I'll be spending the month of September in Paris, and am planning a side trip to Berlin for a couple of days. I'm planning to take the ICE train from Paris to Berlin and back, and want to see as much of Berlin as I can.
I would appreciate any recommendations regarding hotels and bus/walking tours that I can squeeze into my short stay in the city.
Posted by
Schwerin
3854 posts
September is well booked in Berlin because of IFA fair, Marathon and other events.
Best is to book hotels near stations of main train axis, see map: https://sbahn.berlin/en/route-map/
On day 1 a HoHo bus tour makes sense because Berlin covers a huge area.
Top 10 sights or a Berlin for beginners walk. Special interests?
Posted by
Bay Area SF & Uppsala Sweden
1277 posts
Good advice above. If you're interested in museums, they are world class, but I would book a tour with a 'skip the line' included, as Q's will be long on Museum Island. OR skip those large museums and visit the Gemaeldegalerie, Picture Gallery, manageable for part of a day and no crowds. https://www.smb.museum/museen-einrichtungen/gemaeldegalerie/home/
Personally, I would add a Fat Tires bike tour to your first morning, I seem to recall ours started at 10AM, did a history & architecture tour by bike, ending at Brandenburg Gate. The guide was fantastic, studying for his Phd in history, and it gets you out and about, ask them for some food recommendations. I have a vague memory they also ran food tours. Or take a food tour, we've had good luck with Eating Europe. Have a great trip!
Posted by
Southeast US
4211 posts
A nice place to stay in Berlin in the former West Berlin is mittendrin. It's a 4-room B&B (the owner calls it a boutique hotel). The two cheaper rooms share a bathroom, but the owner is happy to clean the shower between users. Breakfast is wonderful and had at a communal table with other guests, which I enjoy, especially when I am traveling solo in Berlin. The B&B is located on the 3rd or 4th floor of a building built around 1905 (as I recall). The building has nice character inside; the facade is pretty plain -- probably blown off in WWII and replaced with something simple. There are Stolpersteine at the entrance to the building memorializing former residents who were murdered at Nazi concentration camps. I've spent 57 of my 58 night in Berlin there. I will be there again in September. Obviously, I like it a lot.
Posted by
Northwest Arkansas
859 posts
Have you priced a night train or economy flight rather than ICE? It's a full day via ICE each way.
Posted by
San Francisco
15471 posts
If you want to break up the ride going by night train, I would suggest this: Berlin to Offenburg on the night train, then Offenburg to Strasbourg where you can get the TGV to Paris Est.
I took the train from Strasbourg to Metz in Sept as I was using Metz as a base.