Day itineraries
There and back in a day
Potsdam by train: Sanssouci and the Dutch Quarter
Werder by train: island, gondola and thermal baths
A monastery in the forest and a boat lift
Neuruppin by train: lake, boat and Fontane
Lübben by train and punt to Lehde
The town that gave the state its name, by train
The Spreewald by train: punts and wooden houses
Rheinsberg by train: palace and five lakes
The Bauhaus and the Wörlitz gondolas
Leipzig by ICE: Bach, 1989 and Faust's cellar
Dresden by train: the dome, the treasure and the Elbe
Meissen by train: the castle and the porcelain
Schwerin by train: palace, gardens and lake
Overnight itineraries
Overnight from Berlin
One night in the Spreewald from Berlin: punts, canoeing and the canals at dusk
One night in Dessau-Wörlitz from Berlin: sleep at the Bauhaus and sail the Wörlitz garden
Two nights in Dresden from Berlin: the old town, the Neustadt and the Elbe
One night in Quedlinburg from Berlin: half-timbered houses, the collegiate church treasury and the Bode gorge
Two nights in Saxon Switzerland from Berlin: the Bastei, the Schrammsteine and thermal baths, by train
Two nights in Stralsund and Rügen from Berlin: a Hanseatic city, the Ozeaneum and chalk cliffs
Only one of these plans is done by road
There are direct flights to Berlin airport from Madrid, Barcelona, Valencia, Alicante, Málaga, Seville, Bilbao and Palma de Mallorca, and from Gran Canaria, Tenerife South, Lanzarote, Fuerteventura and La Palma. Once in the city, the car is unnecessary for almost everything: of the plans on this page, only one is set up by road.
The RE1 leaves Berlin Hauptbahnhof heading west and stops at Potsdam, with an ABC ticket; at Werder and at Brandenburg an der Havel, now with a regional ticket. The RE6, from Charlottenburg or Spandau, goes up to Neuruppin; Rheinsberg is reached by the RB12 from Ostkreuz and one change. To the south-east, the regional trains on the Cottbus line stop at Lübben and Lübbenau, at the gates of the Spreewald, and the RE7 goes direct to Dessau. By ICE you reach Leipzig; by direct train, Dresden, and from there on the S1 to Meissen. The direct EC to Bad Schandau drops you in Saxon Switzerland, and another direct train goes up to Stralsund.
The hire car is only needed for Chorin and Niederfinow, on the A11 towards Szczecin.
Potsdam and Werder, three quarters of an hour by train
Less than an hour away are Potsdam and Werder, both 45 minutes: the Sanssouci palaces and the Dutch quarter in the first, and a gondola on the Havel and thermal baths beside the Zernsee in the second.
The Brandenburg of lakes and canals is between an hour and an hour and a half away. Neuruppin, Fontane's town, is 65 minutes away, as are Chorin monastery and the Niederfinow boat lift; Lübben and Lehde, 70; the cathedral and lakes of Brandenburg an der Havel, 75; the Spreewald from Lübbenau, 80, and the Rococo palace of the young Frederick at Rheinsberg, 90. Almost all are done by boat, and the Spreewald also has a night with canoeing on the canals the next morning.
Between an hour and three quarters and two hours and a quarter away are the southern cities. Dessau and Wörlitz, 105 minutes, with the Bauhaus and the garden; Leipzig and Dresden, 125, and Meissen and Schwerin, with its palace on an island, 135. They are long days, and Dessau and Dresden have an overnight version: Dessau-Wörlitz in one night, sleeping in a Bauhaus student's studio, and Dresden in two nights.
From two and a half hours onwards the journey calls for sleeping away: Quedlinburg in one night, 150 minutes away; Saxon Switzerland in two nights, 160, and Stralsund and Rügen, 170, with the Ozeaneum and the chalk cliffs.
Advent in Dresden and Quedlinburg
In winter, the cities are best. Leipzig can be done all year round and almost entirely under cover: Bach's tomb, its museum and the Stasi museum. Potsdam is also open in winter, except on Mondays. The Werder thermal baths stay open until midnight, and at Advent Dresden and Quedlinburg are among the best there is from Berlin. In January and February the Niederfinow lifts close.
In spring, from April, the boats return: the Neuruppin one runs every day from late March, the Niederfinow one from April, and the Spreewald and Lübben punts from April to October. It is also the best time for Saxon Switzerland and Meissen.
From May to September, in summer, water rules: the Spreewald punts, the Wörlitz gondolas, the five-lake trip at Rheinsberg, the four-lake line at Schwerin and the boat on the lakes of Brandenburg. Stralsund and Rügen, with the Baltic, are at their best.
In autumn, until October, almost all the boat routes continue, although in April and October the last Wörlitz gondola leaves at 15:00. From November the cities remain.
Sanssouci at a fixed time
- Without a car, in a day: Potsdam from Berlin. 45 minutes on the RE1, Sanssouci at a fixed time, the park as far as the Neues Palais and the Dutch quarter at dusk.
- With a car, in a day: Chorin and Niederfinow. 65 minutes on the A11, the Cistercian monastery in the morning and the afternoon on a boat through the lift.
- With two nights: Dresden. By direct train, the dome of the Frauenkirche, the Green Vault, an afternoon in the Neustadt and a steamer on the Elbe.