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Where to stay in Berlin and Berlin must-dos please?

22 replies

Celeriacacaca · 18/06/2018 19:11

We are going in August, getting train after a few days in Prague, so I'd like to know which area we should stay in. 2 x Teenage DCs plus us, so easy for us to use public transport and walk a lot. It'd be good to be in a neighbourhood, rather than tourism central.

Also, what must we do while we are there please? DD is doing GCSE history so want to include a few relevant sights for that.

OP posts:

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amysaurus87 · 18/06/2018 19:22

I love Berlin, it's my favourite city in Europe! I'd recommend doing:

Checkpoint Charlie

East Side Gallery, there's a huge stretch of the wall still in tact.

Sachsenhausen Concentration Camp

Reichstag Building, you used to be able to go up into the dome if you emailed passport details in advance, no idea if you still can.

I can't think of anything else right now! Hope you have a lovely trip!

Ricekrispie22 · 19/06/2018 06:41

You can still go up the Reichstag and I highly recommend doing so. You still have to go through the online process with passport etc... and request a time slot but it's worth it and free! We went up as it was getting dark and the city lights were coming on. Fascinating to look down into the building as well. Allow about an hour for your visit. From the top you get a good view of the Brandenburg Gate, but I advise walking through it on foot to fully appreciate it.
By far the best museum for history was the GDR museum. The queue was long but we are so glad we did it. It's really hands-on and there was so much to do and absorb that my mind was blown before we had done the whole museum!
The Topographie of Terror was very sensitively presented and another free museum worth going to.
For a more light-hearted experience, but no less fascinating, I recommend the Spy Museum. Again, you could spend hours there are not do it all. We loved it.
I can't suggest somewhere to stay because we stayed in a friends apartment (and I wasn't too keen on the area).

Celeriacacaca · 19/06/2018 20:38

Thank you both - great pointers. Any more for a good area to stay please?

OP posts:

Janek · 19/06/2018 20:38

We stayed in Friedrichshain the first time we went and really liked it, it had a great feel to it. We stayed elsewhere the second time which was 'fine', but Friedrichshain was better!. We noticed when planning where to stay that the public transport is so good that it basically doesn't matter where you are - you can anywhere easily from everywhere!

Celeriacacaca · 19/06/2018 20:52

Reichstag visit booked - it's a very efficient system and thank you again for the tip off as there weren't that many slots left, and this is for mid August!

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RemusLupinsBiggestGroupie · 20/06/2018 21:09

Prenzlauer Berg is a really lovely area; otherwise, I'd probably stay in Mitte for a first visit.

Janek is right though - transport is brilliant and easy,, so it doesn't really matter where you stay.

Personally, I really disliked the DDR museum. For 'proper' history, the following are all excellent:

Topographie of Terror
the wall memorial and info centre on Bernauer Strasse
the exhibition underneath the Holocaust memorial
the Jewish museum
the Soviet memorial in Treptower Park (not a museum, but well worth a trip to see - the pictures really don't do it justice)

I'd recommend a river trip (you can find a range of tours near the DDR museum) and, if time. a trip out to Wannsee.

Janek - can you remember where you stayed in Friedrichschain? Not an area I've seen much of yet, except for the amazing Volkspark Friedrichshain (highly recommended for a picnic on a sunny day).

RemusLupinsBiggestGroupie · 20/06/2018 21:09

And the stunning Karl Marx Allee.

sundaysurfer · 20/06/2018 21:14

Ex-Berliner here. Remus's tips are excellent. In a hurry but I would just add:

hire a bike, bike everywhere (much easier than you think)
Jewish quarter in Mitte

Stay in Prenzlauerberg, Mitte or maybe Kreuzberg.

Altwoo · 20/06/2018 21:47

Hotel Linnen in Prenzlauer Berg is lovely and has great cafes.

Jewish Museum is my favourite. The Fat tire bike tours are a great way to orientate yourselves. Ritter shop is heaven! And try the Unterwelt tour - you can go into actual bunkers.

ComeOnGordon · 20/06/2018 21:51

Can really recommend a Novotel near Tiergarten. Right next to an U Bahn station - rooms for a family of 4 at a good price.
Agree with lots of the other tips. We also enjoyed cake at the top of KaDeWe the famous department store.

Bluemazarine · 21/06/2018 08:32

We've stayed in the Adina apartment in Hackescher Markt- very comfortable for a family of 5 with a wellness area and added bonus of a good cocktail bar 😀. The Reichstag is great, from memory there is a restaurant at the top with great views? We also loved the Pergamon museums, the Dom (cathedral) with bullet ridden walls, and the endless currywurst stands!

