Berlin, Germany and Salzburg,Austria

First of all, do you have Rick Steves' guidebooks (or any other guidebooks) for these locations? In the 2000 character limit of this helpline, we cannot write a guidebook for you, and particularly in Berlin which has so much to see and do, your "must sees" for a 3 day visit will probably be different from mine. Second, what is your budget range, in euros? "Reasonable" means different things to different people. Third, Berlin is a huge and spread out city. You can't walk everywhere, but the mass transit (U-Bhan, S-Bahn, trams and buses) is excellent. Berlin also has multiple train stations, but now has one main one (Hauptbahnhof). While you can stay near the Hauptbahnhof if you wish, it's not as pleasing as staying in a more residential area, which will have more restaurants, etc. In September 2012, I enjoyed my stays at the Hotel Kastanienhof (in the former East) and Pension Peters (in the former West). Details are here in my trip report, which also explains what I saw and did (it was my third trip): http://tinyurl.com/9woj9zo. I haven't been to Salzburg.

I stayed at the Mercure Checkpoint Charlie and liked the location very much, and the hotel too. I spent a lot of my time with friends who live across the street from the Friedrichstrasse station, which is a terrific location. Or probably anywhere in-between.

In Salzburg, I stayed at Hotel Mozart, Franz-Josef Strasse 27, and loved it. Very comfortable, nice atmosphere, family-run. It's a 10-15 minute walk to the Old Town, great for sightseeing. I'm not sure why you want to be walking distance from the train. I look for places that are close to the sights. It's easy enough to get from the train station to your hotel by taxi, if not by public transportation.

I wouldn't stay within walking distance of the train station in Salzburg. You want to stay in Old Town or just across the river. I stayed at the Goldene Krone when I was there and really enjoyed it.

Chain and Pamela, Thanks for the hotel suggestions. We tend to walk a lot. So we try and get to our hotel drop off our luggage and then start the touring. Don't mind taking buses and using taxis if not expensive.
Irene

Hi Irene, you do not want to stay too close to the Hauptbahnhof in Berlin, as the area is bleak and the hotels close by are charmless chain hotels. But just a bit farther, and still walkable, is Arte Luise Kunsthotel, which is quirky and unique, and reasonably priced. It is very close to the Reichstag and Brandenburger Tor, and walkable to the Museum Insel for one who likes to walk. Or you could go a bit farther east in Mitte to where Friedrichstrasse crosses the river, and find several nice hotels about halfway between the Museum Insel and the Reichstag.