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Day trips from Berlin

Does anyone have recommendations for a day trip (train or bus) from Berlin? We enjoy small towns and outdoor activities- especially hiking.

Posted by
8461 posts

We took a day trip by train out to Sachsenhausen concentration camp. It was Germany's first such work camp.

We also went down to Dresden--a fabulous museum town--for the weekend. It was about 2 hours by train. It was perhaps the most beautiful city in Europe before the end of WWII. It was much more of the old style German city than the present Berlin.

The Saxony region and the Elbe River is quite mountainous and a place we will return to. We liked it much better than Berlin.

Posted by
16221 posts

For a day trip, how far do you want to go?

There are numerous places to do a day trip from Berlin, say, within 60-90 mins radius. I suggest Potsdam not only the guided bus tour but after that take the river cruise on the Havel...only locals or German visitors do that. It's a lovely serene experience seeing Potsdam from the Havel, eg, the famous Prussian site Schloss Babelsberg. I finally did this Havel river ride last summer.

I would suggest doing a "day trip" within Berlin itself, seeing the eastern suburbs /districts ie, Karlshorst, Koepenick, , etc, basically those areas east of Alexanderplatz. Very enlightening and historically and culturally revealing.

Posted by
16221 posts

For a small town I would suggest doing a day from Berlin the town of Rheinsberg, both historically and culturally revealing and interesting, besides relaxing. I went there pre-pandemic and refurbishing was going on then with regard to the Schloss.

Posted by
30 posts

I am also looking for a small town to visit from Berlin. We are spending 4.5 days in Berlin, so we don’t want to travel more than 90 minutes one way and don’t want an overnight trip. We are looking forward to spending time in Berlin this summer, but my teenage children asked to see a classic old German town. Medieval time period would be preferred if possible. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thank you!

Posted by
16221 posts

"...to see a classic old German town." You mean close or relatively close to Berlin? If so, then I would recommend from the standpoint of architecture from the Middle Ages the town of Prenzlau.

I have seen several of these places in the countryside in the greater Berlin area, ie, to the south of Berlin and to the northwest., these rural towns in Brandenburg....enlightening and an eye-opener, sociologically and historically.