Two Full weekdays in Berlin, what to do?

[STEVIEBOY1]

Good morning,

All being well in late May I will be in Berlin and will have two full weekdays to spare there. I have never been to Berlin before, any suggestions about what to see and do & using public transport. I think there are day passes for the local trains, trams, Underground etc. I should be staying near the Ostbahnhof.



Thank You.

 

[gordonthemoron]

Berliner Unterwelten does tours of bunkers from WWII and Cold War, many part of u-bahn stations. U-Gesundbrunnen

Story of Berlin, includes visit to 1970s Nuclear Bunker at the bottom of an underground car park, U-Kurfustendamm

The old Tempelhof airport, there may be tours but I haven't found one yet.

Fritz Musiktours, specialises in Bowie and Hansa studios

Visit the Reichstag, free but you need to book in advance

Hauptbahnhof, Hamburgerbahnhof nearby is an art gallery, U-Nordbahnhof has an exhibition on S/U-bahn during cold war, Ostbahnhof is near Eastside Gallery which is on part of the wall, Holocaust Memorial, Park Friedrichshain which covers a buried Flak Tower (Mont Klamot), biergarten Prater near U-Eberswalderstrasse, Soviet war memorial near S-Treptower Park

 

[northwichcat]

The Brandenburg Gate

Checkpoint Charlie Museum

East Side Gallery

Jewish Museum

Foundation Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe

Potsdam would be worth visiting (a separate city but in zone C of the Berlin transport system) but you probably won't have time to do Potsdam if you only have two days.

Depending what attractions you visit the Berlin Card may be a better option than transport tickets and admission tickets

 

[davetheguard]

Useful information, Gordon.

I've booked a visit to the Reichstag thanks to your link. We are also in Berlin for a few days this summer and this sounds like an interesting thing to do.

We're also going to be very touristy and have a "seven lake cruise" which leaves several times a day from a pier next to Berlin Wannsee S-Bahn station.

 

[The Snap]

Depends what you're looking for out of your day.

We stayed in Alexanderplatz last October, very nice indeed. Plenty going on round the Platz itself, and of course the TV Tower is there too which is worth it, even if just for the photo! Fortunately while we were there it was only a couple of weeks after Oktoberfest so the beer and food stalls were still there.

Sight-seeing wise, other than what has already been mentioned above, the Topography of Terror is worth a visit. In West Berlin, the Gedächtniskirche is also worth a look. We actually used this TripAdvisor guide for one day. We started at no. 1 and followed it to the end. Very useful and saved us having to work it all out ourselves. Most of the sights on this have been mentioned above or by me here, it just puts it into some sort of itinerary.

Shopping wise, Friedrichstraße has plenty to offer, as does Wilmersdorf Straße which is in the heart of West Berlin.

Other things worth a look, although they aren’t really 'activities' that will fill your day or be particularly informative, are the Olympic Stadion and Hauptbahnhof (which is the main train station, and is very impressively modern from the outside).

Being of the younger variety, after we’d seen the main sights, we spent much of our time drinking German lager, much to our enjoyment. Each to their own!

 

[ChiefPlanner]

The old East is by far the best - commend the Soviet Memorial out by Treptower Park , Prenzleaurberg area , (especailly some of the pubs and the beer gardens ) - even hipster and alternative Kreuzeberg.

If you want to get the real history - do the Wansee Museum where the "final solution" was planned - very sobering.

 

[30907]

Assuming you want a bit of rail interest, then apart from the Hauptbahnhof itself, there's the Stadtbahn main line running E-W, and the overground section of U1 from Warschauer Str.

In the suburbs the interurban tram lines Rahnsdorf-Woltersdorf Schleuse, Strausberg-Lustgarten, and Friedrichshafen - Alt Ruedersdorf have older vehicles (not done the last myself); the Wilmersdorf line is the nicest IMO.

There's umpteen more "ordinary" museums, Potsdam is in zone C.... but you only have 2 days.

I'd read up the Berlin Card carefully before buying

 

[EssexGonzo]

All of the above plus....

If you're after a traditional evening meal in a historic setting, this restaurant is worth a try: http://zurletzteninstanz.com

 

[tony_mac]

The Deutsches Technikmuseum?
They do have a decent selection of trains, amongst other things.

http://www.sdtb.de/Englisch.55.0.html

 

[northwichcat]

Assuming you want a bit of rail interest, then apart from the Hauptbahnhof itself, there's the Stadtbahn main line running E-W, and the overground section of U1 from Warschauer Str.

