jezzi111

Hello,
Hoping for some general advice, I am arriving in Berlin 20/4/20 and leaving Germany 26/4/20. Berlin was my mums choice but I'm not 'feeling it'. I keep hearing it is amazing and no doubt it is and I will have my mind changed but places like the castle & romantic roads and the Black Forest area seem to peak my enthusiasm.
Is it possible in this time frame to do a couple of days in Berlin and then travel away from Berlin, I'm heading to Prague afterwards. Where and what is a great way to do this?
Where should I stay in Berlin- Mitte or the East side?
Do I need to leave Berlin to experience a less city like part of Germany?
Thank you!!!

Cowboy1968

Hi - the most obvious (and easiest) day trip from Berlin would be to Potsdam.
Castles, gardens, compact old town.. no big city feeling at all.
https://www.spsg.de/en/palaces-garde...dens-overview/

Berlin may be a big city of almost 4 million, but there is not much of a metropolitan area to speak of. An hour on the train will already put you in the middle of nowhere.

On your way to Prague, you can do a stopover in Dresden. I hope the local Fodorite will read this and offer his great advice on his city and surrounding countryside.

In general, April is usually a bit hit and miss regarding weather. It can be cool and rainy, or almost hot and sunny. Both would be "normal". And I think it's more comfortable to be in an urban area where you can spend the odd rainy day easily inside in any museum rather than getting soaking wet in the romantic Black Forest.

lavandula

Hi jezzi111, when in Berlin Mitte is a good place to stay. It is the former East anyway. I don't therefore think it makes a big difference, but further east might be a bit cheaper. However try to stay near a metro station as that will help you out a lot. Berlin is a big, sprawling entity and you will need the metro to get around. If you want somewhere else in Germany then think about Dresden because it is on the way to Prague and you can take a detour without much trouble and you will get your fill of big stately buildings. Save the Black Forest for another day. If you crave landscapes then the area between Dresden and Prague is beautiful and may be worth a detour.

Lavandula

lavandula

Oh snap, we were posting at the same time! 😊

Macross

We are going end of May and I felt the same way. I am going to do a bike tour with fat tire, some museums and maybe a walking tour. My husband really wants to go and have put it off for years. I love Bavaria. Anyhow, I found these interesting apartments. We booked seven olives. I am hoping we have a bit of sun for our patio.

https://berlinlofts.com/en/rentals/search

MarcTraveler

We went to Berlin with my wife because she wanted to go for years now but my experience was not as expected. I was expecting to find a certain atmosphere there, like it can be found in London for example. But, to me Berlin is not modern, there is nothing rustic or interesting. I thought that going there to learn more about the history will shock me to my core or help me understand better our "society". But everything was not well explained concerning the historical sites and if you want to have audioguides, you need always to add 5/6 more euros.

Moreover, I felt not safe in the city, especially at night.

I was disapointed of Berlin and my wife was too.

jezzi111

Thanks everyone!! I have decided to stay in Mitte for the whole time but I booked a nice hotel (compared to the cheapest ones we could find in other places) that is walking distance from Tiergarten & the zoo. And will do some day trips from there. Thanks again!