JulieAgain

My husband & I will have 6 full days in Berlin, with 1st day on Thursday, May 6, 2010 (so no Wednesday). This will be our first visit to Germany. After 2 day trips, we are left with 4 full days for Berlin touring. We are staying at the Radisson Blu in Mitte. I've read some tour books & Fodor's posts, and researched online. I pasted the pertinent info onto a document & will take that info & one tour book with us. As you can imagine, the info I've gathered is rather massive.

I would greatly appreciate some suggestions for grouping the places we want to see/do/visit into a workable daily itinerary, so we can maximize our time & not run back & forth to different areas of the city. Here are the main items on our list -

One day - Potsdam
One day - Sachenhausen Concentration Camp
One day - Checkpoint Charlie/Museum, Topography of Terror, Memorial to Murdered Jews, walking that area
One day - Reichstag, and........?
One day - Original Berlin Walking Tours - HITLER, NAZIS, & SECOND WORLD WAR on Tue, Thu, Sat, or Sun, and..............?
One day - Maybe Original Berlin Walking Tour of Discover Berlin, and/or.............?

We'd also like to:
1. stroll around Tiergarten & the Flea Market on Sat or Sun
2. stroll along Unter den Linden between Alexanderplatz / Brandenburg Gate, & wandering off North & South
3. German Resistance Memorial
4. Stroll around Potsdamer Platz
5. Stroll around Ku'damm/KaDeWe

I'm sure it is obvious that we are excited about visiting Berlin & want to see so much. Hope someone can help us put it all into a workable daily itinerary.

Don't mind if anyone wants to suggest a "must see" that I have left off of our list, or provide comments about the places on our list.

Thanks, Julie

treplow

I'll be in Berlin from May 22, to May 28. This will be my third visit to Berlin (1st: 1965, driving through East Germany to Berlin and East Berlin; 2nd 1988). This time (just for your reference): Berlin bridges boat tour on the Spree River; Museum visits plus model train exhibit at Alexanderplatz; Potsdam; unofficial city tour on Bus 100/200; lunch or dinner at the Kaefer in the Reichstag; just poking around, including visit to KADEWE depot. store (probably for lunch); if time left, boat tour to/on Wannsee

danon

Berlin has some first class museums and galleries - if that is your interest.

hermank

Hi, I cannot suggest an itinerary,but my wife and I will also be visiting Berlin during September 2010. Please let me know what your eventual itinerary is and how would you change it after your visit? we will be spending 4 days there.

Michael

I recommend Peter Fritzsche's <u>Berlin Walks</u>. It is more than ten years old, but the information is on the whole still valid, and it is one of the best guidebooks I've read when it comes to explaining the social history of a city.

On a more specific note, I recommend the full boat tour of Berlin (doing the round trip through the Landwehr Kanal and returning on the Spree. The trip starts at the Jannowitzer (sp?) Brücke.

Cowboy1968

Given your strong interest in history, you could add the Jewish Museum to your list.
Another one would be the Museum of the (Western) Allied Forces.
http://www.alliiertenmuseum.de/en/0.php

The German Resistance Memorial is, to be honest, not much to look at. I doubt that you will need more than 15 minutes for that.

I'd put the Reichstag at the end of any given day because the queues are usually shorter then. Having lunch or dinner at the Käfer restaurant will let you use a special entrance with usually no or a very short queue (but you pay for that luxury through the quite overpriced menu of the restaurant).

You can combine your day trip to Potsdam with a boat ride, going to Wannsee station by suburban train, and take the boat from there.

Potsdam will see more tourists on weekends than on working days, so it would be good to avoid it especially on Sunday.

Before you set your itinerary in stone (and few activities really demand a commitment on a certain day) I'd group them in "outdoors" and "indoors". Meaning that it makes no sense to go to Potsdam on a rainy day, and have your museum day in bright sunshine.

valtor

I would add Museumsinsel (Museum Island), where there are the most outstanding museums of eastern Berlin, including the Pergamon Museum.
Also, visit Charlottenburg Palace and its museums.

