Rick Steves Berlin

by Rick Steves, Cameron Hewitt (With), Gene Openshaw (With)

Overview

Marvel at the Brandenburg Gate, climb the Reichstag's dome, and check out Checkpoint Charlie with Rick Steves Berlin! Inside you'll find:

• Comprehensive coverage for spending a week or more exploring Berlin
• Rick's strategic advice on how to get the most out of your time and money, with rankings of his must-see favorites
• Top sights and hidden gems, from the colorful East Side Gallery and the Memorial of the Berlin Wall to cozy corner biergartens
• How toconnect with local culture: Raise a pint with the locals and sample schnitzel, stroll through hip Prenzlauer Berg, or cruise down the Spree River
• Beat the crowds, skip the lines, and avoid tourist traps with Rick's candid, humorous insight
• The best places to eat, sleep, and relax
• Self-guided walking tours of lively neighborhoods and incredible museums
• Detailed neighborhood maps for exploring on the go
• Useful resources including a packing list, a German phrase book, a historical overview, and recommended reading
• Updated to reflect changes that occurred during the Covid-19 pandemic up to the date of publication
• Over 400 bible-thin pages include everything worth seeing without weighing you down
• Complete, up-to-date information on every neighborhood in Berlin, as well as day trips to Potsdam, Sachsenhausen Memorial and Museum, and Wittenberg

Make the most of every day and every dollar with Rick Steves Berlin.

Expanding your trip? Try Rick Steves Best of Germany.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781641713023
Publisher:	Avalon Publishing
Publication date:	01/26/2021
Edition description:	3rd ed.
Pages:	448
Sales rank:	1,071,856
Product dimensions:	4.40(w) x 7.90(h) x 0.90(d)

About the Author

Since 1973, Rick Steves has spent about four months a year exploring Europe. His mission: to empower Americans to have European trips that are fun, affordable, and culturally broadening. Rick produces a best-selling guidebook series, a public television series, and a public radio show, and organizes small-group tours that take over 30,000 travelers to Europe annually. He does all of this with the help of more than 100 well-traveled staff members at Rick Steves' Europe in Edmonds, WA (near Seattle). When not on the road, Rick is active in his church and with advocacy groups focused on economic and social justice, drug policy reform, and ending hunger. To recharge, Rick plays piano, relaxes at his family cabin in the Cascade Mountains, and spends time with his son Andy and daughter Jackie. Find out more about Rick at www.ricksteves.com and on Facebook.
Connect with Rick:
facebook.com/RickSteves twitter: @RickSteves instagram: ricksteveseurope


Born in Denver and raised in central Ohio, Cameron Hewitt settled in Seattle in 2000. Ever since, he has spent three months each year in Europe, contributing to guidebooks, tours, radio and television shows, and other media for Rick Steves' Europe, where he serves as content manager. Cameron married his high school sweetheart (and favorite travel partner), Shawna, and enjoys taking pictures, trying new restaurants, and planning his next trip.


Gene Openshaw has co-authored a dozen Rick Steves books, specializing in writing walks and tours of Europe's cities, museums, and cultural sites. He also contributes to Rick's public television series, produces tours for Rick Steves Audio Europe, and is a regular guest on Rick's public radio show. Outside of the travel world, Gene has co-authored The Seattle Joke Book. As a composer, Gene has written a full-length opera called Matter, a violin sonata, and dozens of songs. He lives near Seattle with his daughter, enjoys giving presentations on art and history, and roots for the Mariners in good times and bad.

Table of Contents

Berlin 5

Berlin's Top Neighborhoods 9

Planning & Budgeting 14

Travel Smart 23

Orientation to Berlin 25

Sights in Berlin 40

Central Berlin (Historic Core) 41

Northern Berlin 58

Southern Berlin 64

Eastern Berlin 74

Western Berlin 79

Self-Guided Walks & Tours

Historic Core

Reichstag & Brandenburg Gate Walk 95

Unter den Linden Walk 109

Museum Island Tour 127

Pergamon Museum Tour 147

German History Museum Tour 163

Communist East Berlin Walk 175

Northern Berlin

Old Jewish Quarter Walk 186

Prenzlauer Berg Walk 197

Berlin Wall Memorial Tour 214

Southern Berlin

Fascism & Cold War Walk 227

Kreuzberg Walk 243

Western Berlin

Gemäldegalerie & Kulturforum Tour 255

Sleeping in Berlin 271

Eating in Berlin 286

Shopping in Berlin 304

Entertainment in Berlin 312

Berlin Connections 320

Day Trips from Berlin 325

Potsdam 325

Sachsenhausen Memorial & Museum 340

Wittenberg 348

Germany: Past & Present 374

Practicalities 391

Travel Tips 391

Money 394

Sightseeing 399

Sleeping 401

Eating 409

Staying Connected 419

Transportation 423

Resources from Rick Steves 433

Appendix 437

Holidays & Festivals 437

Books & Films 438

Conversions & Climate 441

Packing Checklist 444

German Survival Phrases 445

Index 447

Map Index 459

Editorial Reviews

"The country's foremost expert in European travel for Americans."—Forbes

"Steves is an absolute master at unlocking the hidden gems of the world's greatest cities, towns, and monuments."—USA Today

“Every country-specific travel guidebook from the Rick Steves publishing empire can be counted upon for clear organization, specificity and timeliness."—Society of American Travel Writers

"Pick the best accommodations and restaurants from Rick Steves…and a traveler searching for good values will seldom go wrong or be blindsided."—NBC News

"His guidebooks are approachable, silly, and even subtly provocative in their insistence that Americans show respect for the people and places they are visiting and not the other way around."—The New Yorker

"Travel, to Steves, is not some frivolous luxury—it is an engine for improving humankind, for connecting people and removing their prejudices, for knocking distant cultures together to make unlikely sparks of joy and insight. Given that millions of people have encountered the work of Steves over the last 40 years, on TV or online or in his guidebooks, and that they have carried those lessons to untold other millions of people, it is fair to say that his life’s work has had a real effect on the collective life of our planet."—The New York Times Magazine

"[Rick Steves] laces his guides with short and vivid histories and a scholar's appreciation for Renaissance art yet knows the best place to start an early tapas crawl in Madrid if you have kids. His clear, hand-drawn maps are Pentagon-worthy; his hints about how to go directly to the best stuff at the Uffizi, avoid the crowds at Versailles and save money everywhere are guilt-free."—TIME Magazine

"Steves is a walking, talking European encyclopedia who yearns to inspire Americans to venture 'beyond Orlando.'"—Forbes

“…he’s become the unofficial guide for entire generations of North American travelers, beloved for his earnest attitude and dad jeans."—Outside Magazine

"His books offer the equivalent of a bus tour without the bus, with boiled-down itineraries and step-by-step instructions on where to go and how to get there, but adding a dash of humor and an element of choice that his travelers find empowering."
 —The New York Times

"His penchant for creating meaningful experiences for travelers to Europe is as passionate as his inclination for making ethical choices his guiding light."—Forbes

"[Rick Steves'] neighborhood walks are always fun and informative. His museum guides, complete with commentary about historic sculpture and storied artworks are wonderful and add another dimension to sometimes stodgy, hard-to-comprehend museums."—NBC News

From the Publisher