Four days in Germany - where shall I go?

Question

Hi everyone, thanks for reading.

I'm English, and I'm going to Germany for a conference which is on the coast near Lubeck. After the conference I have four days to myself. I'd love to see some more of the country because the bits I have seen have been lovely.

I am flying to Hamburg, and will have half a day to look around Hamburg before I go to the conference. I will also have been shown round Lubeck and had a look round the resorts near the conference centre (and I've been there twice before so I know them quite well).

I am flying back from Berlin, so I will need to end my mini-tour in Berlin.

So... where else shall I go?

I speak a little German. I am happy to do train journeys to get to places but I don't want to spend all day travelling and the country looks big!

I will be on my own, so no nightclubs. I don't like shopping, and I don't want to queue for overpriced tourist attractions.

Any recommendations? Where to go, what to see and where to stay?

Thanks!

Answer 1

Given four days, I need to agree with the person who said Berlin for four days.  I've been there a month at a time and am  still amazed by the many things to do and see that I haven't even begun to get to!  So that's my first recommendation.

One other possibility is to take overnight trains and therefore increase your touring time.  If so, you might do a couple of locations, two days there, two days Berlin.  Here are some areas I think are worth visiting for two days, and would give you some variety in your experience of Germany:

1. Rhine/Mosel.  Take the train to Koblenz, and make that your center of operations, spending a day exploring the Rhine Gorge between Bingen and Koblenz (or some subset - but get at least to st. Goar and the Lorley.)   This is where German legend is born, it is beautiful and the wine is great.  On the Mosel, try to visit Burg Eltz, my favorite castle in Germany - well preserved and in the same family for 900 years.

2.  Small half timbered town.  My favorite is Goslar, but many others qualify, Quindlenburg.  Pick one that is a UNESCO World Heritage sight (both of these are).  

3.  Dresden - Florence on the Elbe - for art and architecture, Dresden cannot be beat, particularly with the Frauenkirche rebuilt and opened.  

4.  Central East Germany - Bach and Luther Country - Erfurt, Eisenach, Leipzig, Wittenburg.  If these folks interest you, take some time and visit the German heartland, especially the Wartburg castle.

5.  Cologne/Bonn and the Roman history of western Germany.  The Cathedral is great, the Roman history even more interesting.

Answer 2

Schwerin is near Luebeck (1.25 hours by train).  It's supposed to be a beautiful, quaint town that was luckily skipped over by the communists when they built all of their ugly "modern" buildings.  It's got a huge castle/palace, and it's near a large forest with tons of lakes and outdoor things to do.  I'd spend a day or two there.

After that, head for Berlin (2.5 hours by train) and spend the rest of your time there.  It has more than enough to entertain someone for a couple of weeks!  Many of it's sites are free (Sony Center, Brandenburg Gate, Reichstag, Holocaust Museum, Tiergarden...).

I'd suggest going to your local library and borrowing a "Germany" travel book to prepare.  If you can check it out for long enough or re-check it on-line, take it with you.  Just remember not to write in or damage it.  The basic things to do don't change much from year to year.

Answer 3

i do not know that part of Germany at all but LEER is a nice town in oestfriesland close to the Dutch border and i have been there...it is a small port and a quaint old town.....if you were to choose this area i know a gast haus in Leer "more a bed and breakfast house" and belongs to some people i know from England  however the lady is a German.. this area is a mecca for bike riding along canals and very pretty.....i was there twice visiting these people who live at "Kappellenweg 4" in Leer.....there you have one option on things to do.

Answer 4

Stay in Berlin. You won't want to go outside of that city for four days. It's visitor-friendly but hasn't yet descended into the tourist-trap Disneyland that so many cities have done. (e.g.Paris) and costs a fraction of London.

You'll need  a good street map and S-U map. Try the links below or Google Maps.

I have been visiting Berlin for over a decade and these days I always stay at the Hotel Tiergarten. It's two stops on the U Bahn from the Zoo (the tourist hub) (Turmstrasse UBhf on the U9) and one stop on the S Bahn (Bellvue Bhf) from the new Hauptbahnhof. I've used other hotels but they're either over-provided for my needs (& hence too dear) or do lousy breakfast.

As a hotel the Teirgarten's got everyting you need for someone who doesn't want to stay in the hotel all the time: good spacious clean rooms, not full of Americans or other "noisy businessmen", no noisy bar or lounge or confernece rooms, all en-suite, quiet location near the river and convenient for S and U bahn,  and a breakfast guaranteed to fill you until beyond lunchtime.

The express bus TXL (to Tegel airport) route stops just outside the hotel too.

If you're flying from Shoenefelde the from Belevue SBhf you change after one stop at Hauptbahnhof for the RE shuttle to that airport. It's all covered by your travelcard.

A 27 hour Welcome Card (travelcard) will cover all your transport needs. Buy it from he BVG desk at the airport or station.

If the weather's fine take the train down to Grunewald and watch the locals skinny-dipping.

From the Zoo take a trip upstairs on bus 100. The route takes you around the north of the Tiergarten and past famous sights such as the "Clamshell", Brandenberg gate etc.

