I will be in Berlin for 4,5 days. How can I best maximize my time there?

Question

I will be staying in Berlin for 4,5 days. I know what the major sites are, but I was wondering if anyone could give me some suggestions for an itinerary so that I could maximize my time in Berlin(as I don't have a clue how much time is typically spent at each place). Do you have any general safety tips for Berlin (I am a 22yr old male and will be traveling alone)? And my last question, do you know any special deals that allow you entry into all of the major tourist sites for a fixed price?

Answer 1

Check out the bauhaus, the concert hall, older parts including brandenburg and downtown. The second day you can pick drinking beer and visit some libraries. Third day is for mall shoppers, go west 2 miles, there is a fabulous mall over. Fourth day get to museum of art and into education, it pays. Last day begin setting luggage and walking around neighbourhood. By lunch you can set to leave.

Answer 2

1. Buy a 7-day ticket for Berlin AB-Zone (it's worth it when you stay longer than 4 days, and since you are staying 4,5 days it's allright - and you don't have to bother buying a new ticket!). It costs about 25 Euro and it's possible to go to anywhere in Berlin, only if you wanna go anywhere outside the city (for example potsdam) you need to get an additional ticket. I think it's necessary to validate the ticket before using public transport.

2. If you're into museums and that stuff, you can buy a three day ticket for all of the state museums of Berlin, there's a list at http://www.smb.spk-berlin.de/smb/home/in...

It's really worth it, because it's not much more expensive than a day-ticket and you can spread your visits over three days.

3. You can visit the main sights Unter Den Linden, Reichstag, Brandenburger Tor, Alexanderplatz & TV Tower, Nikolaiviertel, Holocaust Memorial, Potsdamer Platz, Friedrichstraße, Gendarmenmarkt and Museumsinsel all in one, it's really close together, you may take a look at the map. You may just wander around the first day and take a closer look the second day (including museums visits and so on)...

4. It's best when your place to stay (eg hotel/hostel) is located near station Friedrichstraße, because it's the most central of the stations.

5. If you want to visit the jewish museum (you'll need about three hours in it to check everything) you can also visit the great Berlinische Galerie if you're into modern art (but it's not a state museum, so you'll have to pay extra entry)

6. The best stations to get out in Kreuzberg are Mehringdamm/Gneisenaustraße (head to bergmannstraße) and for the more "multi cultural" quarter it's Görlitzer Bahnhof/Schlesisches Tor (head to Oranienstraße and Wrangel/Wiener Str). Prenzlauer Berg: Get out at Senefelder Platz or Eberswalder Straße, the quarter on the right and on the left are cool. In Mitte some cool stations to get out are Oranienburger Straße, Hackescher Markt (also near museums island) Weinmeisterstr. and Rosenthaler Platz, in Friedrichshain the cool quarter is at warschauer str. (then head north to Boxhagener Str./Simon-Dach-Str.) These are the places to be, drink and go out in Berlin, but sometimes the things are a bit hidden...

7. You may also visit Ku'Damm and Charlottenburg (including shopping it may take half a day to one day), best to go out at Zoo station, except for Schloss charlottenburg, where you can spend another three to four hours, if the weather is good...

Normally you spend about one hour to two hours in the typical tourist sites. Ah, and there are sometimes lines/queues at Reichstag (to get to the cupolar) and Bodemuseum, because of that it may take half an hour to get in these.

There are no safety tips - the worst you can run into is a bike which is going on the pedestrian p.

I never heard of one being robbed or beaten up in Berlin...

at least you should of course have some common/logical sense ;)