Well, not drunk necessarily..

Will be in Berlin (Germany ) for a couple of conferences in May and will have a weekend free between them. Anything that can be absolutely recommended to do by our esteemed EFers? Cultural, nightlife etc, all suggestions welcome.

Potsdam

http://www.potsdam-tourism.com/pages...g_potsdam.html

Take the bus from Berlin to Praha

Prague tourism

I'd also suggest lesser known jewels like Dresden and Meissen which is near to Dresden. If into hiking, Saxon Switzerland might be worth it.

Wow, didn't realise Berlin and Prague were so close. Have a mate lives just outside Prague.

Many thanks

This looks like fun!

Me neither... they probably aren't. But you can drive there in on one tank.

(Seriously, if you are in Berlin for a weekend of drinking, you really don't need to drive to some god-forsaken provincial towns like Meissen either. That's like suggesting a London tourist to check out Guildford on the weekend.)

I was there last weekend (I ranted about cabin luggage in Complaints Corner in fact when I flew back from there). We based ourselves in Alexanderplatz and went on a massive walk on Saturday covering places like Potsdamer Platz, Unter Den Linden, Checkpoint Charlie, Brandenburg Gate, Reichstag, Berlin Main Station (apparently the most modern station in the world..). There are stacks of museums as well about Nazi history and many art/sculpture museums. In the evening we went out in Hackescher Markt which has lots of restaurants and bars.

On the Sunday, we visited the Allied Museum out of town and then to a big lake just outside of Berlin called Wannsee.

Buses 100 and 200 take you by all the major sights so you don't need to get on one of those tourist buses. Definitely recommend buying a day pass on the public transport as it's a great system and is a bargain at around 6 euros.

Now you could do all that when you're drunk however a bit of sobriety is recommended...

Actually I realised they're not close at all, just checked the maps. But it's only a 4.5 hour bus journey.
I'll probably not be venturing too far out of Berlin itself, so was looking more for stuff in the city itself.

Berlin - Prague is much nicer by a train, tbh. You can party already on the way there. I think I'd stay in Berlin and enjoy the culture there.

Ah, nostalgia, if you long for some grungy and interesting fun, head to the famous Tommy Weisbecker House for some culture, an alternative bar with gigs, ton going on, I was taking midnight kungfu classes there, there is a hobo kitchen if you run out of cash or want to chip in and help out cooking . If you want something classier and not as hardcore, there are a ton of nice chill cafes and bars around in that area, galeries and theaters.

And, don't forget to zip into any decent looking Turkish bistro, the food is amazing.

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We're heading to Berlin next week for my husbands birthday. We've been told by friends that we absolutely must do the alternative berlin walking tour.
http://www.alternativeberlin.com/

Paddy are you going to the ADHD meeting? Me too!

Have a Currywurst when you're there.

Sorry, what were you saying?


j/k,
I'm going to a European Compliance Academy workshop on the 5th and 6th, followed by the European Medical Writers Association meeting from 10th to 14th.

boohoo I am going to the ADHD meeting ....lalalala I think

If you want to get really drunk or just experience Kreuzberg night life go to Trinkteufel - the place (read: dive) to be.

If you like a 60s style hippy atmosphere, head to Prenzlauerberg on a Sunday.

Seems there might be a possibility the wife might join me for the intervening weekend, can anyone name any other airlines apart from Swiss, Air Berlin, Easyjet etc which they can recommend?

I went to Berlin last summer with my family and had a great time. I would recommend the Fat Tire Bike Tour (I read it about it on EF) - it's a great way to see many of the sights.

Germanwings (www.germanwings.com). Not from personal experience, but I know a guy from Berlin who comes to Zurich regularly usually using them as they are cheap (if you book well in advance), but still use the decent airports. Unlike certain Irish competitors...

Thanks, but inconvenient flight times

Yet more Berlin-related questions.
In which areas of the city would you recommend we stay (between my conferences) that is near anything of interest re interesting things to see/do. I've heard that Berlin doesn't have a main "city centre" as such, but has many smaller ones, so what area names should I look out for?