Potsdam, magic city of palaces, day trip from Berlin
- Maya del Aire
- Dec 10, 2018
- 5 min read
Updated: Jan 20, 2019
This is day seven of your nine day vacation itinerary. If you choose to follow this itinerary on your vacation, you will explore three regions, Bavaria, Saxony and Brandenburg, in Germany which include eight different spots. This particular day gives you an idea for a day trip from Berlin. Nick named as a city of Palaces, Potsdam contracts Berlin in its architecture and atmosphere. This itinerary reveals most romantic spots of the city and invites you to have an extraordinary day. The itinerary includes all relevant information that you need to have a smooth vacation, so just get ready and follow my lead.
Click below to check the rest of your ultimate Germany itinerary
Day 7 Potsdam, magical city of palaces, day trip from Berlin
About
Potsdam is a city, just 35 km away from Berlin, and a perfect day trip from the capital. This is the city which is home of 17 palaces and many beautiful gardens and parks. One of the Palaces is the famous Sanssouci Palace, that is now the Park that includes New Palaces, Orangery palace and many other structures, and it is the biggest World Heritage Site in Germany. This charming city is full of history, and thanks to its residents, among others, Prussian Kings, Potsdam was built as a picturesque pastoral dream. The city has a lot of Russian heritage since the Prussian King Frederick William III, cherished a close friendship with the Russian tsar Alexander I, and decided to bring a colony Russian people. Magical succession may be seen in Alexandrowka, which is a colony of 13 wooden houses, farms and Russian Orthodox Church.
How to get to Potsdam from Berlin
a) By car, it takes around 45 minutes.
b) We took the RE regional train ( direction towards Brandenburg and Magdeburg) and the ride took 25 min. You can buy your ticket at any station; Choose the ABC day ticket (with currently a price of €7.70), this will include your tram rides in Potsdam as well, and will take you to Potsdam and back as this is a day ticket with unlimited rides until 2 am next day. You may use any train, bus, tram in Potsdam. The S7 S-Bahn runs through the center of Berlin, and goes direct to Potsdam, and it takes about 50 minutes.
***To know more about how to choose transport in Germany click here.
Itinerary
Map link: https://www.google.com/maps/d/u/1/edit?mid=1LWUbE9OvPPmMLpk6g8XU3uUafnuPf-pX&ll=52.399423696917694%2C13.046563499999934&z=15
Film museum
After reaching Potsdam, I took the tram which stopped in front of the train station. I got off at the Film museum. It is a beautiful orange building, and also a good point to start your walk around the city. I have decided to discover the town by myself but you may also book a tour.
Click on the website bellow to choose your tour.
https://freetoursbyfoot.com/potsdam-city-tours/
Address: Breite Str. 1A, 14467 Potsdam, Germany
Opening hours: Tuesday to Sunday 10:00-18:00
www.filmmuseum-potsdam.de
Old Dutch Quarter
1.2 km, 15 min walk from Film Museum
From the Film museum, walk down for 15 minutes, through the park, towards the Old Dutch Quarter. The red-bricked Dutch-style architecture of Potsdam’s Dutch Quarter is unique, not only in Germany, but in all of Europe. It also features little park just next to it. make sure you use the map above, or mark it in you map, as this street of only 169 buildings is nicely tucked in, you might miss it.
End your walk at the Nauene Tor. It is a fairy tale facade, an 18th-century example of Gothic Revival architecture. There are couple of restaurants there, and you might want to have a coffee/beer break and enjoy the view of Nauene Tor.
Dutch Quarter address: Hebbelstraße 1C, 14467 Potsdam, Germany
Lindenstrasse
800 m, 10 min walk from Nauene Tor
Continue your day towards the Hunters’ Gate (Jägertor), which will take about 5 minutes and bring you more to the inner city. Turn left in the Lindenstrasse, a beautiful street with colorful houses, bars restaurants and also Gedenkstaate Lindedn. It is a museum with the focus on people who were imprisoned and sentenced for political reasons during the Nazi dictatorship, the Soviet occupation and the SED dictatorship, as well as the people who helped overcome the SED dictatorship in 1989/90.
Opening hours:Tuesday to Sunday 10.00 – 18.00, closed on Wednesdays
Admission: €2, with a guide €5
More info: http://www.gedenkstaette-lindenstrasse.de/
#lindenstrassepotsdam #huntersgatepotsdam #jagertor #gedenkstaatelindedn #museumspotsdam #explorepotsdam
Potsdam Brandenburg Gate
40 m, 5 min walk from Gedenkstaate Lindedn
Turn left in Brandenburger street full of restaurants and shops, towards the Luisenplatz. Here you will face imposing Potsdam Brandenburg gate. Behind the gate, there is a square with a tourist office, in case you need it.
Continue to the right once you exit the tourist office and get ready to enjoy the masterpiece of Frederick the Great the UNESCO World Heritage worthy gem, Sanssouci park.
Sanssouci Park
1.2 km, 14 min walk from Brandenburg Gate
Take your time wandering through the gardens and palaces of Sanssouci Park and you’ll see the reason why is this favorite day trip from Berlin, for all travelers. Walk through the fairy tale of beautiful opulent palaces, surrounded by perfectly manicured gardens.
The three major palaces—Sanssouci Palace (Schloss Sanssouci), Orangery Palace (Orangerieschloss), and New Palace (Neues Palais)—all built in different architectural styles, will be your main landmarks through your walk. Try to visit all of them and experience the summer residence city of King Frederick the Great of Prussia.
Also, for art lovers, visit Picture gallery, which shows what a great collector Frederick was. 17th century Dutch paintings are in the western wing and center section, while High Renaissance and Baroque, including Titian and Guido Reni are hung in the eastern wing.
#sanssoucipalace #orangerieschloss #orangerypalace #neuespalais #kingfrederickofprussia #sanssouci #historypotsdam #sanssoucipark
Tips and tricks***
This park host many festivals as the Potsdam itself, ensure to check the events. We were lucky to visit Sansoucci on a POTSDAMER SCHLÖSSERNACHT, and we have enjoyed lot of performances and also food and music which lasted from 5pm until the 10pm. However, we were not able to enter the palaces, but the festival pretty much made it worth.
Opening hours: April- October 10:00-17:30
November to March 10:00-16:30
Admission fee: €12
More info https://tickets.spsg.de/index.php/korona/?date=21.09.2018&theme=-35756263&themengruppe=
https://www.brandenburg-tourism.com/events/event-search/search/neuesuche/1.html?no_cache=1https://www.spsg.de/en/palaces-gardens/object/sanssouci-park/
https://tickets.spsg.de/index.php/sanssouci-engl
I wanted to make sure that I have enough time to enjoy Sanssouci, because it is a large place and it requires a lot of time to be properly explored. Therefore, I have not included anything else in this short visit to Potsdam, but if you have more time, visit Alexandrowka museum, which introduces Russian colony that once lived there. It comprises of 13 wooden houses, and it is located 1 km away from Nauen Tor, only 12 min walk.
***There are other landmarks that you may add on the list that I haven't included such as: Schloss Cecilienhof, Filmpark Babelsberg, Park Babelsberg, etc.
References
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