Hello,
I have been wanting to visit Berlin during one of my week breaks in the school year. I will be traveling from Chicago to Berlin. The plan is to leave on a Sunday in March and return the following Sunday. If Berlin is the only destination, does this seem like a feasible trip? Or is six days too short to travel internationally? Your thoughts would be appreciated!
Thank you!
It's kind of short, but if it's all the time you've got I would go for it! You are smart to keep it to one destination. With the cheap airfares I have been seeing, if I lived on the east coast I would do it too! Have fun!
I think that is the perfect amount of time if you are going to spend the entire time in Berlin. I am going to Paris for my 15 year anniversary in February for the same amount of time, leaving Saturday and returning the following Saturday. Sometimes you have to make the most out of your precious vacation time.
Do it! You may not be able to see everything, but in that amount of time you should be able to experience a great deal. We were there for about 3.5 days in September, and were able to see a lot. Definitely make a reservation for a tour of the Reichtstag dome, and a highlight for us was the Berlin Mitte food tour (http://www.berlinfoodtour.de/tours/berlin-mitte-food-tour/). It took about 4 hours, and we were able to taste an amazing array of foods, and learned a lot about Berlin culture and history in the process. Enjoy!
Sounds like a great idea to me. You can also day trip to Potsdam or even Dresden if you feel the need to see something a little differnt.
I love Berlin, and six days will give you time to enjoy it. Good plan.
Absolutely a great idea! Take winter gear; the weather in Berlin in March is just like Chicago.
Hi,
With one week just in Berlin, definitely feasible. Is a week worth it? For me that depends on the air fare. If you get a deal, do it. Also, it depends in regards to having only a week, how desperate you are to see and be there. I'm desperate. If the price were right, I would do the 11 or so hour flight just to get there for a whole week. Time wise and logistically it can be done, and you're going from Chicago flying to Berlin Tegel...even better.
I know that most people don't travel to Europe to visit zoos, but if you have a few hours, check out the Berlin zoo. I think it's the second best in Germany. Perhaps use it as a nice peaceful place to walk off the jet lag on your arrival day?
Europeans currently fly all over their continent for weekends in Barcelona, Berlin, Belgrade, you name it. Join them. There is plenty of good advice on Berlin on this site and in Rick's new series and guidebook. My personal memories of Berlin from before the Wall came down are still vivid. Include the Museum Island to see great historical art, the National Gallery (designed by Mies van Der Rohe) to see the building and the work of Ernst Barlach, a master sculptor of faces and figures. and the graphics by Kaethe Kollwiitz. Make time for a bus tour to get an overview, and try to imagine Berlin when Checkpoint Charlie was not just a small US hut and barrier, but a vast concrete holding pen that everyone entering or leaving East Berlin had to submit to. Watch Spielberg's Bridge of Spies before you go to get that feeling of oppression.. A teenager spat at me and called me a spy when I walked past him, the same age, in 1969.
A walking tour with a student guide your age would be money well spent. Dress warmly and enjoy Europe's newest old capital. Just watch out for the raised cobblestones marked with the names of Berliners arrested and sent to their deaths by the Nazis. Remember.