I just remembered when I was in Berlin a few years back I was waiting for a Potsdam train at around 09:15 at the Zoological Gardens station and saw the overnight sleeper from Moscow come through.

 

[gordonthemoron]

There's also the Hohenschoenhausen Stasi prison

 

[STEVIEBOY1]

Many thanks for these suggestions, I will check them out and try to do at least some of them. The old restaurant sounds good as does the Technical Museum. I do want to use the public transport too of course.

The only blot on the horizon, is that the German Rail Strikes seem to have come up again again. I just saw it on another thread here.

 

[duesselmartin]

yes, your spoiled for choice on such a short stay.
If your flying into Berlin, the rail strike should not worry too much. Berlin has an excellent public transport system so you can avoid the DB run S-Bahn, but I am hopeful that by May the labour dispute will hopefully be resolved.

 

[Jegerpizza]

The narrow gauge railway called: Parkeisenbahn Wuhlheide is worth a visit and the Narrow gate line stops right at the Wuhlheide S-bahn station.
http://parkeisenbahn.de/

 

[gordonthemoron]

if flying into schoenefeld during a strike day, you can get bus x7 or 171 to U-Rudow and catch U7 into the city. Takes a bit longer but the u-bahn is frequent. or you could get a taxi to U-Rudow. Only buses serve Tegel

 

[STEVIEBOY1]

yes, your spoiled for choice on such a short stay.
If your flying into Berlin, the rail strike should not worry too much. Berlin has an excellent public transport system so you can avoid the DB run S-Bahn, but I am hopeful that by May the labour dispute will hopefully be resolved.

Yes, certainly there seems alot to do in Berlin, all sounds good.

I am in fact travelling all the way to Berlin by Eurostar and ICE trains, via Brussels and Koln and stopping off in Koln on the way back. So hope the dispute will be resolved by the time that I am due to travel.

 

[47360]

In a couple of days you are not going to see it all. Given the limited time I would suggest on the first day do a walking tour (some of these are free and rely on you tipping the guide) or even better do a bike tour.

Walking all day can be hard work on the feet... but as Berlin is flat as a pancake and very bike friendly, doing a bike tour is easy and a lot of fun. In a few hours you can really get to see the main sites and get a good flavour of what the city is about. Then on your second day you could see some more new places or go back and spend more time at some of the places you saw the day before.

Public transport is great, no ticket barriers .. buy a day ticket, validate it then just hop on and off anything you see. (Regional trains, S-bahn, U-Bahn, Trams, buses and even a few ferries).

For what it's worth, I live one stop on the S-Bahn from Ostbahnhof

 

[ChiefPlanner]

Berlin has so much to do and see - and I have (when visiting my son who lived there for 6 months) - massively overdone it on foot , cramming in too much) - flat as a pancake yes - but - the trick is - to have a couple of pit stops - plenty of welcoming places to stop - rest the feet , have a "kleine bier" - and carry on. Great place.

 

[STEVIEBOY1]

Assuming you want a bit of rail interest, then apart from the Hauptbahnhof itself, there's the Stadtbahn main line running E-W, and the overground section of U1 from Warschauer Str.

In the suburbs the interurban tram lines Rahnsdorf-Woltersdorf Schleuse, Strausberg-Lustgarten, and Friedrichshafen - Alt Ruedersdorf have older vehicles (not done the last myself); the Wilmersdorf line is the nicest IMO.

There's umpteen more "ordinary" museums, Potsdam is in zone C.... but you only have 2 days.

I'd read up the Berlin Card carefully before buying

My trip to Berlin is not far away now. The Stadbahn Mainline that you mention that runs E to W, what route numbers would that be and or what stations to and from. I think it is still possible to travel too on an S or U bahn train that used to go from east to to west with out stopping when the wall was up. I sthat the line you are talking about or is it another line/lines? & if so which numbers.

Are day passes for Zones ABC at 7.40 Euro also valid on the main line & S Bahn within the above city zones as well as on U bahn & Trams?

Many Thanks.

 

[LNW-GW Joint]

My trip to Berlin is not far away now. The Stadbahn Mainline that you mention that runs E to W, what route numbers would that be and or what stations to and from. I think it is still possible to travel too on an S or U bahn train that used to go from east to to west with out stopping when the wall was up. I sthat the line you are talking about or is it another line/lines? & if so which numbers.

