How much time for Berlin?

Two full days for Berlin is too little. I had 5 full days and felt it was not enough. Berlin is simply a big city with too much to see. It has certain charisma although is not as visually attractive as Paris, Prague, Vienna or Budapest.

I'll second the previous poster's opinion. Berlin has stunning historic importance. Even people who think of themselves as "not museum people" should not pass up the opportunity to see such world treasures as the Pergamon Altar and the Ishtar Gate. Reserve a tour of the Reichstag. Visit the Jewish Museum. There are lots of Cold War remnants to see, like parts of the wall and Checkpoint Charlie. Some kind of overview tour such as you get with a HOHO bus is a good idea because there are historic sights scattered around the city. I believe there are good walking tours for this purpose, also. Even my self-professed nonshopper husband was amazed at the food halls in KaDeWe, where we had a nice lunch. I'd guess they put on a terrific holiday display in December.

Are you driving or using train/buses? Personally I'd spend the 5 nights/ 4 days in Berlin. Berlin isn't compact like Paris. The major attractions and musuems are spread out in the city. You can have a wonderful time there by grouping your interests by their location in the city.
If you go for 4 days view the welcome card & the musuem passes offered and compare it to a group ticket for daily transportation and single admission fees for sights on your list. You know how you travel so it's very straight forward.
Also, consider staying in the east. I had more personal interactions with locals there versus staying in the west.

I would add days to Berlin too. There is so darn much to see there, with the varied history of the city. Would add in a day trip to Potsdam, and one to Sachsenhausen too.

Unless it is freezing cold or sleeting, I would go on one of the walking tours or bike tours rather than a Hop on Hop off bus tour. You will get so much more out of your visit to Berlin.

Erfurt sounds like a wonderful town to visit, though I don't know how many days one should dedicate to seeing it, so hope you come back and write us a trip report.

It's funny that on our last trip to Europe, I didn't intend on visiting Berlin. Had no interest in visiting a big city, didn't think there was anything to big to draw me to it. However, we ended compressing our other days a bit and had a few extra--3 I think, so we figured why not. Stayed at Pension Peters, took the subway every day, did all the tourist stops including a Fat Tire Bike tour. At the time I enjoyed everything, but was not blown away. However, I find myself thinking about Berlin a lot, more so than anywhere else I've visited. Had the best lasagne I've ever had while on our bike tour. Discovered a shopping area just behind where we stayed that I didn't know was there. Wish we had more time to visit Potsdam. Even still I'm not sure what it is about Berlin, but I want to go back. So, in answer to your question, stay as long as you can.

As a child of the Cold War, I found Berlin fascinating. It is striking that in this one city could be found the pinnacle of art, music, industry, science, learning -- and the pinnacle of man's inhumanity to man. Art, technology and education, it would appear, don't necessarily improve human nature. It was heartening, though, to see that even after the eighty-year quadruple-whammy of WW1 defeat, economic depression, Nazism and Communism, the city is now pulling itself together so beautifully.

Admire the classic proportions of the Berliner Dom, a souvenir of a more elegant time. Stand in Gendarmenmarkt and imagine the Französischer Dom in rubble, a cylinder of flame shooting up from where the dome used to be, as shellshocked Berliners walked by determined to carry on with their lives. Remember the cold war humor of Jimmy Cagney's One Two Three as you look at the Brandenburg Gate, now with US and French embassies, luxury hotels -- and a Starbucks -- on the east side of it. See the glint of a cross reflected from the top of the television tower, and imagine the chagrin it caused the East German Communists who built it. At Checkpoint Charlie look past the tacky fast-food joints (under the sign "Snack-Point Charlie") and souvenir shops to imagine the tension that pervaded that street just over two decades ago. And visit a Stasi prison, in the company of a tour guide who himself had been a prisoner there ... for the crime of trying to leave the country. And there is so much more.

Berlin may not be the most beautiful city in Europe, but it is certainly emotional and thought-provoking.

Photographs of Cold War-era sights in Berlin

Thanks for the replies!

Over our past few trips we have learned that we are generally "small town" travelers. I do LOVE London though:) We weren't thrilled with Paris or Rome, but I have a feeling Berlin will be a different story.

