What do do in Berlin for a first timer to Germany?

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Guys.

Me and Mrs LordSplodge are going to Berlin for a week in May (A treat by me for our 4th Wedding Anniversary)

Neither of us has ever been to Germany and want to know what there is do do, any travel or local advice and so on.

Probably be using Public Transport mostly but may hire a car for a few days.

Thanks, again, for you help!
 
Last time I went to Berlin, I danced to 12 hours, lost my mates in the crowd, made some new ones and then danced on the train back to Stuttgart.

Great weekend, but it was the Love Parade.

I'm sure there is loads to do there if you are not dancing though.
 
sorry i could not help myself, not been before but would like to go, i understand there is a small area where a car park has been built where Hitler shot himself.
 
Cracking choice of venue, it's a great place - lucky Mrs LordSplodge!

Travel: Get a BVG 7 days pass for zones AB, costs around 26 euros and lets you travel on all trams, trains, buses and u-bahn lines. It's utterly superb, good enough that you need never worry about taxis etc. You can buy the tickets from the newsagents at the airports, the first time you get on a bus/train/tram just validate the ticket in one of the machines. (there are no ticket barriers at all.) Info

Thing to do:

It's a big city, and fairly spread out. I preferred the East much more than the West, the areas around Alexanderplatz are good fun to walk around and browse etc. Things you definitely need to see:

Checkpoint Charlie (FreidrichStrasse) - The museum is a bit of a mess but still worth a look, as they have a lot of the weird contraptions that people used to try and escape over the wall with on display. Try and get there before 9:30, it gets VERY busy with tourists etc.

Hackescher Markt (just nW of Alexanderplatz) - a really cool little area that has shops, cafes and bars by the truckload, it's easy to spend a day wandering around this area alone.

Bergmannstrasse (off Mehringdamm) - Bohemian area with a load of cafes and cheap restaurants. Mrs Goliath and I ended up spending three nights in a row here, it's great just wandering from cafe to bar, having a 5 euro cocktail in each and then forgetting how to get back to the hotel :)

Brandenberg Gate and the Bundestag - great to wander around, but again get there early to beat the crowds.

Berlin Wall (Bernauer Strasse) - not much of it left, but there is a good stretch left here along with a small museum.

Kaiser Wilhelm Gedächtniskirche - A shining example of what our plucky RAF boys are capable of ;)


There is rafts more to do than I've described, it's a big city with a lot to see. You'll love it.
 
Cracking choice of venue, it's a great place - lucky Mrs LordSplodge!

Travel: Get a BVG 7 days pass for zones AB, costs around 26 euros and lets you travel on all trams, trains, buses and u-bahn lines. It's utterly superb, good enough that you need never worry about taxis etc. You can buy the tickets from the newsagents at the airports, the first time you get on a bus/train/tram just validate the ticket in one of the machines. (there are no ticket barriers at all.) Info

Thing to do:

It's a big city, and fairly spread out. I preferred the East much more than the West, the areas around Alexanderplatz are good fun to walk around and browse etc. Things you definitely need to see:

Checkpoint Charlie (FreidrichStrasse) - The museum is a bit of a mess but still worth a look, as they have a lot of the weird contraptions that people used to try and escape over the wall with on display. Try and get there before 9:30, it gets VERY busy with tourists etc.

Hackescher Markt (just nW of Alexanderplatz) - a really cool little area that has shops, cafes and bars by the truckload, it's easy to spend a day wandering around this area alone.

Bergmannstrasse (off Mehringdamm) - Bohemian area with a load of cafes and cheap restaurants. Mrs Goliath and I ended up spending three nights in a row here, it's great just wandering from cafe to bar, having a 5 euro cocktail in each and then forgetting how to get back to the hotel :)

Brandenberg Gate and the Bundestag - great to wander around, but again get there early to beat the crowds.

Berlin Wall (Bernauer Strasse) - not much of it left, but there is a good stretch left here along with a small museum.

Kaiser Wilhelm Gedächtniskirche - A shining example of what our plucky RAF boys are capable of ;)


There is rafts more to do than I've described, it's a big city with a lot to see. You'll love it.

Brilliant. Thanks Goliath. This is the reason I like posting here.

Going to print out the WikiTravel guide as it is very helpful.

Mrs LordSplodge is, indeed a lucky woman, only trouble is she will spend a lot of time dragging me to all the Jewish/Holocaust museums as she has a big interest in this (spent hours in the exhibit at the Imperial War Museum!).

Got any hotel recommendations?
 
When you visit Germany you *have* to go and buy a Döner over there. Different league to the UK, proper turkish Dönerkebaps using fladenbrot (quarter of a round awesome turkish bread)- don't forget the chilli sauce! :)
Oh and dont forget to stock up on the haribo (tons of awesome varieties compared to the uk 'starmix') and all the awesome beers.... drool.

Enjoy!
 
Brilliant. Thanks Goliath. This is the reason I like posting here.

Going to print out the WikiTravel guide as it is very helpful.

Mrs LordSplodge is, indeed a lucky woman, only trouble is she will spend a lot of time dragging me to all the Jewish/Holocaust museums as she has a big interest in this (spent hours in the exhibit at the Imperial War Museum!).

Got any hotel recommendations?

We stayed at the Mercure near Checkpoint Charlie; very nice rooms and staff, great location (just off Freidrichstrasse near checkpoint charlie in the East) - Highly reccomended. Mercure Info

We did go to the Jewish Museum - The museum is in two halves; the first covers the holocaust, is superbly done and extremely moving. The second half covers Jewish history and gets a bit dull after a while due to there being too much on display, we zoned out after an hour.
 
Don't know what you do in Berlin but I do know that when I went to Germany I ate lots of bread,beer and weeners.;) Germany has fantastic orchestras. Berlin Philharmonic are one of the best in the world. I am pretty sure Berlin is a fantastic place for all of the arts but I've never been myself.
 
We stayed at the Mercure near Checkpoint Charlie; very nice rooms and staff, great location (just off Freidrichstrasse near checkpoint charlie in the East) - Highly reccomended. Mercure Info

As did I, recommendo!, also tried the one in Voigtstrasse.
I mainly go in December for the tattoo convention, pretty cold ;x
But the christmas fair outside the Kaiser Wilhelm cannot be missed, but you're going in may so i'm not sure what's there then.
BRATWURST!
 
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