Favorite day trips from Berlin

Potsdam - this is much more than just Sanssouci, which already requires a full day. There is also the New Garden, Babelsberg Park, Glienicke Park and Peacock Island, several other structures like the Belvedere on the Pfingstberg or the Church of the Redeemer, and the partly preserved old town with the Dutch, Russian or Bohemian quarter. To do Potsdam justice you need at least two days. Many photo ops.
Wittenberg - small preserved town with many sights related to the Protestant Reformation, like Luthers house.
Schwerin - the former capital of the duchy of Mecklenburg offers a pleasant old town with a big cathedral surrounded by lakes, and a 19th century fairytale castle on an island.
Spreewald - this is a region where the river Spree meanders in thousands of small waterways through meadows and forests. You can rent a canoe or do a tour on a punted barge to villages of the Sorbs, a small Slavic minority.
Tangermünde - this is a hidden gem, a small medieval town on the banks of he Elbe river with preserved fortifications.
Quedlinburg - getting there takes long (3h by train), but it's worth it. Quedlinburg is one of the best preserved towns of the country, with more than 1.000 half-timbered houses. Easily comaprable to Rothenburg odT.

That's a good list. The other well-known one, for a look at the darker history of the area, is Berlin's "local" Nazi concentration camp, Sachsenhausen at Oranienburg.

I was in Berlin this time last year and had a day trip to the House of the Wansee Conference and then to Grunewald Gleis 17, not the happiest of day trips but very thought provoking and very interesting. very easy to do using the S-Bahn.You can take the bus from Wansee out to the Conference house but we walked there taking about 30 minutes or so, lovely walk too.

HI,

Which historical sites do you have in mind? The subject matter of museums? Good list provided for you above. But Schwerin is easier from Hamburg than Berlin time wise. On seeing the camp at Oranienburg: if you go further on the train line, you'll get to Neustrelitz.

Numerous places within a 2.5 hr. radius can be done from Berlin as a day trip.

Thanks for your suggestions, everybody!

Especially Martin -- that is a fantastic list!

Leipzig would be one of my favourite day trips from Berlin. Takes only about an hour by train and the city centre is quite compact and easily explored when arriving at Leipzig train station .- the largest in Europe! Lots of old and more recent political history to be discovered.

Also near Berlin besides Sachsenhausen, is Ravensbruck which was a concentration camp just for women. Not as well known or visited as often, their buildings and exhibits are well worth a visit. Many of the women held here were Jehovah Witnesses, Communists, Socialists, Roma & Sinti, Prostitutes, and Resistance fighters from all over Europe. Siemens built a factory near the camp to take advantage of the cheap labor.

I found the presentations, exhibits and museums in both of these KZ to be better done than in Dachau.