We will be traveling exclusively by train. For the 3 nights we have a room booked near the Teirgarten Park. Now I'm wondering if we should skip Erfurt all together. Our other German stops include Munich, Freiberg, Wurzburg, Rothenburg and Nurnberg. (remember this is our 3rd trip to Germany so have already spent time on the Rhine, Mosel, Bavaria and Tirol)

Again thanks for all of the recommendations:)

Don't drop Erfurt. Unlike Nuremberg, Munich and Würzburg, which were all destroyed in WW2, Erfurt offers a completely preserved old town. And since you already visited Bavaria before I guess you will visit some of these cities again, right? Wouldn't it make much more sense to drop one of the Bavarian cities?

Martin,

Unfortunately we have non refundable reservations for Nurnberg (the stop right before erfurt). How long do you think I should plan for Erfurt? We could either stop for the day on our way to Berlin or stay 1 or 2 nights? Do you have a recommendation?

Usually I recommend to spend as much time as possible in Berlin. At least four full days, or five full days with Potsdam. But you travel during the dark time of the year, when Berlin sometimes feels like a Soviet city in Siberia... especially East Berlin with the wide alleys. And a day trip to the parks of Potsdam is only recommended after it snowed.
Erfurt on the other hand is one of the few big cities not leveled in WW2. Rick Steves calls Erfurt a "untouristy Rothenburg", and although this isn't true, it's still the best preserved town in your itinerary... the old town suffered less than Rothenburgs, actually. How much time you spend there depends on you. Some people see Rothenburg odT in 3 hours, some spend 3 days there. It's the same with Erfurt. To me a full day with a visit to the synagogue and the Christmas market in the evening is the optimum. The Christmas market is Germanys only big market (200+ stalls) staged in a completely preserved town. Here is a 3D-panorama (click on the third pic):
http://3d-top-event.info/weihnachten48Weihnachtsmarkt_Erfurt.html
BTW: close to Erfurt, but deep in the montains, is Lauscha, where the Christmas baubles were invented.

To make it short: since I don't like Berlin in December that much, and since you prefer small towns anyway, I recommend not to drop Erfurt. It's exactly what you are looking for. Stay there for at least one night. If you stay longer you can do day trips to Weimar, which is a cute small town and a World Heritage Site, or see the Wartburg, Germanys historically most important castle and a World Heritage Site too. Or see Leipzig, which has a pleasant, mostly preserved centre and a big Christmas market (200+ stalls). Leipzig actually feels like Berlin in small, but because it's much more compact it doesn't have this gritty feel of wintery Berlin. I would save Berlin for another trip, preferably in May or June, spend a full week there, and see the city in combination with the Baltic coast, Saxony or the Harz mountains. All these places offer small towns in abundance.

I spent four nights in Berlin two years ago and it wasn't enough. But I love big cities. Going back in 2015 for four more nights.

Thanks for all of the info and pics Martin! and thank you everyone else for your input:) I think we'll probably just stay one night in Erfurt and 4 nights in Berlin (and hope that the fact that it's winter doesn't detract from our enjoyment!)

"...our first time to either Erfurt or Berlin." Ordinarily, I would urge you to visit Berlin but in mid-December you can bet on it being cold period. That's one reason I've only been Berlin between May and Sept. Introducing a first timer to Berlin in the summer is much more preferable than in the winter. You may come away with a false image of the city.

Between Erfurt or Berlin in the winter, my suggestion is Erfurt. Save Berlin for a week's visit in the summer.

I don't quite agree with the last comment. I've been to Berlin 3 times, once in the summer and twice in the dead of winter (Dec/Jan). Berlin works at any time of the year because it has both, indoor and outdoor activities to choose from. If it's an ugly day outside, there are more than enough museums to choose from to spend a few hours in a cozy warm environment.

Thanks Fred and Beatrix,

I have already paid for non refundable rooms in Berlin (bid on price line 65.00 use for a 5 star with good reviews on price line). Usually prefer RS type places, but hard to beat that price. I was able to add an extra night in Berlin so will do 1 night in Erfurt and 4 nights in Berlin. One of the focuses of this trip is Christmas Markets - with a heavy dose of sight seeing. I've always been under the impression that cities were a better choice in winter - for reason's Beatrix mentions. Thanks for the input!

I think visiting Berlin in December is a good idea too. All those museums to visit, the city is decorated for the holidays and is very festive. Sure, it may be prettier in the spring and summer, but the cold wouldn't put me off visiting a world capital. Plus, since it will be totally dark by 16:30, all the lights will be on and Berlin is gorgeous at night.

