Berlin

My immediate suggestion is that you stay in the Alexanderplatz area, which is served by express buses from Tegel, is in a fairly interesting area, and has good public transport links to most of the city.

The exception would be if you are going to Italy by a very early train from Berlin Hauptbahnhof, in which case it might be worth staying near the Hauptbahnhof, which has an express bus from Tegel but not so good local public transport links to the rest of the city.

Thank you. We are flying out of Berlin to Milan We want to see some parts of Berlin. We only have 1 1/2 days.

Berlin has many days' worth of top sights, so you will have to be brutally selective. A great start is a walking tour; here's one established company:http://www.berlinwalks.de/public/

Even looking at their list of tours, you'll see the problem. There are Jewish sights, Third Reich sights, Communist sights, and lots more. There's lots of great museums too. My favorite, the German History Museum, isn't even on most people's "must" lists, since they're busy with the Pergamon and Neues Museums.

Look at Rick's Germany or Berlin books, as well as some others, to learn more about the sights and see what interests you. Here's Rick's Berlin online page; click "At A Glance" to see his list of highlights: http://www.ricksteves.com/europe/germany/berlin

Harold gives great advice. You have to know your interests. Then you can make a plan of how to best use your stay.
The OBW (Original Berlin Walks) tours are a wealth of information and a great introduction to the many periods of German history.
Each visit I have done one of their walking tours and it added depth to my visit along with the fact they fit a low budget.

I don't know your budget. Perhaps you may like the the Holiday Inn Berlin Centre Alexanderplatz. You can reach the hotel by the bus (TXL). Breakfast is 15 euros but you can find other places just around the corner and the immediate area of the hotel for good value.
Address: Thea Nolte-Baehnisch-Strasse 2, 10178 Berlin, Germany
Phone Number: 0049/30/7407470
Location: Mitte

For 1 night on the lower end there is the Ibis Budget Berlin Alexanderplatz, Mollstrasse 30, 10249 Berlin,
Phone Number: 0049/30/339391120
Location: Mitte

Breakfast place: Cafe Einstein; coffee/espresso, cake, yogurt/yogurt w-fruit or fruit salad is like 11 euros.

Depends on whether it is 1 1/2 summer days or 1 1/2 winter days. I would say that 2 winter days = 1 summer day ;-) We were there for two winter days, and here are the sights we covered:

• Reichstag (you could make an advance reservation to schedule a tour)
• Checkpoint Charlie
• Brandenburg Gate
• East Side gallery (Berlin Wall remnants with painting ... and graffiti)
• KaDeWe (huge department store ... overhyped, if you ask me)
• Museum Island (we spent time at the Neues Museum and the Pergammon Museum - even if you are not a museum person, museums make sense in winter ... especially when you are not used to Berlin winters)

A few of the other sights we missed:

• Olympic stadium
• Potsdam
• Berliner Dome
• TV Tower

BTW, you might want to look into getting the 24 or 48 hour Berlin Welcome Card, The clock starts the minute you activate it.

Porcupyn

One way to see the highlights of Berlin in quick order would be via a "bike tour". My wife and I have used them as a quick means to see city highlights usually in 4 hours or less. Berlin has such a bike tour. I suggest you go to Trip Adviser and read about it. My wife and I have done this in Amsterdam and Munich. These tours are all about a quick means of seeing sites of a city, not test your biking skills. They cater to all ages and skill levels. Since you only have a day you'll see many sites, connect with others who might suggest sites to see after the tour and places to eat. The guides are fun, humorous and are a wealth of knowledge. I can almost bet a stop at a bier garten is part of the tour.
Enjoy Berlin and Italy!

"KaDeWe (huge department store ... overhyped, if you ask me)"

I agree. I love Berlin, but KaDeWe is...just a department store. I know some people are very impressed by the food halls, but I was not. They're nice enough, but hardly worth a special trip.

Do plan on going on an overview tour of Berlin, either a bike tour or a walking tour. Forget the #100 & #200 buses that many people recommend, you will spend valuable time sitting at traffic lights and in traffic jams and go past landmarks that you will wish you knew more about. Forget the ho-ho buses too. My husband and I were peeved that we wasted precious time waiting on and riding the #100 bus. Spend the 12 € on one of the highly recommended tours and really see Berlin. My favorite is Insider Tours, but there are others that are just as good.
http://www.insidertour.com/