Berlin-two days
 

Traveling to Germany and will have two days off in Berlin, any suggestions what to see, 1. The Berlin Wall, what is the closest concentration camp?

Thanks

If you can pick up a Lonely Planet Berlin city guide in time, I recommend their walking tour - I really enjoyed that it covered a glance at so many of the famous tourist attractions in just one day. And if you find yourself in Kreuzberg, pick up a doner kebab from Mustafa's for me.

It's an amazing city - enjoy your time there!

I did two of these tours in two days - both fantastic but you have to be comfortable with the 35 and below demographic. It actually mapped out the rest of my stay as I knew where to go to spend more time, day and night.
alternativeberlin.com/

I like the Frommer's Berlin day BY day book the best of all the tour guides. Over the years I've bought so many but this one was the best.^

Berlin is such a great city to visit if you are a city person like myself.:)

For the most part, Berlin is a very easy city to see as most things are compacted. Start at the Berliner Dom and walk down to the Brandenburg Gate. Along the way, you will see Alexanderplatz/tower, Karl Marx statue, Museum Island, Biebelplatz, Humboldt University, Statue of some German dude on a horse on a street median, The Russian embassy and finally the gate itself. There are a couple of shops along the route to buy Spaghetteis. (If you are unfamiliar, look it up and drool)

Once you go through the gate, you can visit the Reichtag itself on the right. You will also see the Haupbahnhof, which is pretty impressive. I recommend sitting on a bench on the Spree river beach and people watch. If you go the other way at the gate, you can see the Jewish Memorial and the American Embassy. Straight ahead of the gate is a memorial that the Berliners call “A chick on a stick”. I let you decode that one once you see it :D Tiergarten is also straight ahead.

The next day, go out to the Berlin Wall. They restored the graffti art a few years back and it looks pretty vibrant. There is a break in the wall where you can view things from the other side too. If you head west on the wall, you will pass the O2 center. Take the U-Bahn over to Checkpoint Charlie. They have people there that will stamp your passport with Cold War era stamps for a small fee. I only saw a partial of the outdoor exhibit and it was interesting. While you’re in the area, head over to Fassbender & Rausch. It’s like what Godiva chocolate is to the states. They have massive chocolate made models of Berlin’s famous sites and a chocolate volcano. Resist the urge to go broke with all the choices. KaDeeWall is in the area if you want to look at high end shopping. The Zoo isn’t too far away either, but now that Knut is gone, it’s just a zoo. Take the U-bahn to the Olympic stadium and check it out. It’s a pretty walk through a small forest and a LONG walk across the parking lot to the stadium in the distance. This is the famous Jesse Owens site. This seems odd, but it’s fun to go to Oranienburg to see the “ladies of the night” pedal their wares in matching uniforms. (It also gets annoying as they are every 10 feet and get aggressive with their sales pitches) The Jewish synagogue along the street looks pretty cool lit up at night. There is also a lot of nightlife in the area.

As far as restaurants, you kind of take what you can get. I survived off donor kebabs and brats for the most part. As a side note, the best donor in Berlin is at the Haupbahnhof vendor just outside the back of the station. There is a nice collection of restaurants at the Hackescher Markt but I couldn’t tell you the name of any of them. They were good, but nothing memorable from what I experienced.

Berlin is great for the little things. I always got a kick of seeing the Ampelmann crossing lights in the East or waking up at 6 AM and seeing people just now leaving clubs all disheveled. It’s a new city that feels old with a lot of construction going on. The joke is that Berliner’s favorite pastime is demolishing and rebuilding.

If you don’t want to walk a lot, there are several cheap hop on/off tours that take you to the main sites. I’d highly recommend these. Most begin at the Brandenburg gate.

Let me know if you have any questions. My German is terrible, and so is my memory, so I probably have mistakes with both in there.

Regarding the wall, I can highly recommend a visit to the "Berlin Wall Memorial" situated along a 1.4 km strip of Bernauer Strasse:

http://www.berliner-mauer-gedenkstaette.de/en/

Closest concentration camp is Sachsenhausen, located slightly north of Berlin. The train ride isn't too long (it's been a while, but I think about half an hour), you can find it at bahn.com .
If you intend on going I suggest that you set aside a few hours as IMO there is a lot to see. Also, it might be a good idea to take a tour.

Edit - (I misread and thought the OP was visiting Munich)

Thanks to orthar for catching the error)

I think you mean Sachsenhausen (the camp I mentioned), as Dachau is in south Germany. As you mentioned, Sachsenhausen wasn't used for mass extermination but various extermination techniques were 'tested' there during the course of the war for various reasons.
The confusion might be due to the similar sign on the entrance gate to both Dachau and Sachsenhausen.

Oops .... you're completely correct - I conflated Berlin and Munich. I have edited out the previous response. Thanks for catching the error. :o

Visit the museum at Check Point Charlie. It is small but very compelling. It doesn't look like much from the outside, but the stories inside are amazing.

I would find some local areas too. I took the subway to an area and just wandered around (sorry I don't remember where), but it was interesting. The people are very friendly. Ended up getting a tour of bars, restaurants by a local.

Brrr....

Two days in my country and prime interest is the wall and concentration camps. Fortunately they were "closed" in 1945 and 1990, so 67 and 22 years ago. This feels a bit as if the places of prime interest of a visitor to the US were the places of masacers against native Americans and the slave market in Atlanta. We are far in the 21st century and Berlin is a great place to be. Pls. do not only concentrate on the ugly past.

Well noted, although for me knowing the past helps understand today.

What should a visitor see of today's Berlin?

Try this thread.http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/germa...n-what-do.html
Although I kind of got shot down for some of my suggestions from a tourist point of view.:D

I recommend the area around Hackescher Markt and this is a great hotel for the money

http://www.adina.eu/adina-apartment-...her-markt/home

Nothing wrong with seeing the Mauer. Was ground zero for the Cold War era which as a baby boomer was what I grew up in. But Flying Lawyer is right Berlin is so much more than the past.

Really depends on your age and interests. There are great clubs and parties, nice pubs to hangout, museums, Brandenburg gate and that sort of stuff, if weather is nice a boattrip is enjoyable...

What are you looking for?