Just to make my point, here are a few winter impressions of Berlin and Potsdam:

The Wall, Bernauer Strasse (2010)

Prenzlauer Berg

Remnants of a New Year's Eve party

Potsdam

The Wall, 1981

Give yourself as much time as possible in Berlin. It's loaded with anything that might interest you—art, architecture, shopping, boat rides, history, literature, cuisines from all over the world. There's simply no end of things to do and see. After decades of exploring Europe, I now spend my entire vacation every year in Berlin.

That is exactly why I save Berlin for the summer, since I have no idea except it gets below -1 C. I'll return in the summer.

@ James...Based on just weather considerations, "normally" Berlin is going to be cold in Dec. as the month proceeds since it lies on the middle area of the North German Plain (Norddeutschebene). When it gets to 32 F, that's cold enough, still tolerable, get it down to 27 F that's frigid, arctic for me. But Budapest: chances are "normally" will be a few degrees warmer since the city is protected by the Carpathians, no mountain range covering Berlin, obviously. In that case under those circumstamces, I would pick Budapest over Berlin.

Even Berliners say that their city is horrible in winter. Most Germans probably agree. SPIEGEL put it this way: "Berlin means inhospitable winter and the greyest grey. But Berlin also means ecstatic summer evenings and crazy city beaches.". Berliner Kurier, a local tabloid: "In winter Berliners don't talk with each other, they appear grey and sad.". Or here: how to survive a winter in Berlin.
If Berlin would look like Vienna or Prague, with narrow streets and colorful old houses, it probably wouldn't be so bad, but Berlin was rebuild after WW2, with wide, windy alleys and grey, concrete blocks, which don't protect you from the weather, and which don't bring a few colors into a grey day.

Jill:

It might be too late for you, but see if you could get a tour of the Reichstag. I booked ours about two months in advance (but that does not mean that I needed to have done so that far in advance). Reichstag tour is impressive - though, in my infinite wisdom, I booked it for 8 pm for us - it was windy and CHILLY at the top of the dome out in the open!!

"If you go for 4 days view the welcome card & the musuem passes offered and compare it to a group ticket for daily transportation and single admission fees for sights on your list. You know how you travel so it's very straight forward."

I agree with this response; plus you haven't said who "We" is. In our case, it was us parents and two kids both of whom were under 14. I believe 14 is the cut-off under which kids (up to three) can travel with an ABC welcome card cardholder. The all-encompassing (travel-wise) tickets are really a good deal when you throw in the kids. We managed to ride around on the (touristy) Bus 100, but not so much the Bus 200 (which was also recommended). I liked the colors on the trains - for the most part, the U-bahns were yellow and S-bahns were red. The Berlin Hauptbahnhof is also a thing of beauty and gigantic. I believe it is the biggest train station in Europe.

That said, we Floridians are only now thawing out - it was 27 (about 15 or so with windchill) when we were there - from our trip. We ran into the coldest weather of the season thus far, said my co-worker who is from Berlin! And if we came back reasonably impressed and pleased with the city, I am sure you should not be having second thoughts as you are from CO.

We were there for three nights and two full days. We reached in the evening and were leaving in the morning. The first day we went to Neues museum and the second day we went to the Pergammon museum. Though we are not too much into museums, we did enjoy the artifacts there (we obviously did not cover the entire museum in either place). On the second morning, I walked the length of the East Side Gallery which is one hop from Berlin's Ostbahnhof. It is just about 1.5 km (one mile) in length. We saw the remnants of the Wall on the road right behind (or in front of, depending on your point of view) the Brandenburg Gate. We also went to Checkpoint Charlie and the Museum of Terror (or whatever its name is) nearby. We did not see it in its entirety either.

The time was not enough for us to go visit Potsdam though I wanted to go there. Besides, it was too cold for us to make time to go earlier in the morning!

One thing I was unaware of is that these museums offer an audio tour for free. We missed that in the Neues museum, but used it both at Pergammon and the Reichstag.

If you look back at my posts, you will notice that I had made plans for Paris. For Berlin, not so much. But we enjoyed both places :-) The Brrrrrlin cold we obviously complained about, but that was totally out of our control for the season!

Everyone appears to be raving about KaDeWe. For us, it was a let down, maybe because (fortunately, I would say) we barely got there half an hour before it closed. It closed at 8 pm the day we were there, in case you need to know. I took the family to the much extolled food floor and was underwhelmed (unless I was not in the correct floor - the one we were in was the one where they were selling food stuff, not a restaurant as such).

Porcupyn