saw the layout. I thought the guide books I read were poor in describing the fact that eating the touring were not mutually exclusive activities.

Great information. So I am thinking we will do the Insider's walking tour at 10 which will start at Hackescher Market and end at Brandenburg gate. I believe it is a 4 hour tour. For the remainder of the day we'd like to vist Reichstage, Memorial to the Murdered Jews (Tues- Sunday 10-7) and Unter den Londen. Now I need to decide on the order so that I can make our reservation at Reichstage. I don't know how long we will need at the Memorial to Murdered Jews so my thinking was to do it first since Reichstag is opened late. Thoughts on this??? Also, other than a beautiful boulevard what else does Unter den Linden offer... shopping?? If shopping, how late would stores be open?

I hate to tell you that right now the middle section of Unter den Linden is an ugly construction zone due to subway construction. That is pretty much the story of many central areas of Berlin. The time at the Memorial to Murdered Jews depends on how much the monument moves you and how long the security line takes to get into the info center down below. During the day, even though the security line was perhaps only 20 yards long, it moved very very slowly. The outdoor memorial portion is always open.

<i>I hate to tell you that right now the middle section of Unter den Linden is an ugly construction zone due to subway construction.</i>

Do you know if this will still be the case in April/May of next year?

FYI on the Insider Tour, if it's the "original walk", it runs LONG. The day I took it, it was 5 1/2 hours; it is excellent but it runs very long, more depending on how your group participates. So plan accordingly if you want to make a reservation for the Reichstag after that. Also, I'd recommend a tour of Parliament instead of just going to the dome. It is fairly quick and I learned a lot about German government and the history of the building, which is quite interesting.

Agree with Greg on Unter den Linden, it was construction much of the way...

Ha, Unter den Linden was a building site when we first visited Berlin in April 2005!! So I wouldn't hold my breath.

I'm not into shopping but there are lots of interesting buildings/open spaces on it or just off - ones that immediately spring to mind are the Staatsoper (where we took a tour), the Neue Wache (New Guardhouse) and its very moving memorial to the victims of war & tyranny, Bebelplatz & St Hedwig's Cathedral, Frank Gehry's DZ Bank & I.M. Pei's extension to the Deutsches Historisches Museum. IMO it is the heart of Berlin and has to be done.

However, tidy, your one day itinerary sounds more like a 2 day itinerary to me! And I hope you won't overlook all the excellent museums and galleries.

tidy - if they are still digging up Unter Den Linden then its attractions are limited. but there is still a lot to see and i'd rank the Deutches Historisches Museum well towards the top of the list.

with that and the rest of Caroline's list you could hardly go wrong.

amyb, thanks for the info on the length of the tour. And yes, we will visit museums on other days. I think after the walk we will take a break, then do the memorial and then maybe another break or dinner and then do Parliament as it is open late. You are right that it is a full day but all is in that area.

I have just requested a guided tour but I did not have a 2nd or 3rd option. How soon should I hear if I got that tour because I would like to make a reservation for the Underground tour but can't make that until I know what happens to this reservation.
FYI we are doingthe Deutches Museum another day and we will forget Unter Den Linden.
Does anyone know what Kudam St is? I had a note to visit it but now can't figure out why I had written that.

You most likely mean Kufurstendamm, which is the main shopping street similar to Paris' champs élysées. Up to you how much time you spend there. I stayed right off it and found myself leaving the area to do everything I wanted to do!

We acually got confirmation this AM for our guided tour.

I'd compare the Ku'damm more to London's Leicester Square - mostly fairly tacky not elegant, and even has burger stands. On our 3 trips to Berlin so far, we went there once on the first and never again. If you are there, though, it's quite fun to take a quick lunch in the enormous food hall at KaDeWe, which I believe bills itself as the world's largest department store.

I think Ku'damm was once a premier shopping street, but after the unification, it is far too west of the city center compared to now more cental Potsdamer Platz, Friedrichstrasse, etc. I was in Ku'damm earlier this month, and the section near the U-bahn Ku'damm station felt more like a place to hangout for the youth.

when we went to Berlin a few years ago, we never got to the Ku'damm - we were far too busy explored Mitte and the surrounding area. So much to see!

if you go to the western part of Berlin, go further west than Ka De We and the Ku'damm station.
You will find all high end stores, many restaurants and good hotels in the area.
I stayed in Mitte a couple of times ( more to see), in July last year I got a great rate for a hotel in the West and found the area more enjoyable than expected.

Well this day just became less busy. I found out that the Memorial to the Murdered Jews is closed due to construction. We of course can visit the outside but not the museum.