Without visiting clubs - see the Natural History Museum for it's dinosaurs (Invalidenstrasse), The Persimon Museum and Egyptian Museum (Museum Insel), The Dom, The Fernsehturm (Alexandraplatz) good view on a clear day, Reichstag (queue for 40 mins but visit the dome on top in the evening - free), Potsdammer Platz, river boat trips, funkturm, Olympic stadium, Treptower Park (for the Soviet War Memorial - it's bloody impressive), DDR Museum (Spree, Dom Station), Checkpoint Charlie museum (about the only place you'll see US tourists).

Spend some time people-watching at Marx-Engels Platz, near the Rote Rathouse. It's near the Nikolai. Then walk down towards Alexanderplatz. Image how that route was in communist days. I remember it, very grey and unpopulated.

Potsdammer Platz was literally a wasteland bomb site 10 years ago. When the Wall came down they had a 200m wide strip through the city centre and, well - see it for yourself now.

Most of these are either free or very cheap. Even an hour on a boat will be about €7.

The Nikolai Quarter is the old mediaeval core of the town which has been rebuilt. There are some good micro-breweries in and near here.

Take a ride around the S Bahn Ring and see parts of the city beyond the normal tourist 'drag'. (Nearest "Ring" station to Hotel Tiergarten = Westhaven BHf) It's an S Bahn line that's on embankment most of it's route. have a decent guide book to understand what you're seeing. The old East Berlin is still very different from the West when you get away from the main centres. You'll also pass the famous Tempelhof airport, which will soon close and be "re-developed".

Restaurants abound. The hotel has a list of local good ones in the room-pack.

Generally, the locals eat lunch at the corner pubs. If you're happy with German menus then you won't be disapointed with the value. If you're desparate there's always the shoppers 'canteens' in the big department stores.

For dinner I recommend "Deponie" (see link below). It's one of several in a railway arch near Freidrichstasse BHf and is excellent value. By Jove it is!

If you like Thai food there are some very good restaurants. Try "Thai Inside" at Dirkenstrasse, near Alexanderplatz BHf., or Mao Thai  4 mins from Spichernstrasse UBhf (U9).

You don't have to like shopping but you should visit KaDeVe and go to the chocolate floor. Also visit the Europa Center and see if you can work out how the water clock functions.

Enjoy...

Answer 5

cologne is very beautiful, plenty of things to do there, there is cheap hotels around the domm.Nuremburg in the south, trains in germany are very good, if you catch the ice train its a lot faster, back to nuremberg is full of history you can see where hitler held his rallys to the n***s,on your way back to berlin you may want to stop off in a place called magdeburg, an old east german city, every town and city in germany has a good train station and is safe to travel.

Answer 6

...you should see hamburg - hannover - berlin. these cities are reachable one afer the other in 2 hours by train...what you can see in hamburg and berlin is already written. in hannover you should see the "herrenhäuser gärten", the old gardens of the former king of hannover. or the area of the worldexhibition "expo 2000"...

Answer 7

well since you will be ending your tour in berlin anyways, i highly recomend seeing more of east germany.  Dresden is by far your best choice, imho.  there you can see the world famous semper opera, take an excursion to see the "Saxon Alps" see many historic baroque buildings, visit many fine museums, including der albertinum which houses the finest collection of crown jewels i've ever seen, and dresden neustadt has a very bohemian flair to it.  studying german i'm sure you are aware of the german word "Gemütlich".  its one of those words any german teacher will tell you there isn't truely a translation for it.  the closest in english they will say is cozy, comfortable.  well after visiting dresden I finally learned the true meaning of gemütlich.  It is Dresden Neustadt.  Hope you have fun wherever you go.

Answer 8

Call me biased but I would spend the whole four days in

Berlin!

It is a wonderful city with a bohemian flavour. My first visit was the year after the wall came down.  I was last there just before the parliament moved there from Bonn.

Berlin seems to have the capacity to absorb everything positive and negative that is thrown at it. To me the very pores of the buildings ooze with character and I challenge anybody who spends time there not to be touched by the experience. It is probably the only city in the world where you can actually get lost in a forest (Grunewald).

I plan to take a career break next year and will spend 6 months living and hopefully working there.

I could go on and on so if you want to hear more just let me know!

Answer 9

Hi! I am from Hamburg, were you should see

- the city center (they are sailing in the city on the river Alster)

- go to the church "Michel" and have a look around the skyline

- the habour

- and the Reeperbahn (of course at night).

You can buy a Hamburg-Ticket (in many big cities in Europe you can buy that in Tourist-Infomation-Shops with special offers and prices).

Berlin is a very special city (with our historie). You should spend more time there, I think. You can see Potsdam as well (with the castle San Soucci, Charlottenburg ...). Lübeck is nice but there is not many thing to see. Do you like marzipan (you have to taste it from Lübeck)?

Have a nice trip and enjoy Germany!

Answer 10

Hi,

if you visit Hamburg, you should have a look around the fish-market there, it´s very famous.

If you´d like to visit also a few places in the south of Germany you should also come to Nuremburg.

Have a nice trip!