Berlin: to and from daytrips

We arrive in late July. We fly into Frankfurt and were thinking of taking the intercity train to Berlin directly from the airport.

We need backpacking accomodation and I was wondering if day trips to Dresden and Leipzig are feasible.

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A day return fare from Berlin (Ostbahnhof) to Dresden (Hauptbahnhof) costs €64 by EuroCity train and the journey takes between two to two-and-a-half hours (one way).

A day return fare from Berlin (Ostbahnhof) to Leipzig (Hauptbahnhof) costs €72 by ICE train or €52 by regional trains (RE/RB). ICE trains are direct services and complete a one way journey in around one-and-a-half hours. With the regional trains a change of trains is required and the journey time is around two-and-a-half hours.

Check for yourself with Deutsche Bahn:

www.bahn.de

For English language pages, click on %26#39;Internat. Guests%26#39;.

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A day trip from Berlin that would be much less time-consuming (travel-wise) and money-consuming is the city of Potsdam, 26km south-west of Berlin.

Potsdam is the capital city of the Bundesland (state) of Brandenburg and lies on the river Havel. The city is well-known for its beautiful parks, palaces and interconnected lakes. Perhaps Potsdam%26#39;s most famous role in modern history was that it was the host of the post-WWII conference between the leaders of the victorious allies to decide the fate of the defeated Germany and how to end the war with Japan. You can visit the table, around which Joseph Stalin (USSR), Winston Churchill - and later Clement Attlee - (UK) and Harry Truman (USA) sat, at the Palace (Schloss) Celilienhof in the New Gardens in the north of the city.

Other notable places in Potsdam include the Sanssouci Palace, which is a World Heritage Site, the Neues Palais, the Dutch Quarter (Holländisches Viertel), and Alexandrovka - an old settlement with thirteen half-timbered and wooden houses built in 1826 from Russian singers.

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Thank you very much!

I wonder if we should purchase a railpass.

We think we will be in Germany for at least a week.

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on the weekends 5 people can travel together all day on the regional trains on a%26quot;happy weekend ticket%26quot; for 30 euros. you can find paticulars on db website

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I%26#39;ve been to Dresden twice, and there is definitely too much to see for a day trip - a weekend isn%26#39;t long enough. I think Leipzig will be similar. Train tickets booked in advance would be about 30 euros.

I would highly recommend Potsdam for a day trip, like someone else already stated. It%26#39;s a beautiful small town, the Heiligensee is close to the center and is great for swimming in the summertime, the Park Sancoussi is beautiful as well. My fiance and I often go down to Potsdam on the weekend - it%26#39;s only 20 minutes by the regional train but feels like a real escape.