HELP!! Berlin? Germans...Fellow travellers - all advice welcome

[Tortington]

for Xmas 2012 as the family have behaved appaulingly - i am opting out - went to travel agents today and the flights aren't out til end of Jan, kbut really fancy Berlin

only want to go for 3 days - what should i do, what should i google

assume i Know nothing as i do.

also i need to plan and have structure or else i will argue with dh as we both get increasingly nervous at being lost abroad. We don't do assertiveness really.

so i need to plan, have thngs to do, book thngs, research thngs

tell me all

i mean what to do in Berlin?

I would stay at a good central hotel, we did Cologne at the Dom Hotel 23-26th December and it was about £85 a night for the room (2 adults and baby) including breakfast. Special rate as not as popular at Xmas. Worth contacting hotels / their websites directly for deals.
Berlin is pretty vast and sprawling. Get the Time Out guide or research on their website. Their recommendations are usually pretty spot on.

Be careful to go before you miss the Xmas markets. We just made them by arriving 23rd. This was 4 years ago though.

ahh, yes Christmas markets was something i wanted to definatley do thank you, it didn't occur to me that they might not go on after 23rd.

Yes, Xmas markets definitely close down before Xmas. Germans celebrate on the 24th so everything pretty much shuts down around lunchtime, and I mean everything. The good news though is that things like museums and galleries are open on the 25th. It's years since I was in Berlin so can't help much with suggestions, except I remember the Reichstag is well worth a visit.

Actually, you'll be okay the markets in Berlin and Potsdam went till after Xmas this year. Potsdam Old Town sounds nice.

Hi Custardo, we live in Berlin, and have done so for a ridiculously long time . What do you want to know in particular?

Many Xmas markets do close down on 23rd, but not all. There are probably more than 30 in Berlin - every district has one or two. I know for sure that the one at Potsdamer Platz stays open until the New Year, but it's certainly not the nicest around. It's got a great ice slide though - the kids love it. Our favourite is this one, which I've just seen is open until the end of the year. It costs a euro for adults to get in but it's got a good entertainment programme. This year we also went to this one which is open until 26th and the market at Alexanderplatz, which has a lovely old-fashioned wooden big wheel and an outdoor ice rink around a fountain.

Friends of ours stayed here earlier this year and were impressed with the family suite (two rooms together). It's a pretty good location in the centre of the west half of the city and directly opposite KaDeWe (the Berlin Harrods).

If you're going without kids I would recommend a boutique hotel in Mitte. This is the kind of thing I would go for. Or this one is a great location next to Tacheles.

There's loads to do - it depends on your interests. Museums - the Pergamon and the Jewish museum, for example. I personally think the Holocaust memorial exhibition is too traumatic for young children. If you go to the Humboldt-Box exhibition I coordinated the translations on the second floor! (sorry for boast). There are loads of walking tours of Mitte (the central eastern district), you can do a Jewish tour, or a historical tour, or an 'along the Wall' tour. Potsdam is definitely worth a day trip, but it's difficult getting a slot to get in the Sans Souci palace so book that in advance. And the palaces are unheated in winter! Charlottenburg palace is also cool.

If you come next Christmas you'll be using the new airport, which is opening in June. There will be a direct train and bus line to get you to the city centre. This is the local transport network with a journey planner - the trains are generally cheap and efficient.

Anything else you need to know?

Blimey Tenebrist, I'm tempted for next year now x

oops, I do sound a bit like I work for the Berlin Tourist Board .

WOW! thank you so much! great to hear about the markets as this was a must do for me

www.circus-berlin.de/circus_hotel_berlin.html i think we re going to stay here.
3 nights, total tourist and not even trying to play it cool in any way. i want to see the obvious and do the obvious, think i am going to www.insidertour.com/tours.php/cat/27/id/41/title/Tourdetails do these tours, they even do one on xmas day
maybe do a segway tour

i think i could do with an intro to food - sausage and sauerkraut is my limit of German cuisine.

i dont want culture -i'm uncultured and that's fine - i dont want posh - i want tourist - think 'obvious'

dh is a bit concerned as he is a 'bacon butty' type of food guy

i would like to know about anything vaguely pastry like. i have an addiction to sugary bread that i need to feed i can't believe theres a berlin mumsnetter

this is awesome

thank you so much

OK, just so you know that Circus is a hostel, not a hotel. Admittedly one of those slightly more upmarket hostels, but it does attract a younger (ie louder) clientele. It's a great location though. But there's no closing time in Berlin pubs so people will be rolling in at all times of night. I once went to a pub quiz at Circus and the other teams were so pissed we managed to come third simply by listening to their indiscreet answers.

