We’re heading to Berlin from NYC on the December 27 thru Jan 4. Looking for ideas on where to go and what to see.
Posted by
Lexington, KY (formerly Southeast US)
4715 posts
I'm with MarkK. It's hard to know what to recommend without knowing your interests. Since they have not appeared yet, I'll recommend The Rough Guide to Berlin, which is full of things to do in the city.
Posted by
OP
2 posts
Thanks for the replies. I wasn’t very specific was I. So we have traveled to many European cities but not Berlin. I reviewed the links that were recommended and they were very helpful. Walking tours are on our agenda as well perhaps a hockey game and maybe a day trip to Dresden. A cozy jazz club would be nice.
We’re staying at the Radison Blu in Berlin.
Posted by
1040 posts
try the timeout site: https://www.timeout.com/berlin
Posted by
Lexington, KY (formerly Southeast US)
4715 posts
Jazz club recommended to me by a Berliner who is a musician: A-Trane. It's in the former West Berlin, a block away from the Savignyplatz S station -- which is a 15 min ride on S3, S5, S7, or S9 from the Hackesher Markt S station, which is a couple of blocks from your hotel. The guy who recommended it described it as cozy, and it looks like that on Google Images. I haven't made it there yet.
Walking tours. There are many options and many price points. RS has a do-it-yourself walking tour in the Germany guide (I imagine it [and perhaps more?] are also in his Berlin guide). Insider Tour gets high marks on this forum for larger group tours at a reasonable price. I like Context Travel, which offers tours led by Master's- and PhD-level guides in small groups of no more than 6 participants; obviously, cost is higher, but I find their tours thoughtful and worth the price. If a private guide is within your budget, I always recommend Robert Sommer, who was the 15-year-old son of an East German bureaucrat living in East Berlin when the Wall fell in 1989. He went on to earn a PhD in German history, with a focus on the Holocaust. He is immensely knowledgable but delivers information in a very approachable and interesting style. His personal anecdotes about life in the DDR, the fall of the Wall, and post-Reunification life in the Germany make a tour with him almost priceless.
Have a great time in Berlin! It's my favorite large city in Europe!