Berlin and day trips; Helsinki

You don't need a car. Train is easier, cheaper and probably faster. Dresden is about three hours from Berlin. Stay overnight. Cannot give advice on Wittenberg or Helsinki.

Potsdam is easily reached by the S-Bahn. Wittenberg is not too far away. Dresden would make it a long day. Check timings and prices on www.bahn.de/p_en/view/index.shtml

Hi Mark,

Both Potsdam and Wittenberg are easy day trips by train from Berlin. I'd take the train to Dresden as well and stay 1 or 2 days there. Two days in Helsinki should be plenty, but it really depends on what you want to see. My favorites are the large outdoor market near the port, Esplanade Park, the Helsinki Lutheran Cathedral, Uspenski Russian church, Temppeliaukio Church (known as the church of Rock) and the Suomenlinna Fortress in the harbor. There's a public tram that does a nice loop through the city, connecting most of the major sites. See Rick's Helsinki, Tallin and St. Petersburg snapshot guide for more details.

Dresden is a museum-rich city and I think worth two days. Check your guide book and see how many of the museums sound appealing. The museums are not small. If you want to see the Historic Green Vault (I loved it), you'll need a timed entry ticket. I also enjoyed the English-language walking tour offered by the tourist office. If you're really pressed for time you could squeeze a lot into 1-1/2 days since most of the sights are concentrated in or near the smallish reconstructed historic district.

I didn't have time for Potsdam (way too many sights to see in Berlin proper), but I believe most people visit it on a day-trip from Berlin. It's about 30 minutes away by train. Much easier than changing hotels. I assume Potsdam has a full day's worth of sights, perhaps more.

About those Berlin sights: This is a city that really repays some advance strategic planning. It's especially important if you are interested in the WW II and Cold War sites as well as the art and ethnographic museums. I found I needed multiple hours everywhere I went, and you could easily spend more than half a day in each of the largest museums, like the Pergamon. Furthermore, Berlin's sights are quite spread out. With only four days you will need to prioritize and figure out how to group destinations geographically so you don't spend all your time on the S-Bahn and U-Bahn.

NOTE: You have an opportunity to take a different route to Warsaw that would allow you to see Görlitz, a small city with stunning architecture ranging from Gothic to Art Nouveau. It's right on the Polish border east of Dresden; in fact part of the city ended up in Poland after WW II. Rather than returning from Dresden to Berlin (2 hours) then taking the train to Warsaw (5.75 hours), you could go straight from Dresden to Görlitz (about 1.5 hours), then head to Warsaw the next day (7 - 7.5 hours), via Wroclaw. I'd be jumping up and down, telling you to do this for sure if you didn't already have Wittenberg (another city whose historic district survived the war) on your itinerary. As it is, you may feel you've had enough half-timbered architecture by the time you get to Dresden. But Görlitz is really lovely.

For me, 3 nights (2 full days) was perfect for Helsinki.

Five days in Berlin plus a day for jetlag were not enough for me; two days in Helsinki were quite enough, but I have a friend who luvvvvs Helsinki...

How long should be plan on staying in Helsinki?

Helsinki: Two nights, one full day as a minimum. But interesting that with the German emphasis you are ending the trip in Helsinki.

Things and places in Helsinki to see/do: https://www.ricksteves.com/europe/finland/helsinki
(I enjoyed just walking around, the ferry to Suomolinna and the Seurasaari open air museum.

▲▲▲ Temppeliaukio Church Awe-inspiring, copper-topped 1969 "Church in the Rock."
▲▲ Uspenski Orthodox Cathedral Orthodoxy's most prodigious display outside of Eastern Europe.
▲▲ Lutheran Cathedral Green-domed, 19th-century Neoclassical masterpiece.
▲▲ Seurasaari Open-Air Folk Museum Island museum with 100 historic buildings from Finland's farthest corners.
▲▲ Suomenlinna Fortress Helsinki's harbor island, sprinkled with picnic spots, museums, and military history.
▲ Senate Square Consummate Neoclassical square, with Lutheran Cathedral.
▲ Helsinki City Museum Tells the city's history well and in English.
▲ Ateneum, The National Gallery of Finland Largest collection of art in Finland, including local favorites plus works by Cézanne, Chagall, Gauguin, and Van Gogh.
▲ National Museum of Finland The scoop on Finland, featuring folk costumes, an armory, czars, and thrones; the prehistory exhibit is best.
▲ Sibelius Monument Stainless-steel sculptural tribute to Finland's greatest composer.
▲ Design Museum Chronological look at Finland's impressive design pedigree, plus cutting-edge temporary exhibits.

Thank you all for your replies to my Post.
Taking them all into consideration and still "working" thru our plans.
We have narrowed our stay in Helsinki to 2 full days.
Berlin is still a bit more "tricky". We need to set our exact "must see" and
If time allows venture out of the city.