Trip to Berlin...first time

A really good deal is to visit MuseumInsel which consists of several fabulous museums near Unten den Linden and is free from 6pm to 10pm on Thursday evenings. You could go to the Holocaust Museum and then over to MuseumInsel.

You're going to a great city! I went back a couple of years ago after a 30 year gap and loved it. You'll find that public transportation is very good and easy in the city. I even took the S Bahn to Potsdam, which I would recommend as a good day trip. I stayed most recently in the east. When I was there in the 79's of course we stayed in the west. Do go see and climb the Reichstag dome. Get there early. Rick Steve's Guidebook was pretty useful for Berlin. The museums are very good. I liked the Check Point Charlie Museum better in the 70's than in the 21st century, but it's still very interesting. You might want to check out this web site. http://www.berlin.de/english/ There are some interesting books to read. In particular if you like mysteries you might want to pick up Phillip Kerr's Berlin Noir. It's three mysteries set in Berlin pre and post WW II. The book A Woman in Berlin is a powerful story about a woman's experience in Berlin from May 1945 through September 1945. Harrowing doesn't begin to describe it. Don't miss the history museum. It was fascinating. Pam

Auschwitz is in Poland and therefore not a day trip from Berlin. Sachsenhausen Concentration Camp is very near by though and is a very moving experience. Ravensbruck, which was the womens' camp is also near by. Many of the walking tour companies have tours to Sachsenhausen and to Potsdam, which can really enhance your trips there, with lots of interesting information.

Souvenir stands are all over the city, but mainly around the Tiergarten and Zoo area.
They also offer tours of Berlin which will show you this city in a fascinating way. Bike tours are also fun. These are all quite reasonably priced

The main 3 companies:

http://www.berlinwalks.de/
http://www.insidertour.com/
http://www.brewersberlintours.com/tours.html

Thank you! All of you have been helpful! I do realize that Auschwitz is far away, but see you can see the camp in one day, the commute will take longer but I just wanna know how much it would cost to do it regardless of time.

Tasha,

You'll love visiting Berlin! For an inexpensive hotel in a neighborhood with good transportation connections and nice restaurants consider Pension Peters

We loved the museums on Museum Island plus the Checkpoint Charlie Museum and the Jewish Museum. Also browsing at KaDeWe Department store--especially the food market on the 6th floor.

For a day trip consider Dresden though it's about 2.25 hours by train.

We were in Berlin last March and it was cold so make sure to monitor the weather and plan accordingly!

As Jo points out, Auschwitz is a long way from Berlin (300+ miles) and not doable as a day trip. Consider staying in the old eastern sector of Berlin. I found it much more interesting than the western sector, and it was littered with a mix of good inexpensive places to eat, nice restaurants and beer halls.

Berlin is now one of my favorite cities! We stayed at Pension Peters and loved it. The cheapest way around town is the S and U-Bahns. Buy a pass (available at the Main and Zoo stations, at least).

We really liked Museum Island, but that is if you are a museum kind-of person. It is worth it to buy the pass to unlimited museums there. There is a lot of great nightlife, so we heard, but we were there with kids, so I can't speak to that, personally.

NO, not yet...I am gonna go there too, but I would like to go to Auschwitz too. Being the reason I am still bent on getting more info.

um yeah...I have been learning about these camps for pretty much my entire life...so yeah..no morbid curiousity, just a vast interest in history..if you have no help ful ideas DONT POST kthx

Rude, please.. Did I say people can read my mind no...I was making a point...and I think I have stated what would be helpful to me...Like I stated before...I am PLANNING on going to Auschwitz, I am not just gonna nix it from my plans because of the distance. Will I go to Sachenhausen and the other camp...yes I will...will i not go to Auschwitz because of the distance no. I think I have made my thoughts and questions pretty clear, and if you think that what I said was rude, maybe assuming I have a morbid curiosity is quite rude as well... So how is that for being able to say what you want...That is all

I have deleted my post and am bowing out of further discussion on this thread. We are all volunteers here Tasha, and we try and talk civilly to each other when we help each other out. I wish you luck in your planning.

civilly...yeah..ok...

Would you mind to clarify what your questions regarding a trip to Auschwitz would be?

As you said you want to do a "DAY trip" everybody told you it is impossible (you added the emphasis on DAY). At least if you ask for the "cheapest way" to do it. Hiring a charter plane might make it feasible but not cheap. The train ride is a minimum of 10 hours each way. Use www.bahn.de to check the schedule for the trip from Berlin to Oswiecim. This site will also give you the price. You're looking at 2-3 days to see ONE site, albeit a very important one that you want to give a good amount of time. We spent about half a day there which included a 2 hour private tour. I think for somebody interested in history anything less would be tragic.

My recommendation would be to add several days after your time in Berlin to see several sights in Poland, e.g. Krakov and Auschwitz.