alison

I will post this on TA and on Fodors. I received great information from both boards and they seem to attract different readers. Forgive the duplication for those of you who read both. And thanks to everyone who posts such great info and patiently answers questions.

My adult daughter and I left our husbands (and her daughter) at home and traveled to Amsterdam and Berlin August 31 to Sept 8, 2012, to celebrate milestone birthdays. The city pair was a great choice. I had been to Amsterdam twice before – 40 years ago and 20 years ago. Neither of us had ever visited Berlin. When I had backpacked throughout Europe in 1972 Berlin was “off the beaten track.” No more!

In summation: Berlin lived up to its rave reviews. I strongly recommend a visit. Truly, one of the great cities.

LOGISTICS: KLM nonstop LAX/AMS, train to Berlin (2nd class, 6 ½ hours, comfortable and easy), TGL/AMS/LAX. We chose to spend 3 nights in AMS and 5 nights in Berlin which turned out to be just the right breakdown – but one could spend much more time in Berlin. Also, I found Berlin to be much cheaper than other European capitals. If you use ice cream as a gauge, we could easily find excellent ice cream cones for 1 euro – which is cheaper than the US (for this quality) and certainly cheaper than other European big cities. The food was fantastic everywhere. The availability of inexpensive but delicious Turkish street food for lunch helped with the budget as well.

WEATHER: We lucked out. Basically 68 degrees (F) every day, with about 10 minutes of drizzle on one overcast day – which was appropriately at the concentration camp. That said, I always had travel umbrella and light rain jacket with me. The long days of sunshine really expanded the time spent seeing sights.

PRE-PLANNING:: Read numerous trip reports on TA and Fodors and photocopied guidebook sections from the library. Purchased Rick Steves’ Berlin Snapshot which was helpful but not essential. Also purchased Borch map of Berlin as recommended on TA ($9.95 from Amazon) which was very helpful for planning and for use in Berlin until I dropped it at one of the museums. (Turns out that’s pretty common – when I went to the desk to see if it had been turned in, the helpful staff person gave me a choice of city maps dropped by others – although none as good as Borch. The free maps at hotels are sufficient for a short stay.)

I find that by reading novels I learn a lot about a place. I re-read Leon Uris’s “Armageddon” (recently re-issued) and found that it really held up. It had a great deal of easily digestible information about the end of World War 2 -- particularly the Berlin airlift, the division of Berlin and the atrocities committed by the Soviets. A new novel, “City of Women,” also gave a good perspective of life in Berlin during the war. I recommend reading some books on WW2 and the Holocaust before visiting Berlin. While unfortunately I didn’t get to Wannsee this trip, I do recommend renting “Conspiracy” to see a chilling depiction of the formulation of the Final Solution. “Lives of Others” is a great film (with subtitles) about life in East Germany and “The Counterfeiters” shows this operation at Sachsenhausen, a concentration camp that is recommended to visit.

DO NOT FORGET TO BOOK REISCHTAG VISIT IN ADVANCE.

HOTEL: Stayed at Circus Hotel and it actually lived up to the hype – read the reviews. If you are not looking for luxury, by all means stay here. The only hesitation would be July/August without air-con. We had a regular double room (asked for courtyard so no noise) and left the window open -- it was fine for 90 euro. For a larger room, add 10 euro for a junior suite. I chose to put the extra money toward the convenience of breakfast at the hotel each day, although cheaper options are certainly available. My daughter had the full buffet each morning (8 euro) and I had the musseli buffet (4 euro). Both were filling and delicious and consumed in the lovely courtyard daily. The neighborhood and location are perfect. Even though the Rosenthaler Platz subway line doesn’t go everywhere (although easy to transfer), the nearby Hackesche Hofe subway station (7 minute walk) has many major lines.

