Berlin (Germany) > Reviews > Berlin - A City Reborn

Author's product rating:   

Value for Money
Sightseeing
Shopping
Nightlife
Ease of getting around

Advantages:	lots to do
Disadvantages:	weather

Recommend to potential buyers:

yes

Full review

I was only in berlin for 1 week, not long enough by half to experience every thing I wanted to.

accomadation;
I checked into the Circus hostel near the underground station in rosa luxenburg Platz for 1 night when i first arrived but ended up spending the whole week there. Its clean, cheap, safe, the staff are very helpful, it has a nice reception area and a bar where you gat get drinks and a very freindly aptmosphere, also its within easy walking distance of the center in the east. I highly recommend it to budget travellers.

Walking Tours:
I didn't go on an orginised walking tour untill the middle of my holiday as I don't like being herded like a sheep anywhere but I had heard some good reports. The tour was excellent and is a good way to get your bearings and see some of the hidden sights and storys of which berlin has many. I went on a 2 hour tour that just covered the eastern part of the center but there was a 9 hour tour that I didn't feel up to, those who went on it rated it highly though.

Museums:
without a doubt my favorite was the checkpoint charlie haus museum at the site of check point charlie in fredrickstrasse. It covered the story of the wall from its erection to its fall focusing on many desperate escape attemps and the events leading up to the fall. Very moving and informative.
The allied museum in Clay Allee is a bit out of the way to get to but definatly worth a visit. The best exibits are housed in an old cinema and cover the end of the war and the Berlin airlift, it give you a real feeling for the time.
The permagon museum is certinally impressive with full size greek temples etc but I couldn't help feeling a bit elgin marbleish about it.

other sights:
lots of people seem to hate it but I loved the television tower in Alexander Platz - you must go up it at least once. Breakfast with a veiw in the revolving restraunt at the top was well worth the price.
The best sections of the Berlin wall left are at the East side gallery, (near warschauer strasse)the paintings are peeling and suffering from graffiti (some have been re done) but this is one of the symbols of Berlin and the guy in the souvenier kiosk at the end is good value.
You might have to wait in a bloody long queue to go up to the dome on the reichstag but its very impressive.

Shopping:
Berlin in shopping heaven with loads of small but interesting shops all around the center, for the big stores Fridrickstrasse and Potsdamer Platz were the best ( particularly good for shoes ). The Flea markets on the museum Insel were good for 2nd hand Records.

It might not be the prettiest city in the world when the weathers bad, there is a lot of building work going on as east and west come together and the Brandenburg gate was covered for repairs whilst I was there but its certinally worth a visit, a week at least, there is so much going on there.