Hi I am hoping to visit Berlin in early oct 2009 for three nights. Please advise with regard to places of interest, eating places and shopping. Basically I will be on my own most of the time while hubby atteding conference. I am not german speaking, will it be a problem?
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Have you searched the Berlin forum on here? There are soooo many suggestions on there. Why not take a look and then if there is nothing there that looks interesting or if you need more information on anything, ask again.
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Berlin is a big international city that gets alot of tourists so many of the people in the hotels and restaurants speak English and many restaurants have menus in English too.
If you enjoy museums and historical sights, then Berlin is the place for you. However, the signs on the exhibits tend to be primarily in German.
Berlin is loaded with restaurants of all kinds. I like Maredo Argentine Steakhouse (best meat, excellent chimichurri sauce) - it%26#39;s a chain with numerous locations all over town, multi-lingual menus; Peking Ente, Voss Str., excellent Chinese food with dishes I haven%26#39;t seen in other Chinese restaurants ; note: English menu is poorly translated; the German menu has much more accurate descriptions of the menu items.
For shopping you should definitely visit KaDeWe, particularly the food section.
I hope you enjoy your trip.
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Early October should be beautiful weather. English is zero problem no matter where you are!
The first day head over to the base of East Berlin communications tower and rendezvous for a bike tour with Fat Tire. It is effortless, excellent English guides and you will feel very comfortable. Plus you will get to meet others from around the world also enjoying your informative ride through Berlin.
Then you will have your bearings and a better idea of what interests you for the remainder of your stay.
Enjoy!
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There shouldn%26#39;t be a problem with not speaking German in Berlin.
I would head over to Museuminsel [Museum Island] and visit some of the great museums there. I would definitely make time for the Pergamon Musuem and maybe even try to get on a guided tour of the Reichstag. If you%26#39;re up for it, you could even do a day trip to Potsdam [just outside the city, but easily accessible by public transport] to visit Sanssouci and Neue Palais.
The Kufurstendam is good for shopping and also has the Kaiser Wilheim Memorial Church.
I would also make time to see Schloss Charlottenburg.
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Depends on your luck with the weather: last year it was pretty chilly in early Oct so I suggest you pack a warmish jacket just in case!
In museums the main panels are in English as well as German; depending on the museum the exhibits may have bilingual labels too. The DDR-Museum does translate everthing, as does Haus am Checkpoint Charlie, and the Jewish Museum. Pergamon Museum has excellent audioguide in English. I personally prefer the Berliner Mauer Info centre to Checkpoint Charlie but I know that not everything is translated.
Nice souvenir-type shops and boutiques in Nikolaiviertel where you can also find restaurants with German food.
If weekend: fleamarket at Strasse der 17. Juni (by S-Bahn Tiergarten).
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Thank you so much for all the kind suggestions. Now that I have a bit more time to surf and check out the suggestions I have a rough idea of the three days plan. See whether it make sense:
We are staying at the Berlin Hotel. It seems that the Bus 100 stopped across the street. We are arriving around 9:40 so I presume we cant check in for another 6 hours or so and we will probably be very jet lag so we thought of dropping the luggages at the hotel, take the bus 100 for a bit of orientation. Do the Reichstag (or is it better to do it at night?), and the communication tower. Can we take the Bus 200 back, it seems that it stops at potsdamer Platz but not sure it will go anywhere near our hotel at Lutzowplatz?
Some shopping at Kurfustendamm and Ka De We in the afternoon.
Day two at museumsinsel area, choose one museum to visit, yet to decide which one. Then probably visit the friedrichstrasse area and the charlie check point.
Day three either Potsdam or the Charlottenburg.
I love market, not antique though (cant afford it)something like victoria market at melbourne or the london borough market. Is Winterfeldtplatz market a good choice or farmers market at Wittenbergplatz or any other suggestions?
There seems so many places for clothes shopping but where is the better place for casual but smart clothing that is affordable yet a little bit unique. Are they mostly more outskirt rather than in the central city?
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