Hello...I've been all over the Americas; Australia, etc., but never to Europe except for 6 days in the UK!

I am looking into a quick 5 day journey to Berlin for an event in late July...I'm finding tickets into BER and surrounding German areas to be way expensive, but found a very reasonable fare DCA-ATL-AMS.

As a total noob and rookie and can someone please give me some basic advise on where I should start looking for train options (or plane if someone thinks that's best) to get from AMS to BER. Cost is a concern - somewhat - i'm not the frugal traveler by any means, but I'm not on an expense account either. Time is an equal concern to cost, if that makes sense.

I'm currently scheduled to arrive into AMS at 5:55am on 1 AUG and leave at 6pm on 5 AUG.

Any help or advice would be great!!

Thanks!