Berlin

Alas the Pergamon will have closed in October for probably 10 years. It was my first great museum as a teen and I was disappointed last week that the Pergamon Altar was not viewable but the rest of the museum made up for it. If you want to visit the other museums in the Museum Insul you can get a day pass and then book time slots. We visited the Neues Museum, the Panorama and the Pergamon. The Pergamon had 3 hour lines for tickets and was sold out by the time we arrived in the afternoon, but with the reserved time slots we just walked right in to every museum.

We thought we had Unterwelten tickets but apparently something went awry with my purchase and they were sold out and so we went to the Stasi Museum which we found very interesting. It is at the old Stasi headquarters.

Book Reichstag Dome tickets in advance; we didn't do the guided tour of the building. The Dome is stunning and had great views such as they are. Berlin is an ugly city and there is nothing very interesting to view in a flat city but the Dome itself is fun to visit.

Potsdam and San Soucci can be visited easily on local transport as can the concentration camp Sachsenhausen. We got ABC travel passes for the week we were there; those include everything on the Berlin transport network and get you back to the airport. You just punch the pass once to date it and then tuck it away in case you are asked for it by ticket inspectors; we never were but the fine is very high 60 Euro I believe if you are checked and don't have a ticket or pass. Local transport is terrific -- U, M and S bahns -- they all were very close to where we stayed and it was easy to get anywhere efficiently including train stations and airport.

Since you're staying in Prenzlauer Berg, be sure to take the walking tour in the RS guidebook. You'll be close to the Kulturbrauerei, which has a compact museum covering life in the GDR.

The WWII and Soviet-Era sites are interesting, especially the Berlin Wall museum and Topography of Terror. No need to make the effort to see Checkpoint Charlie unless you're in the area.

Berlin is an ugly city and there is nothing very interesting to view in a flat city but the Dome itself is fun to visit.

I don't agree with that statement in terms of Berlin being ugly. Many recommend visiting the Reichstag Dome near dusk, so you can watch the city transition from day to night. The Soviet TV tower looms large wherever you are, and the symbolism of what used to be vs. how things are now is unavoidable.

It's a wonderful city to visit and I'm sure you'll have a great time.

Good that you're putting in 3 days for seeing Berlin. My first time there was in 1971, saw post cards which described the city as follows: "Berlin...die durfte Stadt"....how true.

I have been going back ever since, ie, repeat visitis, exploring and checking out the various districts, west and east. etc. etc.

Also look at the "Explore Europe" link above and click your way to Berlin. You'll find a lot of Egyptian artifacts in the Neues Museum, including Nefertiti. There are other interesting museums on Museum Island, too bad the Pergamon will be closed. The Gemaldegalerie, in the western part of the city, is also good. I found the Stasi Museum interesting, a little hard to find. The Jewish Museum is well regarded though I didn't care for it. The DDR Museum is popular, also hard to locate, I found it but didn't go in because it seemed mobbed.

I took an excellent half-day walking tour with this company, would highly recommend it as an introduction to the city. A boat ride on the Spree is also a good orientation. The Berlin Wall Memorial, not far from your hotel, is moving and well designed. With a week you'll have time to explore at a reasonable pace, including Potsdam and/or Sachsenhausen if you want. The transit system is excellent, with no turnstiles to jam people up. But I had my pass checked at least three times in about a week, so don't try to beat the system! ;-)

My choices-

Bundestag/Reichstag tour and dome tour-Not to miss.

Neues Museum-ancient Egypt and ancient Europe artifacts-plus cool building.

Unterwelten tour of a Berlin bomb shelter. Not much to see but we learned a lot about how Berlin and the Nazis lived during the war and the aftermath. I wasn't expecting much but it was a highlight of Berlin.

Talk a walking tour-I did Discover Berlin and Potsdam with Original Berlin Walks and I was satisfied. If it is a nice day stop off at Potsdam a cute town and a nice day trip.

I bought a Berlin Welcome 7 day pass and it paid for itself as far as riding public transport. I never saw ticket inspectors but it's always good to have a pass and not worry about paying.