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Berlin in the Spring

We are going to Berlin for 5 nights in May. Any advice on the best areas to stay. We don't mind taking public transportation but it would be nice to be able to walk too. I haven't been since 1986 before the wall came down. All suggestions of what not to miss is appreciated.

Posted by
12398 posts

When I was there in 2022, I stayed in Hackescher Markt, at the Adina Apartment Hotel Hackescher Markt. My room was a studio since I was by myself but they also have 1-2 bedroom apartments with fully equipped kitchens, washers and dryers and so on. They do have hotels in other Berlin locations as well, but I personally really liked this location. The staff was friendly and courteous, and the rooms were very well prepared, large, clean and nice. Breakfast is available although given the kitchen facilities, I just ate in my room in the morning.

But the best thing is that the location is an easy walk to many major sites. The DDR museum is only a few blocks away, along with the TV Tower, and Museum Island is a quick 5 minute walk. You can easily walk to Lindenstraß from there. It is also very convenient to the U-Bahn, S-Bahn, and trams. There are several grocery stores a few blocks away along with a couple of wine shops, many cafes and good restaurants. I would definitely stay in this location again.

Posted by
1116 posts

Since you were there before the wall came down, spend some time looking for information on where you can "walk where the wall was". Even though I did not research this in detail prior to my trips to Berlin post-wall, I always paused for a moment when I realized I was standing at the wall or in one of the death zones.

Also, get out to Potsdam for a day.

Posted by
68 posts

Thanks for the tips. The forum has some of the most informed travelers.

Posted by
4717 posts

Berlin is my favorite city. It's a great place to visit. I have stayed 57 nights with Sabine Knoll at her 4-bedroom B&B mittendrin in the former West Berlin in the general area of the Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church. Sabine and her B&B are great. She will do laundry for guests. She prepares an amazing breakfast. It's one of my favorite places in the world to stay. There is no A/C, but I have never found this to be a problem during my multiple May visits.

Berlin has so many things to do, it's hard to make suggestions without knowing your interests. Here is a post where multiple people contributed thoughts on what to do in Berlin: https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/germany/worth-spending-more-than-a-day-in-berlin. My rather lengthy response(s) is toward the end.

On the topic of the opening of the Berlin Wall mentioned above, the site of the Bornholmer Straße checkpoint has some placards (in German and in English) describing the events of Nov 9, 1989, and a section of the Berlin Wall. There are markers that show how deep the crowd was at varying times over the course of the night. If you like to stand where history happened (I do), this is a good place to do it.

Posted by
1116 posts

Did anyone else immediately think of The Producers when they saw the title of the post?