Day trips from Berlin by train

Brandenburg's lakes and pine forests begin where the S-Bahn ends, and beyond them lie three of eastern Germany's great historic cities, all easy to reach by train. Potsdam and Sachsenhausen are in zone C and need only an ABC ticket; the Spreewald is a regional train ride away; Dresden, Leipzig and Wittenberg are quickest by long-distance train. Train times are scheduled journeys from Berlin Hauptbahnhof on a weekday morning; car times are from the Brandenburg Gate without traffic.

Potsdam and Sanssouci

Sanssouci Palace above its vineyard terraces under a blue sky — Photo: Manish Jain / Pexels, Pexels License

about 32 to 35 minS7 or regional train RE1 to Potsdam Hauptbahnhof, then a bus or a walk through the old town to the park
about 40 min

The Prussian kings made Potsdam their summer residence, and in the 1740s Frederick the Great built Sanssouci, a single-storey palace above a staircase of vine terraces. The park around it holds the New Palace, the Chinese House and the Orangery, and together with the palaces of Berlin it is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. In the old town, the Dutch Quarter adds streets of red-brick gabled houses.

Tip: Sanssouci Palace admits visitors at fixed times, so book online: €14, or €10 reduced. To see more than one palace, the sanssouci+ ticket at €22 covers every Potsdam palace open that day. In November and December the palace is open Tuesday to Sunday, 10 am to 4.30 pm. On a fine day the park alone fills the day, so keep Potsdam for the best forecast of your stay. From Berlin you need an ABC ticket (€5 single). Current prices and hours are on the Prussian Palaces Foundation website.

Weather: Potsdam

Sachsenhausen Memorial

about 48 minS1 or a regional train to Oranienburg, then about 20 min on foot
about 42 min

From 1936 to 1945 more than 200,000 people were imprisoned in the Sachsenhausen concentration camp at Oranienburg, and tens of thousands died there. After the war the Soviet occupying power used it as a special camp until 1950. The memorial covers the former camp grounds, with exhibitions in the surviving buildings.

Tip: Admission is free, and the memorial is open daily from 8.30 am: until 6 pm in summer and until 4.30 pm from late October to March. Most visitors go round with the audio guide (€3.50). Allow half a day, and dress for the weather, because most of the site is outdoors. Oranienburg is in zone C, so an ABC ticket covers the trip. Visitor information is on the memorial website.

Weather: Oranienburg

Spreewald

about 1 h 9 min to 1 h 22 minRegional express RE2 to Lübbenau (Spreewald), then a short walk to the boat landings
about 1 h 15 min

South-east of Berlin the Spree splits into hundreds of channels through meadows and alder woods, a landscape protected as a UNESCO biosphere reserve. Flat-bottomed punts, pushed along with a pole, still carry visitors, and in summer even the post. Lübbenau is the usual starting point, and the region is known across Germany for its pickled gherkins.

Tip: Punt trips run mainly in the warmer months, so in winter check what still operates. A tour of two or three hours takes you out to Lehde, a village of timber farmhouses with an open-air museum; hire a canoe or a bike to go further. Keep this trip for a warm, dry day. Boat tours and seasons are listed by the Spreewald tourist board.

Weather: Lübbenau-Neustadt

Dresden

about 1 h 39 min to 2 h 9 minDirect long-distance train to Dresden Hauptbahnhof
about 2 h 16 min

Saxony's capital on the Elbe was rebuilt from the ruins of February 1945. The reconstructed Frauenkirche, consecrated again in 2005, stands at the heart of a Baroque skyline best seen from the river, and the Zwinger, the Semperoper and the treasures of the Green Vault are a few minutes' walk apart.

Tip: This is the longest trip on the page, so take an early train and check the last connection back. From the main station, Prager Straße leads straight to the old town. If you still have energy afterwards, cross the Elbe to the livelier streets of the Neustadt. The Historic Green Vault sells timed tickets, worth booking ahead. Opening times and events are on the city's tourist information.

Weather: Dresden

Leipzig

about 1 h 15 min to 1 h 17 minICE to Leipzig Hauptbahnhof
about 2 h 8 min

A trade-fair city of arcades and passages, where Bach was cantor of the Thomaskirche for 27 years and lies buried in its choir. In the autumn of 1989 the Monday prayers at the Nikolaikirche grew into the demonstrations that helped bring down the East German state.

Tip: The ICE makes Leipzig the quickest of the big-city trips. The old centre is compact: walk from the station to the Nikolaikirche, the market square and the Thomaskirche, cutting through the Mädlerpassage, home of Auerbachs Keller, the tavern Goethe put into Faust. Opening times and events are on Leipzig's tourism website.

Weather: Leipzig

Lutherstadt Wittenberg

The market square of Wittenberg with the twin towers of the town church — Photo: Siegfried Poepperl / Pexels, Pexels License

about 39 to 42 minICE to Lutherstadt Wittenberg; the slower RE3 takes 1 h 26 min to 1 h 34 min
about 1 h 30 min

In 1517 Martin Luther, a professor at the town's university, published his 95 theses here and set off the Reformation. The Luther House, Melanchthon's house, the town church where Luther preached and the Castle Church line one long main street, and together with Eisleben they form a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Tip: The old town is small enough for half a day. Start at the Luther House, walk the length of the main street and finish at the Castle Church, whose bronze doors carry the text of the theses. Stop in the town church for the Cranach altarpiece. The slower RE3 is a regional train, covered by the Deutschlandticket. Opening hours change with the season; check with the Wittenberg tourist office.

Weather: Lutherstadt Wittenberg

Fares and timetables for Berlin and Brandenburg (VBB)