Warnemunde to Berlin - August 12th

[idlestrey]

Does anybody (English speaking) want to share a private tour for this day for a more reasonable cost than the ships tour?

[bbwex]

Go to the Roll Call section of these boards, then select Oceania, then pick your ship and look for a roll call for your cruise That is where this type of request belongs.

 

That being said, we found others on our roll call for our Baltic Cruise and had a great time. A van was much faster than a large bus.

[roothy123]

We're on your cruise. We're not interested in sharing a tour, as we've already made plans to rent a car at the port (from Europcar, but Hertz is there, too), drive to the suburbs and park, and take the S-bahn to Berlin Mitte area (3 hours total to do that). It will allow us more time in Berlin than taking the train (which is easy but slower, due to timing, track work, etc.) and we are not afraid of driving in Germany, so it works for us. I just mention it in case you're interested in doing something similar. Alla Tours also offers a tour in Berlin which I assume is cheaper than the cruise line tour. You can probably get info for that on the roll call that bbwex mentions, as at least a few people are choosing to do that.

 

Hope to see you on the ship! (Howard & Ruth)

[Fam_Cruise]

Below was our itinerary for self tour. We ended up running about 30 minutes ahead of schedule as the drive in only took 1.5 hours instead of 2. Get a good car so you can take advantage of the Autobahn. In the rural stretches we were doing about 200kmh (120 mph). Follow the rules and driving in Deutschland is awesome:

1. Left lane is for passing ONLY and when you want to pass, look for oncoming vehicles in your rear view mirror, if none are approaching* then accelerate, get into the left lane, pass and then get back in to the right lane.
   
2. Do not pass on the right.
   
3. Use the zipper rule for merging. When you see the signs that indicate lanes will merge STAY IN YOUR lane. Wait until they merge and then merge. Under normal circumstances there is little need to slow down and the flow of traffic continues at a good pace.
   

* Approaching vehicles will look very tiny and gain in size at a remarkable rate due to the speeds traveled. It is not uncommon for one to be traveling at 100-120 mph and be passed by a MC S series or BMW 7 series like you are standing still.

 

8:00 AM Depart Hertz and drive to Berlin (see directions on page 2)

10:00 AM Arrive Am Borsigturm and park car

Walk to Borsigturm U-Bahn station (walk to Berliner Straße and take right)

Purchase U-Bahn group ticket for 15.90 € for 5 people.

10:15 AM Take U6 18 stops and get off at the Kochstraße U-Bahn station

Departure 10:13 Arrival 10:36

Departure 10:18 Arrival 10:41

Departure 10:23 Arrival 10:46

10:41 AM Head north on Friederichstraße to address 43-45 – Museum Haus am Checkpoint Charlie admission 12,50 € per person.

11:45 AM Walk north 10 blocks on Friederichstraße and take a left on Unter den Linden and have lunch at one of the cafes along the edges off this boulevard.

1:00 PM After lunch continue east on Unter den Linden (4 blocks) to Pariser Platz (adjacent to Bradenburg Gate); visit Brandenburg Gate

1:30 PM From Bradenburg Gate head north on Ebertstraße, to first left on Scheidemannstraße and into the Tiergarten. Take in the view of the Reichstag (Parliament) to your right. Continue on Scheidemannstraße which changes to John-Foster-Dulles-Allee, Kongresshall will be on your right. After crossing Paulsstraße we will arrive at Schloß Bellevue. Schloß Bellevue was the residence of the President of the Federal Republic up until 1994. Continue along the river to the Bellevue S-Bahn station and get on the S9 or S75 toward Spandau, S5 toward Westkreuz, or S7 toward Potsdam Hbf. Proceed 5 stops to the Westkreuz S-Bahn station. Change to the northbound S41, S42 or S46 S-Bahn 2 stops to the Westend S-Bahn station. Get off train and go east on Spandauer Damm to Charlottenburg Palace.

3:00 PM Visit Charlottenburg Palace and gardens. Old Palace admission 10 € per person.

4:45 PM Walk east on Spandauer Damm to Otto-Suhr-Allee. Walk 4 blocks and take a right on Richard-Wagner-Platz. At the second intersection is Richard-Wagner-Platz U-Bahn station, take U7 toward Rudow and get off at the 3rd stop, Adenauer U-Bahn station.

5:15 PM Wienerwald for dinner. Kurfürstendamm 90 – 3 blocks from Adenauer U-Bahn station.

6:20 PM Depart for Adenauer U-Bahn station

6:31 PM From Adenauer U-Bahn station take U7 toward Rudow and get off at the 3rd stop, Berliner Straße U-Bahn station. Take the U9 toward Osloer Str and get off at 9th stop, Leopoldplatz. Change to U6 toward Alt-Tegel and go 8 stops to Borsigturm U-Bahn station.

Departure 18:23 Arrival 18:57

Departure 18:31 Arrival 19:02

Departure 18:35 Arrival 19:07

Departure 18:39 Arrival 19:12

7:20 PM Depart Parking garage for Warnemünde.