I think Insider are supposed to be OK for tours. The Segway tours look fun but if it's snowing or icy a seriously bad idea. This year has been very mild but last year at this time it was minus 10.

If you want obvious then: tour of Mitte, with Insider, Segway, whatever, followed by going up into the Reichstag dome. This is free but you have to book in advance online and go through a security check - we went on the 23rd with my mum. Go along Oranienburger Strasse and see the synagogue and Tacheles, then to Hackescher Markt. Walk along Unter den Linden with a good guide book and it's one famous sight after another (but that would all be included in the Insider tour).

Simple food: what you're looking for is Bratwurst or Currywurst (sausage cut into slices with a spicy tomato sauce on the top). You get it from a kiosk called an Imbiss (best in Berlin is Konnopke's Imbiss in Prenzlauer Berg) or a touristy restaurant called Berliner Republik. You would get plenty of Bratwurst at any Christmas market, along with some weird drink specialities: go for a Feurerzangenbowle or the more obvious Glühwein.

If your DH seriously wants a bacon butty he could try an Irish pub called 'Oscar Wilde' on Friedrichstrasse. It's the same district as Circus, round the corner from Oranienburgerstrasse. I'm pretty sure I've seen bacon butties on the menu there in the past - they cater largely for English speaking builders.

Mmm, sugary bread and pastry stuff. Berlin bakeries are pretty good for that (not as good as Vienna or Munich, but still OK). You're looking for a Bäckerei, there's one on every corner. You might be interested in a Rosinenbrötchen (currant bread). Better for you might be a Turkish bakery (Turkish people are the biggest ethnic minority in Germany), where you can get lots of baklava and honeyed pastries. They're pretty yummy.

Anything else you want to know?

you are being so helpful -t hank you so much,

what other food should i try?

I also live in Berlin (from Summer 2011) though we did come home for Christmas this year. One suggestion for a night out with the family is the Rancalli Circus at the Tempodome - we went for my daughter's birthday and had a great time. You don't need to speak German to enjoy it.

Just remember - no Sunday shopping and the shops shut at 2pm on Christmas Eve. If you are after a retail experience then the sales do seem to start a few days before Christmas.

We went to a couple of Christmas markets and the best was Gendarme Markt where you pay a Euro to get in. I thought the markets were all pretty samey though.

Before we relocated we stayed at the Movenpick Hotel near Potsdamer Platz (5 mins walk) alot and it was great.

Ooh, ichbin, what part of B. are you in? I didn't know there were any other Berliners here!

It's not strictly true that there's no Sunday shopping. The very strict rules allow for shops to open from 1pm to 6pm on 18 Sundays a year, which are all centrally determined in advance. Shops are open on 2nd and 4th Advent Sunday, for example - they're also open tomorrow, I believe (god knows why, no one's got any money to buy anything).

Gendarmenmarkt is one of the markets I gave a link to. I don't find them samey - Gendarmenmarkt is very different from the dreadful one at Breitscheidplatz near Zoo.

If you're looking for more entertainment where you don't need German there is the Blue Man Group at Potsdamer Platz.

You asked about food, Custardo. Around Christmas a lot of restaurants offer a traditional meal of duck or goose (Entenbraten or Gänsebraten) served with red cabbage or kale. It's not my thing - I find it very heavy.

Berlin food is really heavily meat based - hundreds of different ways of eating dead pig. That may be why there are so many 'ethnic' restaurants now (people want an alternative) - lots of good Greek food in particular.

Gebrannte Mandeln are pretty good from the Christmas markets - candied almonds.

There's a traditional drink called Berliner Weisse which is a beer with red or green syrup added - it's the best way of spotting a tourist, because nobody else touches the stuff.

oooooooh two people

great stuff

still waiting for the flights to come out and i will book in february.