Berlin one day off cruise ship

Travel time from the coast to Berlin is about 3 hours EACH way. If traffic is good and no traffic jams get into the way. 6 hours of driving could easily turn into 8 or 10 hours of driving with a bit of back luck leaving you with a couple of hours to "explore" Berlin. Usually, I'd tell everyone to try to make it to Berlin if at all possible because it's really a great place to see. And there's A LOT to see!!! However, under these circumstances I would strongly suggest to look for a destination that's closer to port. How about Luebeck? It's a great historic city that would definitely allow you to "walk as much as possible and still see as much as possible".

"train schedules from port don't work with our arrival and departure schedule" Where did you get you train schedules. Use the German Rail website, http://reiseauskunft.bahn.de/bin/query.exe/en. There is a 3 hour connection every two hours, at 8:02, 10:07, etc. You could leave Warnemünde at 8:02, spend 5½ hours in Berlin, and be back in Warnemünde by 8 PM. But basically, I agree with Beatrix, why spend 6 hours round trip traveling for 5½ hrs in Berlin. Find somewhere closer. Hamburg?

With six hours max in Berlin, there's really not a lot you can do. Berlin is a great walking city, but the different tourist attractions are far apart. A walk down Unter den Linden would be great, but that would be it--if you stop at any of the attractions and have a bite to eat. I think that the previous poster's suggestion of Luebeck is excellent. If your port is closer to Stralsund, that would also be a good choice. I would suggest saving Berlin for when you have time to enjoy.

Thanks for the help. I guess we'll have to save Berlin for another time, what you've both said makes total sense. We dock in Warnemunde, so now I'm going to try and figure out how we can get to Luebeck on our own and what there is to see there. Alternatively, Rostock? Time for more research.

It's my impression that Rostock is just another industrial town, but the photos on the internet do look intriguing. According the train schedules, Luebeck is also 3 hours away. Stralsund is less than two. I have only been through Stralsund in a car on the way to the island of Ruegen, but it is one of my parents' favorite places to go back to.

The original question didn't mention the name of the port so I just took a guess for Travemuende which is close to Luebeck. Warnemuende is a bit further so you may want to look into different daytrip destinations like Stralsund or Wismar. Both historic town centres are UNESCO World Heritage sites. I'm not that familiar with Rostock. http://www.germanplaces.com/germany/stralsund.html http://www.germanplaces.com/germany/wismar.html

I've been convinced! We will save Berlin for another time. We are docking in Warnamuende and have the day to arrange. The train station is convenient to the docks. Suggestions have been made to visit Rostock, Luebeck, Schwerin and Stralsun. We're open to suggestions on any combination of the these, and would appreciate suggestions on how to plan our time in and between them. We have eight to ten hours available. Obviously we have to pick one or two towns, Help please!

Cheri, Yes, save Berlin for another trip when you have a week to spend there. As for choosing two cities close to Warnemuende to see, I would suggest Rostock and Stralsund. Both of these will prove to be interesting. If you really want to see one of former important sites of Mecklenburg, then go Schwerin. It was called Mecklenburg-Schwerin. But that's a bit farther.

You'll get some great, detailed information on the www.cruisecritics.com site. I recall a lot of dialogue about this topic. Try the port section and you should find more than you need. I was on a Baltic cruise recently and chose not to do the marathon drive back and forth to Berlin. We got train passes, went to Rostock and other small towns in the area. It was fun enjoying Warnemunde as well.