Berlin

[StapleHillPhil]

I was recently browsing the Easyjet website and noticed they have some decent prices for a pre xmas trip to Berlin from Bristol.

Have any of you been there? Is it worth a visit in Winter time? Any suggestions for what to do when you get there?

Ta.

[Guest bristolbred]

When i last went, it was by train, via Holland, and "Checkpoint Charlie!" was still open, and the Wall was still dividing the City!!.

1981 i think it was!!

In the East you had to exchange £12 per day, and you wouldn't even spend a £5, and as you couldn't exchange it back, you gave a lot of people, huge tips!!.

Then you had to explain to the authorities how much you spent?, where?, and show recepts??, and then explain that you havn't kept them!!,

Don't know what it is like now, but West Berlin was expensive then, but now the Deutchmark has been replaced by the Euro, it's cheaper than it was.

This may be of some use to you with regard to accomadation;

www.bookings.de

And this for further information;

http://www.berlin.de/

[Guest Red_Atyeo]

Yeh the flight to Berlin is great, direct from Bristol.

I went in late summer time, and was fantastic. Accomodation is very cheap in East Berlin, although you might want to look into reasonably priced "Pensions" in West Berlin. I stayed on one such Hotel which was just off the road with a prada shop on!

In terms of things to do, make sure you check out Potsdamer Platz, for incredible modern buildings.

Obviously if you are into history then Berlin Wall, Reichstag, Checkpoint Charlie all worth a look. Jewish museum worth checking out as well.

When you land in Berlin, you will need to get the S/ U Bahn into the centre. Get a travel card straight away for about 23 Euros, which is valid on S Bahn (above ground Trains) U bahn (undergtound, Trams and buses.

You will find there is loads to do once you get there, from a driving range in the middle of the city to loads of street festivals (although probably only in the summer).

Hope this helps

[PhatWill]

I went 4 years ago and thought it was a hole. Probably the crappest capital city I've been to bar none. It was just a building site with a load of porn museums.

Germany is probably the nicest place I have been to overall, the people are great...try the Black Forest, Frankfurt, Munich etc...Berlin is a let down IMO.

[Guest bristolbred]

You could always change your mind, and czech out Prague!!,

[Percy Parrot]

I disagree with PhatWill-

I went stopped over there last summer for just a day on the way back from doing a trip around Europe with Jono. I loved it.

LOADS of parks and water, the old gate where the wall used to lie, the church that has half a spire since the war, good shops and bars etc

A little tip- if you do go and are at all interested in history go to TREPTOWER PARK. It's not a key tourist feature and is not in the centre. But the journey to the east of the city is worth it if you find the Soviet war memorial.

The memorial that lies in the middle of Treptower Park is Uncle Joe Stalin's version of WW2. On the main road through the park is a large arch with the hammer and sickle on it. Go through that and there is a huge clearing lined with stone plinths. Each one depicts WW2 and has German and Russian written on it signed off "J. Stalin". At the very end of the clearing is a huge mound with a massive statue on top of a Russian soldier carrying a girl to safety, while smashing through a swastika (apparently a true story of bravery). Under the mound, upon which the statue stands lies the bodies of 5,000 Soviet soldiers killed in the battle of Berlin.

To me the Soviet war memorial shows why Berlin is so amazing. What city can claim to be such a focus of politics and history for so much of the 20th century. It was the capital of Germany from its birth in 1871, through WW1, Weimar, WW2 and then was the focus of the Cold War- probably just as important as Moscow and Washington.