8 days in and around Berlin/eastern Germany

Most people recommend 5 days in Berlin, with one day trip to Potsdam. If you aren't that much interested in WW2 and the Cold War era you could also split your time evenly between the big metropolis and small-town Germany. The most interesting regions in Eastern Germany are:
- Baltic Coast (medieval Hanseatic cities + beaches)
- Harz mountains (medieval, half-timbered towns + mountains)
- Thuringia (quintessential small-town Germany + Reformation)
- Saxony (everything from museums, small towns and nature to castles, rural villages and whine regions)

But since you are a classical musician you should definitely visit Saxony and/or Thuringia. Leipzig, with Bach, Mendelssohn Bartholdy, the Thomanerchor and the Gewandhaus Orchestra, is probably the best base. From there you can do day trips to Halle (Händel), Weimar (Liszt), Zwickau (Schumann), Eisenach (Bach) and Dresden (Weber, Wagner, Kreuzchor, Semper Opera and Staatskapelle).
Leipzig however is a big city, just like Berlin. More compact, and better preserved, but mostly 19th century and not really old. To me Erfurt, which offers one of Germanys biggest and best preserved town centres, is the more attractive choice after Berlin. Day trips to Leipzig, Weimar and Eisenach are easily doable, but Zwickau and Dresden take a bit longer.

I took the train from Berlin to Dresden in the mid/late afternoon for 2 nights, 1 full day. I really enjoyed seeing the city, I felt much more Czech than German influence. I didn't have time for the excellent art museums. If you fly out of Schoenefeld, it's quite easy to take the train and short bus ride straight to the airport from Dresden. I put a handful of my photos on Google a few years ago, here.

For the classical musician, Leipzig is a must-see. The Thomaskirche has Bach's grave in it. The Gewandhaus is the home of the Leipzig symphony. We did not go to a concert, sadly. Leipzig is a great stop - not a big town, easy walking. It has some great monuments (Battle of all nations monument). It is easy to get around in. Dresden is an easy trip from Berlin. It too is an easy town. There are other towns in the east sector. We go to Cottbus routinely due to friends.

Bayreuth is worth a stop to visit Wahnfried, Wagner's home there which is now a museum. 2 1/2 hours from Erfurt.

We loved Dresden where we attended a woodwind quintet concert in the Opera House. It was wonderful and the opera house was definitely worth seeing. We also went in the porcelain museum there which is amazing! My husband even liked it. It was easy to get there by train from Berlin. We also went to Bayreuth (really by accident) but loved it. It's a charming city and pays tribute to Wagner.

Hi,

Great that you are concentrating on Berlin and the eastern Germany. Definitely stick to the recommendations above on Halle, Dresden, Leipzig, etc. If you do go to Hamburg afterwards, there is also Brahms Haus.

You can do a day trip from Hamburg Hbf to Eutin/Holstein, which is en route to Kiel. There is the birth house/museum of Carl Maria von Weber in Eutin/Holstein, a very nice town, I saw it again this past June but didn't get back to Weber's Haus this time. That house I had visited 40 years earlier in 1977.

Thanks so much everybody! I really appreciate it! I've decided to fly into Dresden and out of Berlin, and will definitely stop in Leipzig on the way up! Can't wait!

Halle is underrated and definitely worth visiting. In Leipzig, get an alternative to the historic architecture and book a concert at the Leipzig Gewandhaus which is one of the best preserved DDR prestige buildings in Eastern Germany - it's something of a smaller version of the People's Palace in Berlin which was demolished after the fall of the Wall.