9:20 PM Return to Warnemünde and return rental car

 

---------------------------------------------------------

 

Depart: Hertz, Am Passagierkai/B103

Drive: 225 km – about 2 hours

1. Head south on Am Passagierkai/B103 toward Am Passagierkai

Continue to follow B103 1.0 km 1 min

2. Turn left at B103/Rostocker Straße

Continue to follow B103 4.6 km 6 mins

3. Take the B105 ramp to A19/Groß Klein 0.3 km

4. Turn right at B105 Partial toll road (2 €) 3.9 km 5 mins

5. Continue on A19 123 km 57 mins

6. Continue on A24 63.6 km 30 mins

7. Continue on A10 11.5 km 6 mins

8. Take exit 31-Kreuz Oranienburg to merge onto A111

toward Berlin-Zentrum (Zoo)/Berlin-Reinickendorf 15.1 km 11 mins

9. Take exit 4-Waidmannsluster Damm/Hermsdorfer Damm toward Waidmannsluster Damm 0.3 km 1 min

10. Turn right at Waidmannsluster Damm

(signs for Berliner Straße/Konradshöhe) 0.3 km 1 min

11. Turn left at Karolinenstraße 0.4 km 1 min

12. Continue on Berliner Straße 0.9 km 1 min

13. Turn right at Am Borsigturm 0.2 km

Arrive: Am Borsigturm, Berlin, Germany

Depart: Am Borsigturm, Berlin, Germany

Drive: 227 km – about 2 hours

1. Head east on Am Borsigturm toward Berliner Straße 0.2 km 1 min

2. Turn right at Berliner Straße 0.4 km 1 min

3. Turn left at Wittestraße 0.6 km 1 min

4. Turn right at Holzhauser Straße 0.2 km 1 min

5. Turn right onto the ramp to Hamburg 0.2 km

6. Merge onto A111 17.4 km 10 mins

7. Take exit 1-Kreuz Oranienburg on the left to merge onto A10

toward Hamburg/Rostock 14.1 km 7 mins

8. Continue on A24 (signs for Hamburg/Rostock/Kremmen/A24) 62.1 km 30 mins

9. Continue on A19 (signs for Rostock/Wittstock/A19) 124 km 57 mins

10. Continue on B105 (signs for Warnemünde/B105)

Partial toll road (2 €) 3.9 km 5 mins

11. Exit onto An der Stadtautobahn/B103 toward Lichtenhagen

Continue to follow B103 4.9 km 6 mins

12. Turn left at Am Passagierkai/B103 0.6 km 1 min

To: Hertz, Am Passagierkai/B103

 

ENJOY!

 

NOTE: The above was from a trip in fall of 2008 so prices quoted and U-Bahn times may have changed.

[roothy123]

Wow! Thanks Fairfax! (I live in Silver Spring!). I don't think I'll let my husband drive that fast, but certainly a little zipping down the autobahn will be allowed - but maybe no faster than people drive on the NJTurnpike! Anyway, according to viamichelin, the trip to Hennigsdorf, a suburb, is 2 hours and 23 minutes from the Warnemuende pick up spot to the S-bahn in Hennigsdorf. (I will have to look up Am Borsigturm - not sure where that is). Anyway, then it's a 22 minute ride on the S-bahn. We're doing something similar to what you did, although adding a walk up into the dome of the Reichstag, which may not have been allowed in 2008 but really interests me as a photographer.

 

It amuses me that there's someone else out there who plans as precisely as I do..well, actually even more precisely! I have been on BVG quite a bit, and printed out their wonderfully-detailed maps of the major stations, been on viamichelin, looked into German travel quirks (but thanks anyway for the tips), asked the tourist info center a couple questions, etc. I know a lot of people are going to pass on Berlin due to its distance from Warnemuende, but I lived in Deutschland for 4 years and have a special interest in Berlin, so we're going.

 

Thanks again for the very helpful info. I'm printing it out and will look at it again before I tackle Berlin.

[Fam_Cruise]

You're welcome. Am Borsigturm is a large shopping mall with plenty of parking and very convenient to the U-Bahn. I lived in Germany for 3 years and if my mother did 100 on the Autobahn in a '64 Pontiac Catalina station wagon, then no worries about today's autos.

[roothy123]

You're welcome. Am Borsigturm is a large shopping mall with plenty of parking and very convenient to the U-Bahn. I lived in Germany for 3 years and if my mother did 100 on the Autobahn in a '64 Pontiac Catalina station wagon, then no worries about today's autos.

 

Oh boy! Mom on the loose! My mom drove a green Opel when we lived in Germany (Bonn), which was in the 60's. We brought it back to the States, along with the fox terrier we got there, and some German curiosities. I still have the Rhine River poster in our guest bedroom, but the poster about "we hardly know where to fahrt" got lost! Oh well!

 

After I posted, I looked at my S and U bahn map and found a U-bahn stop called Borsigwerke or something like that, so I figured that was the U-bahn station you used.