Berlin in May or September?

I think May and September are pretty comparable weather-wise. Days a little longer in May, temps slightly warmer in Sept. Either would be a good time to visit Berlin. May is maybe considered a little more shoulder season than Sept, but all tourist venues would be open in both and crowds would be comparable also. Flip a coin. Personally I'd choose to go sooner (Sept '17) rather than later (May '18) but that's just me. I'm always chomping at the bit when a trip is in the works.

On avergage, September is a drier month, but the difference isn't that large. Certainly not enough to choose one month over the other.

Although not frequent, Berlin in September can occassionally get hit with a bit of an Indian summer, whereas May is very unlikely to be either uncomfortably cold or warm. Personally, I'd rather put on more clothes to stay comfortable than rely excessive sweating to thermoregulate, so for me, May wins in that factor.

If you choose to go in September, something to consider is crowds. Oktoberfest in Munich begins September 16th and runs through Oct 3rd. While Munich is many hours south of Berlin, there will likely be folks who will choose to visit Berlin before and/or after their Oktoberfest celebrations. ALSO, October marks the 500 year anniversary of Martin Luther posting his 95 thesis and starting the Reformation. You will have Lutherans and others who will be visiting Martin Luther sites next fall- which are within an hour of Berlin. So even if you're willing to deal with potential crowds, you might want to book hotels and special events early- as they might sell out faster than typically.

By the way, I will be one of those people, lol! ;-) I will be heading to Berlin for four days in September before venturing south to partake of Oktoberfest before our RS tour begins in Paris! I've already pre-booked and paid for my hotels.

Whenever you go- have a blast!
Lisa

If you're going in May 2018, consider the following public holidays in Germany: Tuesday, May 1 is Labor Day (Tag der Arbeit); Thursday, May 10 is Ascension Day; Monday, May 21 is Whit Monday and in some Southern and Western States Corpus Christi on Thursday, May 31 is a public holiday. Whitsuntide - Pfingsten - is bound to be an extra-long week-end with lots of travelling in and out of Germany. I've been in Germany in both May and September and favor May. The days are much longer and everything is fresh and green, roses and other flowers are blooming. September can be beautiful but I've been miserably cold there then, more so than in May. Now I know to bring some warm clothes. Also, I'd go sooner rather than later - why put it off. Berlin is worth a trip any time of the year. There are no public holidays in September of 2017, by the way.

I was in Berlin in early May 2016, and the weather was lovely. I liked it so much, I'm going back again in early May 2017. If you go in May and have plenty of time, consider spending some time at Britzer Garten, an expansive park/garden south of the city center. A former Berlin resident recommended it to me before my last trip, and I found it to be a nice escape from the city. There is an impressive tulip area in April/early May (depending on when the tulips decide to come up). The rhododendrons were blooming fairly nicely in early May, but there wasn't a whole lot going on in the rose garden at that point. You'll love Berlin whenever you go -- there's an astounding number of things to do there.

I have been in Berlin late April, (once), May, June, July, and of course, August but never Sept. Given the choice between May or Sept, I'll choose May, more daylight is one reason. Next year's trip I have Berlin scheduled for early June.