Weekend in Germany.... Berlin?

Berlin is a fantastic idea! There are excellent museums, convenient public transportation options, and so much history! It depends on what you like to do and see but really, Berlin has something for everyone. Also,if you like shopping don't miss KaDeWe Department Store.

Have you already been to Rothenburg, Nürnberg, Bamberg, Regensburg, Passau, and Burghausen? How about Ulm or the area around Stuttgart (Herrenberg, Tübingen, Hechingen) or the northern Black Forest (Freudenstadt, Alpirsbach, Bad Wildbad, Calw)? My philosophy would be to exploit the local area before going so far. Dresden and Leipzig are closer.

Germany is much more than Munich and Berlin.

Lee has some good suggestions and you might want to add Frankfurt onto the list too as the Christmas market here is really great, plus there is a lot to see and do here.

If you are interested in Botticelli, the exhibit at the Staedel Art Museum is supposed to be fantastic and the biggest Botticelli exhibit ever presented in Germany. The "60 Years of Americans in Hessen" is also in Frankfurt right now and quite interesting. The Museum of Modern Art, the Deutsche Architecture Museum, and the Schirn all have really good exhibits right now.

As to Berlin. You cannot go wrong with going there. Fabulous, fun city with so much to see and do, you will want to spend days there. I think it is one of the best capital cities to visit.

Go to BERLIN if you've never been there, great food choices, great beer, fascinating museums, see the cultural and historical sites. A weekend will just give you an overview. What are you especially interested in seeing there?

Lucky you! In Germany during the Christmas markets! I would definitely make the most of this special time of year and visit several, perhaps Nurnberg and Rothenburg. But available rooms will be harder to find.

Thank you all for your responses. My free weekend is looking a little fuzzy right now as I may have to actually work.

Lee, I will look into the recommendations made for the local places as those sound like a good backup should I only get one free day. How accessible are those places by train?

Also can someone confirm something for me. I know in Munich if you take the train you have also have free access to the underground metro system for that day. Is it the same way in Berlin and other parts of Germany for that matter?

Other than Dresden and Leipzig, I have been to all of the places I mentioned, by rail. If you would go to Hechingen (Hohenzollernburg) there is one bus in the late morning that meets the train and goes to the castle. If not, I walked into the town and took a taxi. It wasn't that expensive.

If you use a Bayern-Ticket (currently €20 Single) you have full use of the transport (S-/U-Bahn, trams, buses) of the MVV for the rest of the day. Of course, it is only valid on regional trains to Munich. A Berlin/Brandenburg-Ticket would similarly be valid on all (or most) transport in Berlin when you arrive, but I don't think you would want to do it that way. A Quer-durchs-Land-Ticket, which would cover transportation by regional trains from Wuerzburg to Berlin, would cover only the S-Bahn in Berlin. With a Dauer-Spezial ticket, you could specify local transportation using the S-Bahn all the way to a specific station in Berlin (Vor- und Nach-lauf, but it would not give you unlimited local transportation in Berlin.