PolkerrisBeach · 21/06/2018 09:02

We stayed in the Movenpick hotel which is in a quiet area 1 minute walk from the underground and 5 minutes from Potsdamer Platz.

We loved the trip up the TV tower and the gardens around Museum Island which are nice for lazing on a warm day. Also the Ritter shop near Checkpoint Charlie for cheap chocolate!

PolkerrisBeach · 21/06/2018 09:04

Your Reichstag ticket isn't guaranteed - we had a slot booked for a visit too and due to parliamentary business it was cancelled a week before. Maybe the German parliament is on holiday in August though?

Janek · 21/06/2018 15:46

@RemusLupinsBiggestGroupie We stayed in the A & O Hotel/Hostel - dp had stayed in the dorms a few years previously on a stag do and when we went one Feb it was a really good price (in a new hotel building that hadn't been there the last time) for a family room (double bed for us, bunks for the dds, triple glazing) and some kind if cheap breakfast/kids eat free off too. We went a couple of summers later and it really wasn't at all cheap, not sure what happened/why not, hence us not staying in the sainted Friedrichshain the second time.

RemusLupinsBiggestGroupie · 21/06/2018 21:03

Thanks, Janek. I need to spend more time exploring Friedrichschain.

PolkerrisBeach - we've stayed in the Movenpick a couple of times, and liked it. Location-wise, though, I prefer the Holiday Inn Express in Prenzlauerberg, as it's walking distance from some great bars and a good range of restaurants.

lastnightidreamtofpotatoes · 29/06/2018 19:01

We stayed in a Generator Hostel in Freidrichschain (sp) and it was surprisingly nice. At £79 per night (with ensuite) it was by far the cheapest place we could find. Right beside a bus/tram/train stop too.

Get the Berlin travel card, works out very economical esp if you want to go to the concentration camp.

Not related to GCSE but by accident we got a tour of the Berlin Central Mosque and it was amazing from an architectural/interior perspective.

cortex10 · 29/06/2018 19:16

If you have time sign up to a walking tour of Potsdam - highlight of our last trip.

gerispringer · 29/06/2018 19:20

Potsdam is 20 minutes from the centre of Berlin and is an amazing day out. There so much history there from beautiful parks and castles to the bridge where the leaders met at the end of WW2 and a really scary Stasi prison. There are little districts in the town, a Dutch quarter , a Russian quarter etc with little houses and shops, cafes etc. Really worth a visit.

AnElderlyLadyOfMediumHeight · 29/06/2018 19:22

Honigmond hotel in a slightly backstreety bit of Mitte.

I'd probably book an Airbnb or equivalent rather than a hotel, though. I personally love the area very close to Friedrichshain park (it's actually more Prenzlauer Berg than Friedrichshain). It's on the 200 bus route which goes to Potsdamer Platz and Zoo.

AnElderlyLadyOfMediumHeight · 29/06/2018 19:25

Wall memorial and Chapel of Reconciliation at Bernauer Strasse worth doing. The Grenzerfahrungen museum of the East/West border at Friedrichstrasse is free and everything's in English. It's not huge so can be fitted into a gap.

Boat trip on the Spree is pleasant if it's hot, which, going by the summer so far, is likely.

I love, love, love Pfaueninsel. You can take an old-timer bus (the 218) there and go over on a little ferry. It never seems all that packed out - you can lose yourself there, wandering around, but never actually get lost.

GandolfBold · 01/07/2018 17:14

You can climb to the top of the Grosse Stern which is quite fun, and the TV tower.

We liked the Zoo and agree with climbing the Reichtag Building. Don't forget to take your passport with you.

I agree that its so easy to travel around on public transport.

Oldowl · 01/07/2018 18:31

I have been twice recently with my teens.

Would recommend:

www.neweuropetours.eu/berlin/en/home

Free tour to get your barrings and a brief history of the city.

We used them for the concentration camp too and the Jewish quarter.

We did the Reichstag, zoo, Olympic Stadium tour, East Side Gallery, underground tunnels tour
www.berliner-unterwelten.de/en.html we did tour M.

We went to Potsdam and did the Wansee Conference Villa.

The best bit of the trip was a tip we got on here to do the Stasi Prison Tour. We were taken round by an ex prisoner and his tour and insight moved us all.

www.tripadvisor.co.uk/ShowUserReviews-g187323-d313983-r381856295-Gedenkstaette_Berlin_Hohenschoenhausen-Berlin.html

Enjoy- it is a great city!

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