Sorry. I thought you were both referring to the Jewish museum. I haven't been to the monument you're referring to, but I thought the Holocaust exhibits at the Jewish Museum, of which there are many, were quite dramatic and imaginatively done. I would certainly recommend a visit there.

And *I* thought you were both referring to the underground section of said memorial/sculpture, where there is a small visitor center. It's free and (in my biased opinion) more interesting than the Holocaust exhibits at the Jewish museum.

I'm curious, what is in the visitor center that you found so interesting? I've only been to the Jewish Museum and I thought the exhibits there were amazing!

It seems curious though that both sites seem to be using blocks of concrete as a holocaust memorial.

It has actual personal stories of people who were murdered and a section that describes the Holocaust. The Jewish museum's Holocaust stuff were a bit too 'touchy-feely' for my taste, but to each their own.

I've spent quite a bit of time on the bvg.de website. It seems like their options don't work for me. I have all day Thursday, Friday, and Sunday in Berlin. I will be spending the day in Leipzig on Saturday but will be back by 19h. So I'll have Saturday evening. I leave for Frankfurt on Monday. So I'm guessing the 5 day A/B card will be best even though on the 5th day, I'll just be taking 1 Sbahn to the Berlin HBF. That's what aggravates me. I could get the 3 day A/B card but then I'll need transportation for Sunday and early Monday morning.

Good to know, thanks.

Good to know, thanks. On my first day, I was actually thinking of taking Bus #100 to get an idea of where things are. I never considered the Hop On/Hop Off buses because in NYC, you see tourists waiting to get on the buses and having to wait for a few buses until they can board due to the long lines and crowded buses. I'll take a look at it.

While in Leipzig, I will visit the Stasi Museum. If the DDR Museum is crowded, I'll avoid as I think I'll be getting a full picture from the Stasi Museum. I have Thursday evening from 18h-22h to visit either Museum Island or the Kulturforum for free. I'm thinking of using that time for the Museum Island and will visit the Kulturforum on Sunday as their day pass is only €8 compared with €14 for a day pass to the Museum Island.

Thank you for that info!

Yes, I was thinking of the #100. I'll have to see what the #200 bus goes.

The Holocaust Memorial....I do want to visit.

Thanks for the reply. Did you go to the cellar of the Jewish Museum? When I was there, about 10 years ago, that's where most of the Holocaust stuff was. They had exhibitions of artefacts and letters left behind.

I'm not sure what you mean about 'touchy-feely'. Wasn't there a tower room with an entrance in the bottom and a huge steel door that was supposed to give viewers a feeling for being in a concentration camp? Is that what you mean? I though it was a bit too abstract, but a creative and interesting idea.

Analise, I just quickly looked at the BVG website. They are not day passes. They are time passes. So it's a 72hr pass not a 3 day pass. So if you validate it at 6pm on Thursday, it will be valid until 6pm on Sunday. And is what you want the Berlin Welcome Card + Museuminsel pass? Or are you just looking now for a transportation pass? Because a day pass (valid until 3am) is around 6€ and a 7-day pass is probably around 28€. But those are just transportation passes.

Also note, if you have a Deutsche Bahn (not a Rail Pass or such) ticket to Frankfurt, that gives you free transport to the departing train station on the S-Bahn network. Just not on the busses, trams, or U-Bahn. So you actually don't need a transport ticket on Monday if you are staying near an S-Bahn station. And are you flying into Berlin or taking the train? Because the same would apply if you are coming by train on a DB ticket and taking the S-Bahn from there to your hotel. In fact, the same would apply when you go to/from Leipzig.

They both start at the Zoologischet Garten station. Then they split of just past the zoo entrance. The #100 goes through the Tiergarten by the Victory Column and the Reichstag before ending up on Unter Den Linden and towards Alexanderplatz. The #200 bus goes along the southern perimeter of the Tiergarten before passing through Potsdamer Platz. Then it hooks up again with the #100 bus on Unter Den Linden. But it actually goes further than Alexanderplatz into Friedrichshain. And it goes right by the Volkspark Friedrichshain where there is a really nice fountain display (the English name is "fairy tale fountain") and a former air raid bunker/ flaktower that they couldn't quite destroy after the war. So they took a lot of the rubble from the destroyed buildings, placed it around it, and made a "mountain" that you can hike up to the top of.

Map of #100 in red, #200 in blue. As you can see, there is quite a bit of overlap:

http://i.imgur.com/MK5bKBY.png

I should have been more clear. I initially thought about the 72 hour Welcome Card/Museum Island Pass but since I will be out of Berlin in Leipzig on that third day (Saturday), it would be a waste of money.

I am looking for both.

Really? How does that work in Berlin? If I get the S-Bahn at the Zoologischet Garten early in the morning, how do I get free transport to Berlin Hauptbahnhof? I show someone the piece of paper I printed with my train ticket for Frankfurt? I assumed there were turnstiles. Please advise!

I never knew any of this! I am not flying into Berlin. I am taking the DB to Berlin from FRA arriving Wednesday evening. But I bought the City Mobil add-on ticket that DB sold on their website. I am taking the DB from Berlin on the following Monday to Frankfurt for a day in the city which is my last day in Germany.

I know I asked this above, but how would I use my roundtrip DB train ticket to/from Leipzig to get free S-Bahn both ways between my hotel and the Berlin Hauptbahnhof?

The DDR museum was really quite g:cool::cool:d. Most of the displays are only in German, but they do have a handout with English explanations for much of the collection. I never made it to the Stasi Museum in Leipzig.

The Stasi Museum looks interesting.

What about the Topographie des Terrors? First off, why is the name in French? It looks like a fascinating place to visit. Thoughts?

I really have 3 full days and I want to make the most of them without exhausting myself. This is the advice I give those traveling to NYC for the first time. Don't cram. So what am I doing? I'm cramming! :D I need to make choices.

Correct. The Welcome Pass if worth it IMO. The museum pass is not.

They use the honor system there. Spent 20+ days in Berlin the last 2 years and only asked for my pass once. Make sure that you validate it on first use. You do it at the station or on board the tram.

Your pass is good for S-bahn trains but not U-bahn or the tram. That's where the Welcome Pass will come in handy.

It is? German tends to use the -ie ending for the same words in English that use a -y ending. And "des" means "of the" in English. Anyway, I went there a few years ago. It's alright. And it's in a beautiful building.

The S-Bahn is actually run by Deutsche Bahn. BVG is the transport network for the city of Berlin. However, for the passenger using a transport ticket from either source, it makes no difference. If your journey starts off with a tram ride, changing to an U-Bahn line, and then to an S-Bahn train, you can use the same ticket for that journey as long as it is within 2 hours (if using a simple ticket) and you don't backtrack. You can basically buy the same transport tickets for Berlin from the S-Bahn or from the BVG. Berlin uses the honor system. No fare gates. However, you do have to show the bus drivers a valid ticket when you board one. And tickets need to be validated from a time stamp machine on a station platform (normally adjacent to a ticket vending machine), on a tram, or on a bus.

The City Mobil supplement you purchased from DB is actually good for all of the transport networks in Berlin once you arrive and go to your final destination in the city. Without that supplement, you're only allowed to use the S-Bahn network. Or one of the regional trains (RB) as long as you're within the AB zones in Berlin. So when you go to Leipzig and back, you can use your DB ticket to get to/from the Hauptbahnhof using the S-Bahn network. Is it the Zoologischer Garten station you'll be staying near?