JulieAgain

Thank you everyone. Great info. And thanks for the link, Cowboy1968. I printed off the info; looks like something we will be interested in seeing.

hermank, I will come back sometime (but before Sept) after our trip & do a trip report - must do so to pay back all of the great help I have gotten on this Fodor's board!

Well, no itinerary yet, but maybe more to come. As a last resort, I can sit over a Berlin map & get it altogether. It's just that we leave on April 10, my time is getting much shorter, & I have so much to do!

Thanks everyone for your help & input, Julie

yk

I definitely would add the world-class art museums; as well as Jewish museum.

If you're interested in the Cold War period, I'd also add:
1) East Side Gallery
2) Stasi Prison (check this segment of my trip report, so you can check for the English tour: http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...omment-5983081 )

Mainhattengirl

I would do a walking tour on your first day there, to give you the best idea of where things are, a chance to ask a guide for their insider information and if you like the tour, go back and do some more that follow your interests. Cold War tours, 3rd Reich tours, Jewish History in Berlin, that kind of thing. These walking tours only cost around 12 € per person, so they do fit in most budgets.

All of the walking tour companies in Berlin offer tours out to Potsdam and to the Sachsenhausen Concentration Camp. My daughter and I found them to be excellent, with tons of information that we probably would not have gotten just on our own. We did all of our tours with "Insider Tours", a highly recommended company that has been operating in Berlin for over 14 years.
www.insidertour.com

JulieAgain

Thank you yk & Mainhattengirl. I printed off all of the info for the links you gave me. Both sound like what we will be interested in seeing.

Mainhattengirl, for the Insider Tours to Sachsenhausen & Potsdam,
1. did you travel as a group on the train, or does the company use its own tour buses? If on the train, do we need to buy our tickets in advance, or buy from the guide?

2. Once in each place, how long was spent on the actual touring & was it all walking?

3. Did you return as a group, or could you stay & tour more on your own? I like to take lots of photos & usually as a group that doesn't work out well.

Thanks, Julie

swisshiker

Hello JulieAgain

Museumsinsel (Museum Island) is definitely not to be missed. As has been said, world class!! They've got a great pass that includes most of the museums on the island, including the Pergamon with the Ishtar Gate and the Altar. The Egyptian collection has recently been moved to the Neues Museum, and the website recommends getting a reservation as it is very popular. Easy to do online. Also included in the pass is the Old Masters Gallery (and others) at the Kulturforum. Well worth the visit here as well.

You can take a free guided tour of the Reichstag, where they talk about the building's history and architecture. Afterwards, you can go up to the dome without having to wait in the long line outside. Reservations are required for the tour, and you can do this online as well. When I requested the tour, I received my confirmation within a week, so maybe you'd still have enough time.

We'll be in Berlin for a week just shortly before you. It is exciting to do the planning. This will be our second time to the area, and I can hardly wait!

Mainhattengirl

On our tour to Sachsenhausen, the website said to purchase your own train tickets and which one it should be, a few of the people did not know how to do this, so the guide helped. Rode as a group on the train there and back, but I would imagine if you wanted to stay there longer you could. If I was doing this tour again, I think I would have done this and also gone over to Ravensbruck, as they are very near each other. The whole tour, from start to finish, including train travel, was about 6 hours. We thought the guide did a very respectful, informative tour, including personal stories from people who had spent time there. My daughter, who is half German and was 17 at the time, was really moved by this tour and was quite glad that we went on it. She asked lots of questions and the guide was able to answer all of them.

JulieAgain

Thanks Mainhattengirl for the additional info. We are definitely going to the camp.

swisshiker, thanks for your info too. I contacted for the Reichstag tour & was advised it was full for all days we will be there. So, guess we will just wait in line - no big deal.

Julie