Originally Posted by
submonte
As as alternative to Hamburg I strongly suggest Munich. I think with ICE high speed train you should reach Munich in around 5 hours from Berlin. For many of us Germans it is our most beautiful city and with "Southern" mentality. Highest quality of living, very clean and safe. But also expensive.
As much as I love Munich, I think this might be a little ambitious. Because of the spring flooding, some of the high-speed tracks south of Berlin have been damaged, so journeys to Munich are now 6.5-7 hours, meaning it will take up a better part of two days going there and back. I think the only way to make it work would be sleeper trains.
Look for Deutsche Bahn apps if you have an iPhone or Android device. I book all my train tickets and seat reservations through it. You just need to open a free account, have confirmed it by mail. You get your online ticket by mail to print it out, or what I do, on your phone in your app with a matrix barcode. You present your phone to the DB guy who controls the ticket (he will scan the matrix code) and e.g. your credit card as identity proof (you define this in your account before). The apps tells you also your wagon, seat, track, if delays appear and so on.
Unfortunately, you need a German SIM card to use the DB tickets app.