TRANSPORTATION: From Hautbahnof, took taxi to hotel – about 12 euro. To TGL airport we took taxi, about 25 euro. Buses are available but we found taxis far better with luggage. While in Berlin we borrowed an unlimited AB subway pass from the Circus Hotel for discounted price of 4.5 euro per day. We kept this for the entire 5 days. While we may not have used it to its maximum every day, it was worth it just to have it. We walked most places, but were happy to get on bus/tram/S-bahn/U-bahn when we wanted and not hassle with tickets. No one ever checked our pass.

WHAT WE DID (my impressions and recommendations; see attraction reviews on TA for details).

DAY ONE

Jewish Museum -- Because we arrived late afternoon on a Monday, perfect day to visit the Jewish Museum. It is a bit out of the way and open late on Mondays. Libeskind’s building is really worth seeing. It is an architectural marvel. A tram and subway and short walk from Circus Hotel were easier than they appeared and gave us great intro to the ease of transportation all over Berlin. This is NOT a Holocaust Museum, although I believe the downstairs section relating to the Holocaust is the most interesting part. The exhibit called, “Fallen Leaves,” is one of the most affecting memorials/tributes I have experienced. I suggest concentrating on the downstairs and then spend as much time as interest holds for the extensive exhibits on Jewish life. For those with a limited understanding of Judaism there are good explanations of rituals and practices. See the beautiful grounds in the back of the museum. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED, especially for the parts relating to the Holocaust.

Kreuzberg neighborhood (dinner at Hasira) – from the Jewish Museum we wanted to have dinner in a fun neighborhood and this Turkish area (now gentrifying) was suggested. It was two short subway stops away and a fantastic area to walk around. Lots of art galleries, every kind of food – mixed in with Turkish specialty markets and shops. We picked a Turkish restaurant with outdoor seating - Hasir – and it turned out to be one of the best meals of the trip. I LOVE Turkish food and IMHO this was every bit as good as Istanbul. Of course, it helps when it’s a beautiful warm night and there’s great people-watching from our sidewalk vantage point.

Hackesche Hofe – We ended up in this area of courtyards and a plaza almost every night. The ice cream place there is great, but closes by 10 p.m. or sometimes earlier. (fortunately, another ice cream place a block up from the Circus Hotel stays open later – hotel can direct you. Great ice cream, for .9 euro!) We didn’t eat in the restaurants here as it was a bit pricey, but wonderful to walk around and see the various courtyards.

DAY TWO

Walking tour -- Berlin is a walking city – at least the tourist parts. Just as everyone else says, I highly recommend starting with a walking tour. There are so many companies, but we chose Brewer’s Best of Berlin for two reasons: 1) It is 6 hours rather than 4 hours (including some of the old Jewish quarter, starting at the stunning “New” synagogue on Oranienburgerstrasse); and 2) they do a pick up at the Circus Hotel, making it really convenient. This was a great introduction to the city and the almost 7 hours flew by. We touched on all the main sites and this helped orient us and know where to return. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED to do a walking tour your first full day. We ended near Museum Island and easily walked back to our hotel.

For dinner, walked to a non-touristy neighborhood in Prenzlauer Berg and picked Vietnamese restaurant that looked good – many choices of restaurants everywhere. Sorry, didn’t note the name, but it was good! (ice cream for dessert near our hotel). I suggest trying a different neighborhood each night.

DAY THREE

Reischtag -- We had pre-booked a visit to the dome of the Reischtag. You MUST do this in advance. We chose just the dome visit although the 1.5 hour tours are highly recommended by those who have taken them. There are many threads on TA about how to book tickets. The tram from The Circus Hotel took a bit longer than expected – we went to Hautbahanof and 10-12 minute walk from there to Reischtag. I would think there is a faster way by subway. Even though it was overcast that morning, this was a highlight of the trip. Don’t forget to bring your passport and the reservation check-in and security is very efficient. Walking through the dome is other-worldly. Be sure to walk outside for an even better view. COULDN’T BE MORE HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.

Following our visit to the Reischtag, we visited those sites we had seen on the walking tour and to which we wanted to return to spend more time.

Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe – It’s a short walk to the Brandenburg Gate and from there is a cut-through a building to get to the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe. I appreciated this outdoor memorial the second time more than the first. It is very controversial – decide for yourself. As we hadn’t gone to the below-ground exhibit the day before, we stood in a short security line and then visited this excellent exhibit that really gives a thorough overview of the Holocaust and the various communities affected. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED TO SEE THE SITE AND GO UNDERGROUND TO SEE THE EXHIBIT

Topography of Terror – We walked through the entire outdoor exhibit which gives a lot of explanation of the atrocities of the Third Reich – HIGHLY RECOMMENDED to take the time to walk along it. It’s free to go inside and there’s a LOT of information about the Third Reich. You can walk through as much or little as you like.

Lunch Near Checkpoint Charlie – stopped at one of the many outdoor restaurants set up. We had doner kebab the day before, so this time had Turkish Pizza. LOVE the Turkish fast food places.

Tranenpalast (Palace of Tears) – New museum not in all the guidebooks yet. It does give an idea of the heartbreak of the wall, but the English commentary was not great. It’s free, so definitely worth a short stop.

DDR Museum – I didn’t think it was worth the admission fee. I liked seeing the Trabi’s tooling along the street (there’s apparently a tour where you can drive a Trabi) and didn’t think there was that much interesting to see here.

Dinner - For a change of pace, we had Russian food at Gorki Park – again eating outside. It’s a block up from the Circus Hotel. Spinach bliny was excellent.

Buses 100 & 200 --We wanted to see some of the city lit up at night, so we took the infamous Bus 100 or 200 as far as the zoo station and the opposite one coming back. Unfortunately, we didn’t get a double decker for all of it and it’s so much better from up top. We hopped off at the Reischtag where a documentary about the Reischtag was being shown outdoors against the side of the Parliament buildings. This was thrilling to watch, as was seeing the Reischtag and area buildings lit up at night. This was fun and because of our transit pass taking these buses didn’t cost anything extra and was a nice way to spend the evening.

This may have been the only night we skipped ice cream and had giant cups of hot chocolate in one of the many cafes in courtyards around Hackesche Hofe.

DAY FOUR

This was our last full day in Berlin since we were going to Sachsenhausen concentration camp the next day.

Berlin Wall Memorial -- We decided to visit the Berlin Wall Memorial on Berliner Strasse. This turned out to be one of the surprise highlights. We walked from Circus Hotel – about 15-20 minutes – to the beginning of this outdoor exhibit/docu-center. We started at the opposite end of Nordbahnhof, as that’s where we wanted to end up. It’s hard to describe – but the outdoor exhibits and wall fragments give you a sense of what it was like along the “death strip” and you see actual significant wall fragments. My explanation is not doing it justice. And I think some of the exhibits are new enough that it is not explained well in the guidebooks. There is a small, free museum (with clean toilets) and you can walk up for a great view of Berlin. We were surprised that we spent a couple of hours wandering this stretch. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.

Potsdamer Platz and Panorama Punkt - Since the best way to get from Nordbahnhof to KaDeWe was to change trains in Potsdamer Platz, figured we’d take a quick trip out of the subway to see it. Sony Center really was thrilling to see. And Panorama Punkt is half the price of going to the top of the TV Tower (and no wait) and -- since it had been overcast when we were at the top of the Reischtag dome -- we thought it would be nice to have another view of Berlin. The panorama view has two levels. The first has an excellent exhibit about Berlin and then you climb one level higher for even more remarkable views. This was fun to do after we had seen much of the tourist area of Berlin as we could pick out landmarks. RECOMMENDED if it’s a clear day.

KaDeWe – We wanted to experience the food court at KaDeWe and it was a straight shot by subway from Potsdamer Platz, with the subway stop right outside the department store. It is BEAUTIFUL inside and we enjoyed walking around.. The 6th floor food court is amazing, but we’re sorry we ate there instead of the 7th floor buffet. I had assumed it was a fancy restaurant up top, but it was a fairly reasonably priced buffet under a glass-enclosed roof. So, of course we had dessert there of marzipan cheesecake and hot chocolate. Yummy. From there we walked to the Zoo station and an easy ride back to Hackesche Hofe.