S1, S2 and S25 use the north-south tunnel which ran from/to West Berlin under East Berlin, with a stop in the East only at Friedrichstrasse.
This is at right angles to the Stadtbahn which runs west-east via Friedrichstrasse and which used to carry all the main line trains as well as S-Bahn (S3, S5, S7, S75).
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Berlin_S-Bahn
"Berliner S-Bahn" by Peter Bley describes the evolution of the S-Bahn over the years including the DDR period, with many fascinating photos.
Sadly you won't be able to experience navigating Friedrichstrasse with all the fearsome paraphernalia of the iron curtain, with even the train crew having to show passports under armed guard.
Mind you, were are catching up with the DDR at our airports these days.

Personally I'd see what was on at the Staatsoper or the Philharmoniker but that's not for everybody.
I also did a day trip to Dresden when I was in Berlin, quite easy on trains to Prague.
A fascinating city. Old paddlesteamers on the Elbe...

 

[30907]

My trip to Berlin is not far away now. The Stadbahn Mainline that you mention that runs E to W, what route numbers would that be and or what stations to and from.

Are day passes for Zones ABC at 7.40 Euro also valid on the main line & S Bahn within the above city zones as well as on U bahn & Trams?

Many Thanks.

The Stadtbahn core is from Charlottenburg to Ostbahnhof, lots of trains use it.

Tickets are available on all trains except EC/IC/ICE, and on buses - a trip on the top of a 100 bus from Zoologischer Garten is a good intro to Berlin BTW.

 

[johnnychips]

I'm going to Berlin for five days soon and only booked last night, so the reappearance of this thread is a nice bit of serendipity. Thanks for all your tips.

Here's a practical question: my flight arrives at Tegel airport at 2225 on Saturday night. Given I probably won't get my luggage etc till 2300, can anybody suggest ways to get to my hotel near the Ku-Damm...either by public transport or by saying it's too difficult, get a taxi!

 

[30907]

Check out the BVB timetable or use the DB one with your actual address.

IIRC there's a direct bus to Zoo (109) and, as it's Berlin, I'd be very surprised if there was no public transport from TXL at 2300.

In fact the 109 appears to run right along the KuDamm till at least 2355.

 

[johnnychips]

Thanks, that's great advice, as I now realise my Hotel is near the Zoo. Do you know if I can pay on the bus, or have to buy it from a machine/shop before? I do have a lot of Euro coins in my sock drawer if it is exact change.

 

[Bletchleyite]

You can pay the bus driver but the range of tickets they sell is often limited. Change is given within reason.

 

[30907]

BVB website will tell you the fare as well as the times.

 

[johnnychips]

Thanks Neil and 30907 for your helpful advice.

 

[tony6499]

I bought a 3 day travel card from the ticket office/travel centre at Spandau station when I got off the train from Frankfurt, it is valid for 72 hours from the time you validate it on the platform.

I used it on the U Bahn, S Bahn and buses and you also get a book which gives you discounts on various things of interest and restaurants.

 

[M28361M]

I bought a 3 day travel card from the ticket office/travel centre at Spandau station when I got off the train from Frankfurt, it is valid for 72 hours from the time you validate it on the platform.

I used it on the U Bahn, S Bahn and buses and you also get a book which gives you discounts on various things of interest and restaurants.

Is that the Berlin Welcome Card? I can highly recommend it after using it extensively when I visited last year. It acts as a travel card for all Berlin public transport (Bus/UBahn/SBahn/Train) and also gives discounts at a multitude of museums and restaurants.

I had a 3-day ticket. I seem to remember it worked out slightly more expensive than buying a Berlin transport day ticket for each day, but with the attraction discounts it more than paid for itself in the end. You also get a little guide book and map with details of where you can use it.

http://www.visitberlin.de/en/welcomecard has all the info you need.

There are multiple ways to buy it. Buy online and it can be posted to you for a fee, or you can print off a voucher which you then take to a VisitBerlin shop with ID and exchange for a ticket. You can also buy it from BVG ticket machines in Berlin, and then pick up the guide book later from a VisitBerlin shop or a BVG ticket office (if you can find one that is open!)

Note that the ticket alone is valid for travel on public transport, but to get discounts at museums etc, you must have the validated ticket *and* the guide book with you.

 

[tony6499]

That's right, it was the Welcome Card, well worth it as I was there for 3 days and used it to get around and still didn't see half I had planned to though