Berlin- wunderbar!!

cacophony

just back from a 5 day jaunt in the said city. what a place!. I am seriously impressed. I have always had a real interest in second world war history, and planned to go there, finally got round to it. The city is alive with history, the transport system is breathtakingly good, it seems safe, police everywhere, no hassle from souvenir sellers or street conmen (i'm looking at you barcelona, rome, madrid, etc etc). did the usual, reichstag, hitlers bunkers site, the victory seiges monument, etc etc. but the most moving place was the bendlerblock in the teirgarten district. went to the courtyard where stauffenberg and the plotters to kill hitler were stood against the wall and shot. a simple inscription and a wreath hung on the wall at the spot are all that mark it now. you can still see the bullet holes, which freaked my daughter out slightly.
probably the best city i have ever visited, prices pretty much the same as elsewhere in germany, london could learn a thing or two (hundred).

sev112

Glad you enjoyed it. We were there 1st to 5th April - arrived in snow, and last couple of days in t shirts !  Really please with the transport system - easy and lots of it.  Growing up in London, I always find most cities small, and everyone said Berlin is massive, but we had no difficulty walking most places.  
Also noticed how generally clean and civilised it is.  Would certainly go back 

AlexC

I lived in Berlin - Kreuzberg to be precise - in 2001/2002. It is an amazing city. I’d just moved from a decade in London so I was expecting to be disappointed, but I wasn’t. Amazing live music scene. (Apart from the prevalence of Drum n Bass and their incessant love of Depeche Mode.) You can feel the history on every street. I also got caught up in The May Day riots, but that’s another story.

cacophony

got back last night, we went expecting the same weather that was here when we left, namely rain and cold. it was bloody hot there. for four days out of the five it was in the 20's , and yesterday it rained first thing then the sun came out and it was hot again. came back with a sunburnt boat race.and was amazed to find that the population is only three and a half million.

TonyR

We were there Easter week - stayed in AlexanderPlatz. Like you I was well impressed with it, so much to see and do - especially for somebody like me that’s interested in modern history.

Amongst other things we went to the Olympic Park - which was fantastic, I’m not into football but Hertha Berlin play their home matches there - what a beautiful stadium to watch football in. 

Something we did that probably not too many tourists would do was to get on a tram and see where it ended up, which was Falkenberg. Interesting journey through East Berlin, it’s incredible how many blocks of flats there were along the way.

We’re looking at going back again later in the year.

cacophony

we went to the olympic park as well. you can actually 'feel' the history inside the stadium can't you?. the swimming centre was equally impressive. loved the olympic bell, that they couldn't get the swastikas off, so they just left them. and the bloody great hole in it, courtesy of an over enthusiastic anti-aircraft gunner!. i also wanted to go to wannsee and my daughter wanted to go to sachsenhausen concentration camp, but we just plain ran out of time. will deffo go back.

joneve

I chuffing love Berlin (and Germany in general tbh). Always a pleasure going back.