Museum of Otto Weidt’s Workshop – This tiny museum is in one of the courtyards of Hackesche Hofe. You can see it in 15 minutes and it’s recommended as a very accessible way to experience one of the stories of the Holocaust. You see the workshop and the old sewing machines and learn the story about one man saving his blind Jewish employees.

Outdoor Market at Hackesche Hofe – I think this is held Thursdays and Saturdays. Lovely to walk around and see the handicraft and food stalls.

Wandered old Jewish quarter for dinner and ended up at Clarchens Ballhaus, which had been pointed out to us on the walking tour. It’s a 100-year old restaurant where they hold dance classes. The outdoor patio is large and lovely and we had GREAT pizza. Found out later, from an Italian, that this is considered the best pizza in Berlin.

DAY FIVE

Sachsenhausen Concentration Camp - We didn’t have time for everything and there are many choices for a day trip out of Berlin including Wannsee or Potsdam (actually, those could be done together as a day trip). We chose to visit Sachsenahausen because my daughter had never seen a camp. I had visited Dachau in 1972 and have been through the camps in Poland on two recent trips. Sachsenhausen is different because it has a varied history as a camp for political prisoners under the Germans and the Soviets, as well as a labor camp (and ultimately death camp) for Nazi victims. We took one of the many day trips offered by various companies and we chose Mosaic because it is non-profit and they only conduct trips to the camp. I’m sure all the companies do a great job and all are reviewed on TA. The departure from Alexanderplatz was also very convenient as it is one subway stop from Circus Hotel. As instructed, we upgraded our AB pass to an ABC (easy with help from a German-speaker as the machines are finicky and German only, 1.6 euro each way) and purchased sandwiches to take with us. The Circus Hotel packed sandwiches for us – about 4 euro each, very reasonable – or we could have purchased at any number of places at Alexanderplatz station. We had a very nice group of 8 and a reasonably good and very accommodating guide. The train ride was short, followed by a 20-minute walk. I am of two minds about going with a guide. Pros: Easy to get on the right train, hit all the main spots, good explanations and some of the guide’s perspective. Cons: there are some museum exhibits that would have been worth more time to see. There are audioguides that probably provide as good commentary as a guide. However, if I had it to do again I would still go with the guide for the live commentary and the convenience. It’s about a 6 hour day – an hour each way and about 4 hours on-site. Very interesting, very sad. VERY worthwhile.

Final Dinner at DuDu’s – an “in” Pan Asian restaurant ½ block from Circus Hotel and recommended by them. Another great meal outdoors (on communal picnic tables) and our dishes were what I’d call “nouveau Vietnamese.” But it was every bit as good as Vietnam. The sushi also looked great. This was the only place where we had a reservation. Loved it!

FINAL IMPRESSIONS – Great city. You can’t beat the combination of historical sites you find in any European city, with the added layers of World War 2, the Soviets, the Wall and the Holocaust. Add to this reasonable prices, GREAT food and the “edgy” vibe and you have a wonderful place to visit. And we didn’t’ even tackle the museums on Museum Island! I would recommend spending a week there. If I were to return (or if I had longer when I was there) I would go to Pergamom Museum, Potsdam, Templehof airfield, Olympic Stadium and Hohenschenhausen Prison.

Special thanks to my daughter for being a great traveler -- I guess i taught her well.

Please let me know if you have any questions.

Alison

pizzocchieri

I also agree that the Berlin Wall Museum is one of the very finest museums of it kind. I am surprised how often people say they practically stumbled upon the place, and were surprised that it turned out to be one of the highlights of their trip. Fault of guidebooks?

