15 hours in Berlin- afternoon till morning what to do?

In My Humble Opinion
1

I am arriving in Berlin via train next Thursday at 3.00pm and my flight out is from Berlin-Tegel the next morning at 6.30am. I only travel with a small backpack and am just planning on sleeping at the airport if at all. So a couple of questions if anyone like DMark or others can help with (I am okay with reading German, bad at understanding spoken word and horrible at vocabulary):

  1. I am planning on just using public transportation to get around and hopefully to the airport (the sidetrip to Berlin is on my own dollar). Is the system English friendly with tickets and directions to get on trains? Can I just use subways? Is there a 1 day (or other) pass I should look for? Do the trains operate 24-hours a day and can I take one to the airport?

  2. What other than the Brandenberg Tor and Pergamon, which is open until 10.00pm, should I see in my limited time and fit in?

If anyone wants to give me an itinerary, it would be awesome!

I will have been in Hamburg for a week beforehand so I’d love to have one last good German pub/bar send off to cap the night as well.

2

Nearly all instructions and ticket machines on the BVG are also in English, so you’ll have no problem. For that matter, most Germans younger than 30 speak passable English. Quite good in most cases.

There’s no train to Tegel, but there’s a special-service airport bus (TXL) that intersects the train system at a number of places. Its next-to-last stop is at the Beusselstr. S-bahn station nearest Tegel.

Expecially during the wee hours, you may find the new Hauptbahnhof a center of activity.

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The Pergamon Museum is unbelievable. It’s full of awesome antiquities. The Reichstag is really beautiful. The Checkpoint Charlie Museum is also very cool. People were pretty inventive in escaping East Berlin.

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Apologies for the miscategorization. Thanks for the name of the BVG, Mr. Downtown, it made it a lot easier to find the english site and get some information on the system. Thanks for the museum suggestions as well. I’m looking into their hours to see what I can fit in.

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The Ramones Museum

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I haven’t been to Berlin in far too long, but still have lots of friends who live there and visit me regularly in Las Vegas.

So much to do in such little time.

As mentioned by Darryl Lict (great name!) those museums are all worthy of a visit, but will kill hours and hours of time. Great for a rainy day though. Weather of late has been rainy - and also a bit hot and humid, so that might be a plan/factor.

If you want to do outdoor things, there is a great Zoo smack dab in the middle of the city, with a nearby aquarium. Plus, there are some really cool boat rides where you could just relax, see the beautiful sites and have some great German coffee and cake while cruising down the rivers and across the lakes! Berlin is surprisingly a very green city, with lots of forests, lakes, parks and waterways.

The department store, KaDeWe is a great place to wander - the two entire top floors of food alone will make you drool…pastries, wursts, wines, cheeses…plus the other floors of fashion and other trinkets to look at. One friend of mine from NYC went there and said, “KaDeWe makes Bloomingdales look like KMart!”

The night life is fantastic - so choose carefully; music clubs, dance clubs, sex clubs, local bars - lots and lots of options! Remember, some of those bars are open 24 hours a day, so don’t be afraid to go late - most people don’t even venture out to the clubs until at least 11:00 PM at the earliest! And yes, even during weekdays!

Earlier in the evening, you might want to hit a cabaret, drag show, opera, musical or concert; check the listings or ask at your hotel what is on that night and about getting tickets last minute (might not be easy).

There is also some amazing architecture - new and old - that is worth seeing; stick to the Alexander Platz area (old center of East Berlin) and you will get a bit of everything within walking distance. (The Pergamon Museum is easy walking distance from Alex (the short name for Alexander Platz) assuming it is not raining.

So, without knowing exactly what you want to do, or your interests, those are a few tips. However, as I tell people coming to Las Vegas, be careful of arming yourself with a long list of “must-do’s” as you will most likely not get far on the list. Berlin is the same - I would just head towards the center (Alexander Platz - city center of old East Berlin) or the (Gedanknis Kirche - city center of old West Berlin) and just let the muse strike you…wander, and enjoy!

Report back and let us know how things went!

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I was there last year, when my daughter was in school in Germany. There is a day pass, and when I went on the subway by myself I had no problems. The transportation is awesome, and with your limited time you can travel on them very short distances.

While the museums mentioned are great (Pergamon has the Ishtar Gate) you don’t seem to have enough time to do them justice. But you definitely should see Checkpoint Charley, which also has a now rare piece of the Wall near it.

I can’t speak to sex clubs and drag clubs, however. Though I did see Cabaret on Broadway. :slight_smile:

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Well - how was Berlin?