Berlin day trip

Hi,

I take it you mean a 3 hr radius, ie, if you leave Berlin Hbf by 9am, you'll arrive ca noon. If so, there are lots of places in the Greater Berlin (Groß-Berlin) area and beyond within that time frame...

Neustreltiz for Prussian history, Weimar, (Germany's city of poets, the city of Goethe and Schiller, Wieland,etc), Leipzig if you are into classical musein to see the houses.museums of Bach, Mendelsohn, Liszt, Wagner, etc. and history.

There is also Lutherstadt Wittenberg, (one stop before Leipzig), where the Reformation began; Naumburg an der Saale, Meissen, Halle for more music, the birth place of Händel, where he started prior to moving to England.

Or, with that time frame, you could take the ICE to Hamburg from Berlin Hbf. (central station).

The main/big difference is that outside of Potsdam and Dresden you will not find tons of international or American tourists.. The tourists you do see are almost exclusively German, either on city tours, groups, say in Meissen, Magdeburg, or Weimar, exploring the Zentrum, given in German.

Over the last few trips, I've been to several small places outside of Berlin and Dresden, visiting Neustrelitz, Rheinsberg/Brandenburg, Neuruppin (the birthplace of Germany's greatest novelist in Realism, T. Fontane), Meissen, (the "cradle of Saxony"), Seelow (if you want to see the battlefield memorial site, cemetery, and museum of the Battle of Berlin in 1945, get the horrific feeling as to its magnitude and losses), and Frankfurt an der Oder. No one goes there, that's one reason why it is interesting, ie, see that Oder Bruch, and so on, plus it's the birthplace of another famous German playwright and post.

The place I missed, ie, admittedly lazied out on, from Berlin Hbf was going to Greifswald, very doable from Berlin Hbf.

My first thought was Görlitz. It's a border town - literally. You can cross the bridge and enter Zgorzelec, Poland; in addition, Görlitz is also a (Lower) Silesian town, so you'll get a mix of cultures. It looks like it's 2H40M from Berlin, with a transfer. I went in 2006, and it was still covered in the Rick Steves Germany book, although I understand it has been removed from more recent editions. I don't remember doing anything specific, but it was a nice town in which to spend the day. I DO remember what I had for lunch - Schlesisches Himmel - Silesian Heaven. And it was - meat and dumplings in a rich sauce - just wonderful.

Goerlitz is architecturally wonderful, but it is a long trip from Berlin. Erfurt can be reached in less than two hours by train, without any changes. Rick included Erfurt in one of his recent videos, which you can watch on this website. It has a lovely historic center and a lively, university-city vibe.

Wittenberg - small preserved town with many sites related to the Protestant Reformation (Luthers house for example)
Spreewald - a region where the river Spree meanders in thousands of small waterways through meadows and forests
Schwerin - fairytale castle and preserved old town surrounded by lakes
Leipzig - trading town with a interesting centre, Bachs church and a nice zoo
Erfurt - capital of Thuringia, one of the largest preserved old towns of the country
Weimar - World Heritage Site, home of Goethe, Schiller, Nietzsche, Liszt, the Bauhaus etc.
Görlitz - perfectly preserved town with 4.000 listed buildings. Great if you are interested in architecture.
Quedlinburg - takes 3h with a direct train (weekends), but it's a World Heritage Site and one of the most beautiful towns of the country

What about the Spree Wald?
Have you considered Hamburg? Your child will love the Miniature Wonderland and the harbor with all the ships.

Thank you everyone, those are great suggestions! We went through Hamburg on the train from Copenhagen 2 years ago so I forgot that was an easy train ride. I will have to check out all the places you guys suggested.