Berlin, Germany

ORIENTATION: For now there are multiple airports you can fly to reach Berlin. Based on comparing notes, try for Tegel. You'll have about a 20 minute taxi to Mitte (center of town). The train system is excellent here and a day pass for transport 5.80 (A&B) 6 for (ABC – C is Potsdam) – Welcome Card. Day passes are approximately 16E/1 day and 22E/2days

HOTELS:

• Jolly Hotel Vivaldi Berlin - Friedrichstraße 96 - 10117 Berlin -+49 30-20 62 66-0 - good location for both business and leisure. There is a train station right in front of the hotel.
• Lux - a well reviewed option
  
• Novotel - there are a couple hotels in town - Mitte and near the Tiergarten.

Attractions - if you plan to see many museums here, consider getting a Schaulust Museum ticket for 12E, which will get you discounts. Ask at a tourist information booth.

• Gemeldegarie
• Deutsches Historisches Museum - Unter den Linden 2 10117 Berlin – Architecture looked outstanding from outside .
• Berlin Walks - Meeting Point East 10.30am and 3.00pm daily. Nov. Meeting Point East: outside Häagen Dazs Ice Cafe, opposite Hackescher Markt S-Bahn station Prices: € 12.00 - Duration: c. 4 hours from Meeting Point West. From Meeting Point East, it is all walking
• Brewers Berlin Tours – 3.5 hours free – meet at Bandy Books at Freidrichstr Station.
• Fat Tire Bike Tours - 4.5 hours - 20Euro Meeting Point: It's easy. All tours meet outside the entrance of the giant TV Towre in Alexanderplatz. Look for our yellow sign - you can't miss us! Well worth it. You can plan on lunch and a beer for part of the time (not included in cost)
• Reichstag – 8-2400 (last entry 2200) Free, crowded 10-16 – city views – line out the door everytime we went by. You can make a reservation at the restaurant to bypass line.
• Checkpoint Charlie – 9.50E 9-22:00 – did not go to museum, but the area around it has plenty of history. There is a large outdoor display with plenty of pictures and history to satisfy a quick glance or severla hours.
  
• Jewish Museum – 5E 10-20:00 – amazing architecture, ipod audio tour worth getting. Cameras are allowed.
• Tiergarten – park to the west. Beautiful park, former hunting grounds of royal families. Rent a bike or take a stroll through here
• Bebelplatz – memorial to book burnings – near Humbolt University. Worth a quick walk by, right off Unter den Linden near Opera House
• Unter den Linden – Famous street worth walking around on. Leads to Museum Island, Bradenburg Gate and Tiergarten
• Brandenburg Gate – memorial for Berlin Wall. Lit up very well at night. Usually something going on in front of gate.
• Topography of Terror - 10:1800 free during daylight Hitler and SS – open air museum with a lot of information. Great views of the wall, but look for which way the exhibit flows (not many signs)
• Karl Marx Allee – free area of former Stalin control
• German Cathedral – 10-1800 free – views at top of dome.
• Berlin Wall Document center – 10-18 – free, old remnants of Wall
• Victory Column – 2.20E – 9:30-17:30 – not open if raining – cool views – middle of Tiergarten
• Schloss Charlottenburg - 8 E - 10-17
• Pergamon Museum - 8E - 10-18, on the museum island
  
• Potsdam – about 20 mins by train, during warm weather months their are bike tours that go out here...

Food

• Restaurant Vau - Jägerstraße 54/55 - 030 - 20 29 73 0
• Maxwell Gaststätten GmbH - Bergstrasse 22
• Lutter & Wegner Reservierungsbüro - Charlottenstraße 56 , 030 - 20 29 54 0
• Drinks
• Victoria bar - Potsdamer Straße 102
• Zurletzen Instanz - oldest pub
  
• Coffee – Café Sibylle
• White Trash Fast Food - a local joint, despite the name. Get a feel for the Berlin scene at this place.
• Peretti - cheap, good Italian food - Karl Liebknecht Strasse 5
• Dressler - near Brandenberg gate
• Zwolf Apostle - pizza and pasta at a good price
  
• Lubitsch
• 12 Apostel - several locations thru Berlin (Charlottenburg, Mitte, Steglitz, Veranstaltungsburo)
• Osteria Maria - affiliated with 12 Apostel

NIGHTLIFE:

• Tresor - an old East German power plant, now a club filled with three floors of techno.
  
• Dr. Pong's - for a true "Berlin experience" - grab a beer at this local joint and watch your Berliner's around a ping pong table.
  

SHOPPING:

• The Corner - FRANZÖSISCHE STRASSE 40 - 10117 BERLIN
• Berlin Story – english bookstore with cool WWII stuff, GREAT SOUVENIRS THAT ARE WELL PRICED
  
• gendearmenmarkt - near museum good shops
• Kurfurstendamn - in the west berlin area (ku'damn) - good stores
• KPM - porcelain emporium in kempinski hotel
• traventzienstrasse
  
• Kadewe - department store
• frederichstrasse