Volkswagen Tour from Berlin

'70 Bay Window here. Can't help with your dilemma. Just thought I'd point to the Trabi-Museum in Berlin in case you were curious. It's near Checkpoint Charlie, where many visitors end up:

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g187323-d6510953-Reviews-Trabi_Museum-Berlin.html

http://www.trabi-museum.com/home

We went to the Transparent Factory in Dresden a couple of years back. We did it on a trip where we were focused on car factories - so we also did the Mercedes tour and Porsche tour in Stuttgart, along with the museums for both cars. We got to VW in Dresden about a week after Porsche and Mercedes. It’s way less interesting and with much less to see. The transparent building is cool and there is a fun lobby with about 7 or 8 cars to look at.

The tour was okay - it wasn’t nearly as in-depth as Porsche or Mercedes. I was struck by the fact that the massive VW factory makes only 38 cars a day!

These kinds of decisions are really personal so it’s hard to say - but with only 2 days in Dresden, you might want to look around and see what other things make your To Do list as well. Do you have one night and two part days in Dresden? 2 nights?

Thank you so much for both of your replies your kindness in engaging is very appreciated.

Sounds like the OG VW factory in Wolfsburg may be our best time-value option!

Would love to hear from any travelers that have toured the Wolfsburg VW Factory.

We were there on a cold day in late November in 2023. It's huge. And, for its size was pretty empty. It very much could have been the season and the cold weather though.

It's basically a full day's commitment as the trains take a couple hours each way. I don't know how the Berlin-Hamburg line closure would affect this line, but as they frequently go to Hannover after Wolfsburg there's a potential these trains could be busier than usual. (I'm sure Mark from Schwerin has better info on this than I do.)

TBH, I didn't love it. I felt like it wasn't really enough to do. There are (or were) add-ons to add-ons to do the more fun extra stuff and they conflicted timewise. And, not all the factory tours are in English. If you miss the English one they don't want to let you on the German one, for safety reasons, in case there's an emergency and you don't understand the directions.

However, since it's almost two years later and summer, they could have redone things and the exhibits are more dynamic and refreshed.

My husband is the bigger fan and he enjoyed it more than I did. I liked the car displays. They're got some pretty cool one-offs.

The cafeteria was really nice, food was decent, whole place was very clean, there were lockers for stuff. The gift shop prices were eye-watering, but they had good stuff, not junk.

(husband has had: '57 oval window softtop, 71 super beetle, 2 microbuses, don't remember the years, and I had a Jetta VR6 when they were still fun to drive)

It's basically a full day's commitment as the trains take a couple hours each way. I don't know how the Berlin-Hamburg line closure would affect this line

Thanks for thinking of me, Wanderbug. I expect no impact from closure of direct train route Berlin - Hamburg. Also no other large planned maintenance shown yet.

The ICE connection is very fast: 1 hr 4 mins is best time, also some more with up to 1 hr 22 mins. Acceptable for a day trip.
Tip: if you have a S-Bahn station close to your accommodation in Berlin (network map) use this as departure station when booking the tickets on https://int.bahn.de/en. This way you do not have to care for the local transport ticket to Berlin Hbf because it is included in the price without a surcharge. Tip is only valid for S-Bahn.

As a true VW fan do not forget to eat one very beloved spare part: the Volkswagen Currywurst.

Finally and funnywise I hope that you do not catch one of the very rare ICE trains that misses to stop at Wolfsburg station. This really happened a few times in the last years. One example you can read described in this German FAZ article about a missed stop in 2022.

57 oval window, 69 camper, 60 23 window and too many others to count.
Pay close attention to the factory work schedules when planning a visit.
The Dresden showcase is just that, a showcase. It is very cool, but I would lean towards the Wolfsburg facility.
I am a big fan of the Porsche tour and museum. If you can work those in.

I actually commute from Berlin to Wolfsburg for several weeks before the pandemic (as Wolfsburg itself is boring). I noticed I wasn't the only one doing this. So definitely doable as a day trip. Autostadt is just a short walk from the station.

I have only visited the factory in Wolfsburg so I can’t compare the two but I did enjoy our visit to Wolfsburg. I was t also there in November of 2023. I rented a car in Berlin and drove to Wolfsburg where we stayed over night. My husband and I found it to be really interesting but the only tour they offered that day was in German. They did, however, allow us to participate. I’ve worked in an auto plant before so I was able to point out to my husband some of the things we were seeing. It would have been more fun in English though. I will say, unless you are really into car stuff or manufacturing, I wouldn’t recommend it for many people.