My roommate and I are travelling to Oktoberfest this fall. This will be his first trip out of the country, so we are tacking on a couple of extra days to visit an extra city (9 days total). We're in our mid-twenties, so interested in a destination that offers both sightseeing and nightlife.

The two most logical choices to me seem to be Berlin or Prague. I have explored both extensively (lived in Germany for a few months), but only in the spring/summer; I've never been in the fall. Is one a more compelling choice over the other that time of year?

My thoughts: Prague is probably an easier choice to tackle over a long weekend, and offers a little more variety over an all-German itinerary. On the other hand, I absolutely love Berlin (and d�ner), and think it would be fun to take him on an ICE to show him what real train travel is like.

Any input would be appreciated.

September can still be very warm in Germany. It is technically late summer and both cities will be good to visit. Berlin is further away and while taking the train will let you see more of the Germany it will take about 6 to 6,5 hours. So looking for a cheap flight might be the better way. Another alternative which is dirt cheap but will take 7 hours and won't be this comfortable is to take a long distance bus (like Greyhound).

So at the end it comes to what you want to show your friend. Prague offers more old buildings, the castle and an intact historic old town. Berlin offers a wider variety of night life, a lot of cold war history and of course the famous D�ner.

Thanks for the input. We are actually flying into TXL, which is another reason I would lean toward staying there, but the bus to Prague is only 4 hours, so not a huge difference in travel time.

I choose Berlin, after the crowds at Octoberfest the crowds in Prague (even in September) might be a little too much to contend with.

Saw several d�ner places while walking around old town in Prague yesterday.

Of course I passed and chose to eat strapačky instead

And train travel is always fun, in fact going tomorrow. It was too far to go by train from MAD so flew instead, and WOW, the view of Alps from the plane was fantastic ^

EmailKid

Hard task. Both cities are worth a visit. One more think you should consider is whether you want to explore new parts of the world with you friends, or whether you want to show him some parts you really enjoyed.

Where as, Berlin is .... distinctly less intact. But for architecture and sights Berlin has a lot to offer, although it is different to an old town.

I'd vote Berlin.

Can you fit in any anywhere else?

Good point, although I'm not sure the parts of Europe I haven't yet explored are ones I would want to take someone to on their first trip there

Certainly open to suggestions, but trying to keep it within a reasonable distance from Munich so we don't waste too much time in transit. Berlin and Prague are the first two that came to mind.

We are taking a full day layover at LHR on the way home, so we'll be squeezing in a day trip there as well.

Berlin!

Prague - more things worth visitng. Going 6 hours just to visit Berlin...well if you like modern architecture or nightlife it might be interesting but in Prague there are more historical places, better food and it's... cheaper.

We are flying into Berlin, so it's not out of the way -- total travel time to Munich is 6 hours from Berlin, 9 hrs or so through Prague, which I don't view as a significant difference.

Two other thoughts on Prague:

1) Cheaper

2) Offers different types and tastes of beer than what you would get in Germany.

Berlin. Unless you're going for a romantic getaway or for photojournalism, Berlin has much more to offer. If you want picturesque, and what Americans think that Europe looks like, do a day trip to Salzburg.

But, I was in Berlin in April with my wife and will be in Prague in September with a friend, so I waffle

Good point, already planning on daytripping to Salzburg whilst in Munich.

And as far as cost goes, it's not a huge concern, but it has been my experience that Prague has caught up to much of central Europe pricewise in the last few years -- not nearly the bargain I remember from first visiting it in the mid-90s.

As you can tell, I'm predisposed to choosing Berlin, just trying to come up with a logical case to choose it over Prague.

But you're already going to Berlin, correct? And you might instead go straight from TXL to Prague aftet arriving from the States? Then onto Munich? Have you thought about visiting one of the cities en route from Berlin to Munich, like Leipzig or Nuernberg?