I don't blame Berliners one second for tearing down the wall with their bare hands practically, but I am also glad this long terrible section of the wall remains to give such a vivid sense of how it severed the city. I also thought the Documentation Center, with its many video screens with old news footage of the wall going up, the many attempts at escape, was gripping stuff.

http://www.berliner-mauer-gedenkstae...enter-213.html

The Reichstag Dome is, in my book, the greatest single piece of civic architecture of our generation, certainly for Europe and the West. The entire Reichstag is an amazing place to tour and think about, and to come to grips with its meaning. When I stayed in Berlin, I stayed not far from the Dome, which is lit up from the inside at night, and it was entrancing to see the shadows of people moving about at night along the spiral walkways. So much of Berlin is haunting.

danon

I have visited Berlin four times( never shorter than 5 nights) and will probably visit again.
The city is not beautiful, but there is so much history and art to experience....
Its terrific public transit, low prices for excellent hotels, interesting day trips
and, of course , great beer and fantastic cakes keep calling my name.
Agree about Berlin Wall Museum
and the stunning Reichstag cupola.

pizzocchieri

I've seen uglier cities than Berlin, and I found parts of it beguiling. I didn't expect for it to have so many trees, for one thing. The Spree was also quite nice to me.

The European cities that were bombed to smithereens -- Berlin, Athens, Brussels, London, Madrid, etc -- all have vast swaths of undistinguished and even downright ugly architecture, built in haste to house the homeless. I don't think the worst post-war construction in East London is as bad as the worst in East Berlin, yet at the same time, I don't think any new building in London matches the beauty of the Reichstag Dome, and I have the feeling, when I walk through the remnants of pre-war Berlin, I would have thought it the more beautiful city to begin with, were it 1929.

lavandula

I too operate on the ice cream index - I remember one summer visit to Germany in 1997 (pre-euro), I visited friends in Frankfurt and paid a whopping 3 marks per scoop of ice cream, and visited Jena soon afterwards, where a scoop was 1 mark. I was stunned but of course it made sense ... Jena, being in the east and not a major city like Frankfurt, which is expensive anyway, was much cheaper.

Thanks for your trip report, I enjoyed it.

Lavandula

flyme2themoon

alison, thanks for your trip report. i enjoyed reading it and it is definitely useful for a similar itinerary we will be taking next year, around the same time that you went. we are still thinking about the addition of either a night in bruges or 2 nights in krakow to visit auschwitz/berkenau.

i hope you dont mind a few questions - is there any reason why you took the train (was it high speed or regular train?) from AMS to Berlin vs taking a discount airline with a travel time of about 1 hour? Brewers Best walking tour sounds very interesting. without knowing your fitness level, was 6 hours not too physically tiring for somebody who is just of average to below-average level of fitness?

you mentioned you've been to dachau and poland. how would you compare sachsenhausen to auschwitz (sp?) or dachau. we have been to dachau but not auschwitz.

danon

I was also wondering why OP took a train from Amsterdam...
I have flown form Amsterdam to Berlin a couple of times.
Easy.

alison

Train to Berlin: Had posted the question on TA and most people said take the train, although a toss-up. Figured between getting to airport and waiting for plane, would be 4.5 hours total AMS to Berlin. Train was 6 hrs, 20 minutes and brought us right into town in Berlin. Also, purchased as soon as they came on sale 3 months in advance so cost was only 29 euro or 39 euro each -- can't remember which. Even the discount airlines were more The train was an ICE(?) - it didn't make a lot of stops. The key is to take it from Amsterdam Zuid station (not Centrale) in order to not change trains. It was comfy and a nice break. Our hotel packed our breakfast and it was enough for breakfast and lunch and we were in Berlin by 3:20 p.m. I'd say a toss up -- plane or train.
Berlin walking tour -- fine for average fitness. Completely flat and lots of breaks.
Camps -- Sachsenhausen was a completely different experience from Auschwitz or the other camps in Poland. It has a longer history and many groups other than Jews. Part of the story of the camp relates to the Soviets and other political prisoners. It was very interesting. Auschwitz is much more about the Jewish experience and Birkenau is CHILLING. Of all the camps i visited in Poland, Majdanek was the toughest to experience. It would be hard to visit Krakow and not go to Auschwitz, however. I suggest comparing people's reactions to both on TA.
We thought of Bruges and i read up on it, but finally decided to skip it. Can't do everything! If i were to pair a city with Berlin it would be Prague. 2.5 hours by air and a fantastic place to visit.
there is a lot to see in Poland and not sure 2 nights would do it justice. And Auschwitz/Birkenau can take up a whole day (as I recall).
Let me know if you have further questions. You can PM me as alison18losangeles on TA.
Alison

