What an amazing city! (Berlin)

Member Name: xKatieeex

Product:	Berlin
Date:	17/09/09 (64 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Beautiful city, so much to see and do!

Disadvantages: Nothing!

My boyfriend and I went to Berlin in April after I bought him a weekend away there for his birthday. We flew from Glasgow to Berlin with Easyjet which cost £150 for return flights for both of us, which I thought was quite cheap. Once we got there, we stayed at Melia Berlin which cost about £300 for both us for 2 nights, which obviously isn't that cheap, but I wanted to make it special. The hotel was in a nice area which was close to all the places you wanted to go. And even if it wasn't, it was close to about 4 different types of public transport to get you there.

*Transport*
I was so impressed with the public transport provided in Berlin. It was so easy to get anywhere.

First of all, when we arrived at Berlin Schoenefeld airport, we were given a pass at the tourist information bit that allowed us to use all forms of transport as much as we liked for a selected period of time. I think it was about 10/15 euros each for 3 days, which was great as we used it all the time.
Berlin has at least 5 modes of transport; S-Bahn, U-Bahn, Tram, Bus and Ferry. There are also taxis and the residents of Berlin make use of bicycles with approximately 70% of the population of Berlin having bikes.

We used the S-Bahn, which is like our above ground trains, to get to and from the airport and to get to the zoo. The U-Bahn is like our underground subway system and you can go many places with this like Checkpoint Charlie. Both these forms of transports are excellent, they're generally on time, easy to navigate and clean, unlike our trains and subways. The public transport can be a bit busy at certain times of the day, but we usually never had any trouble finding a seat. I saw a double-decker train a few times and was in awe, I'd never seen one before.
You can get just about anywhere with the public transport in Berlin, it is so easy to use.

*The sights*

-Brandenburg Gate

We saw this twice, once during the day then another time at night. Just so we could see it all lit up. It really is an amazing piece of architecture. It's huge, it's a lot bigger than it looks in pictures.
It's really easy to get to, there are lots of signs pointing the way for you. This is a real must-see if you visit Berlin.

-Reichstag
Another must-see when visiting Berlin! It's a truly astonishing building and all the history associated with it is so interesting. I love how they've mixed old with new with the dome at the top of the building. The dome is amazing too, they have walkways spiralling upwards within the glass dome so you can go write to the top of it, which was amazing as you can see all of Berlin from it. We went there at night and it just looked beautiful all lit up.

WARNING: Be prepared to wait an extremely long time if you want to go inside the Reichstag. We waited two hours the first night and as soon as we got to the front of the line, they decided it was closed. So, we went a bit earlier the next night and waited 2 hours again to get in, but when we did it was amazing. Maybe if you went earlier, there would be less of a wait.

-TV Tower

You can see this enormous structure from anywhere in Berlin, I think you can go up, but we didn't have time. But on a previous visit to Berlin, my boyfriend had went up and said it was amazing to see everywhere in Berlin.

-Berlin Zoological Garden

This is further out than other attractions, but it's easily reachable using the S-Bahn and getting off at Tiergarten. This is a very well-known zoo and we went soon after the whole drama with the polar bear and the woman who tried to kill herself, so it was buzzing with people. There are so many animals here and it is a huge zoo, we spent about 3 hours here. There are many facilities for food and drink. Don't forget to visit Knut, who's a very famous polar bear.

We also went to Museum Island, and walked along a very posh road, the name of which I can't remember. It has loads and loads of designer shops and a shopping centre type thing completely devoted to cars - where I saw a Bugatti Veyron, which was a very exciting moment for me, lol. We also went and saw a bit of the Berlin Wall and generally just walked around the city - yes, I was very blistered.

Another thing that I was extremely impressed with was the recycling facilities provided in Berlin (and perhaps the rest of Germany, I'm not sure). The bins in the street are all colour-coded to what should be put in them so they could be recycled properly. They should bring that over to the UK, it's an excellent way to recycle.

*Food & Drink*

We stayed near in Friedrichstraße which had a whole host of bars and restaurants near the River Spree which looked beautiful at night when it was lit up. The food was all great, nothing to complain about. My boyfriend enjoyed the huge range of beers on offer and tasted many of them. There was a bar called 'Brecht's Bar' - which I loved as I was obsessed with Brecht after studying him.

A restaurant that I recommend is 'Vapiano', it has an excellent range of pizza's, pastas and salads. When you first go in, you're given a card and whenever you order something you hand this card over and your purchase is put on it. When you're finished eating, you just hand the card to the cashier when leaving. It was confusing at first, but a nice idea.

*Overall*
It is such an amazing city and I definitely would go there again. It has so many things to see and do and I just love the culture of it. They seem so healthy and concerned about the environment with the recycling. I know that a city break is usually only 2 or 3 days, but I think you need a week to really enjoyed Berlin. There is so much to see that it's difficult to do so in such a short time period. All the people are really nice as well.

I really would recommend Berlin to anyone. I really enjoyed my time there and hope to return, one of my best holidays ever.

Has also been posted on Ciao under the same username.

Summary: Amazingly beautiful city.