danon

On my first visit to Berlin, I flew to Prague for four days, then took a 2 hour train to Dresden,
Stayed 2 nights in Dresden , train to Berlin - a bit more than2 hours.
Was in Berlin for five days , flew back via Amsterdam.
It was a great trip.

flyme2themoon

thanks alison for your generous offer. i will send you a pm on TA soon as i organize my thoughts around this trip we're planning for next year. as you can tell, im trying to pair ams and ber with another city for a 12 day vacation. berlin and ams are the musts. we visited prague, vienna and budapest some years back so we're not so keen on going back for this trip, at least. for now, it's looking more like bruges vs poland but im leaning more and more towards poland because we are very interested in visiting auschwitz and birkenau. thanks also for you insight on the other camps, it is very helpful input in our planning process.

Cali

I loved reading your trip report, Alison. Brought back wonderful memories of our trip to Berlin two years ago. Thanks.

WillTravel

I've done the Brewer's Walking Tour - I think it went past 8 hours in my case! This was in 2004. Did you have Terry Brewer himself, or another guide doing the tour? This is really the best way to see Berlin.

There's nothing particularly difficult about the walking tour, but do have water and eat breakfast beforehand. I scrambled a bit for both of these (was remedied when we got lunch).

amyb

We probably crossed paths, Alison, as I was there about the same time. I also visited Sachsenhausen with a tour, only I chose Insider Tours for both that and the original city walking tour. I hope to post a report soon, I had a slightly different experience there.

alison

Willtravel, did not have Terry. I had actually heard mixed things about him lately, so was glad we didn't. I heard he only does "special" tours now.
Amyb, will be interested to hear about your experience. I'll check back!
I will be busy on the Italy forum planning a spring trip to Naples and Sicily -- this time with my husband.

eezam

Leaving on Oct.3 for Vilnius, Riga and Tallinn, then on to Berlin. Planning on spending Sunday, Oct. 14th visiting the Reichstag, the Jewish Museum, Memorial to Murdered Jews. Any other suggestions or restaurants would be greatly appreciated.

amyb

^^eezam, I had some incredible meals while I was in Berlin. I will try to get to that part of my trip report in the next day or two! I could not believe how lucky I was to eat so well, unfortunately not many of my pants fit now that I'm home!

owlwoman

Thanks so much for taking the time to write this, doing a mother/daughter trip in April, got some great suggestions from your writings.

ottotoo

i'm glad you had an awesome trip in Berlin, but I can't help but feel that you've only seen the city's touristy side. of course it's only natural to cross these off one's list, but there realy is much to see in the city's individual districts. for example, where I live (Friedrichshain) we have such diverse restaurants, awesome flea markets, and quaint little shops. if you ever find yourself in Berlin again and want to see something off-the-beaten-path, here are some good recommendations:

http://eat-the-world.com/en - food and culture tours that take you on a walking and food-sampling tour of Berlin's various districts. if you're a foodie, this is a must

http://alternativeberlin.com/ - walking tours that take you to see the "alternative" side of the city

http://berliner-unterwelten.de/ - really cool tour of Berlin's underground world, interesting perspective

regardless, i'm very glad you enjoyed our city!

owlwoman

Thank you for the links, I'm going to research more for my trip in April!