In this guide
💡 The Short Version: Potsdam is 35 minutes from Hauptbahnhof by S7, every 10 minutes, on a Berlin ABC ticket (€5.00 single, €12.90 for 24 hours). Leipzig is 1 hour 15 by ICE, Dresden 1 hour 34 by direct Railjet and the Spreewald 1 hour 9 by the direct RE20 to Lübbenau. Sachsenhausen Memorial and the House of the Wannsee Conference are free to enter. The Stadtbahn, the central rail line, is closed to regional and long-distance trains from 14 June to 12 December 2026, so go to Potsdam by the S7, and the timetable changes on 13 December. Or book a tour: the Potsdam and Sanssouci tour with entryad is from €64 for 4 hours, the Dresden, Saxon Switzerland and Bastei Bridge dayad from €58 for 12 to 12.5, and the Spreewald dayad €99 for 8. A tour adds a guide and a fixed plan, and the Dresden tour adds Saxon Switzerland (GetYourGuide).
The day trips compared
Train fares are the operators’ published prices. DB’s long-distance “from” fares are €21.99 (Sparpreis) and €6.99 (Super Sparpreis), tied to one train, and the DB Navigator app shows the fare for your date. Tour prices are GetYourGuide’s lowest “from” prices for one adult.
The upper platform hall at Berlin Hauptbahnhof, with an S-Bahn train at the left. Photo: Falk2, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0.
| Trip | Getting there on your own | Cost on your own | Tour from | What to know |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Potsdam | S7 from Hauptbahnhof, 35 minutes, then bus 695 | ABC 24-hour ticket €12.90, plus Sanssouci Palace €14 | €64, with entry | Sanssouci Palace is closed on Mondays and the New Palace on Tuesdays |
| Dresden | Railjet from Hauptbahnhof, 1 hour 34 to 1 hour 39 | DB fares from €6.99 or €21.99 | €58, with Saxon Switzerland | The Residenzschloss is closed on Tuesdays and the Zwinger’s Picture Gallery on Mondays |
| The Spreewald | RE20 to Lübbenau, hourly, 1 hour 9 to 1 hour 13 | €36.50 group ticket for up to five | €99 | Punt trips €17 to €28; boats run April to October |
| Leipzig | ICE from Hauptbahnhof, 1 hour 15 to 1 hour 17 | DB fares | None | A Deutschlandticket is not valid on the ICE |
| Wannsee | S7 to Wannsee, 25 minutes | AB 24-hour ticket €11.20 | €22.50, a boat tour | The lake is on the S7 line to Potsdam |
| Lutherstadt Wittenberg and Hamburg | ICE, 39 to 42 minutes and 1 hour 47 | DB fares | None | Hamburg is a long day |
The two memorial sites are not day trips in the same sense and are on the next table.
| Memorial site | Getting there on your own | Entry | Guide |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sachsenhausen Memorial | S1 from Friedrichstraße to Oranienburg, about 45 minutes, then bus 804 | Free | Sachsenhausen |
| House of the Wannsee Conference | S7 to Wannsee, then bus 114, about 37 minutes | Free | Section below |
When a tour is worth it
A tour pays where the day has several parts or a guide matters. The price is set against the train and the entry tickets.
- Dresden with Saxon Switzerland. Berlin: Dresden, Saxon Switzerland & Bastei Bridge Day Tripad is from €58 for 12 to 12.5 hours and adds the Bastei Bridge. The train gives a longer day in the city itself.
- Potsdam with entry. From Berlin: Potsdam and Sanssouci Palace Tour with Entryad is from €64 for 4 hours. By S7 the same day costs the ticket plus €14 for Sanssouci Palace.
- The Spreewald. From Berlin to the Fairy-Tale Forests of the Spreewaldad is €99 for 8 hours. By train it is €36.50 for the group ticket and from €17 for a punt trip.
- Sachsenhausen. Entry is free, so a guided tour from Berlin pays for a guide: see the Sachsenhausen guide.
- The Wannsee lake. Berlin: Seven Lakes Tour from Berlin’s Wannseead is €22.50 for 2 hours.
There is no tour from Berlin to book for Leipzig or the House of the Wannsee Conference.
The trips with their own guides
Potsdam
S7 35 minutes · Sanssouci Palace €14 · sanssouci+ €22 · tour from €64
Frederick the Great’s palaces and the park, with the free parks open every day and Sanssouci Palace on a fixed admission time. The Potsdam guide has the S7 and bus, the palaces and their closed days, the sanssouci+ sums and the tours.
Dresden
Railjet 1 hour 34 · DB fares from €6.99 · Frauenkirche dome €12 · tour from €58
The Frauenkirche, the Residenzschloss with the Historic Green Vault, and the Zwinger. The Dresden guide has the trains and the last one back, what each sight costs and which days it is closed.
The Spreewald
RE20 1 hour 9 · group ticket €36.50 · punt trips from €17 · tour €99
A network of waterways crossed by punts, with Lübbenau as the base. The Spreewald guide has the punt prices, the Lehde open-air museum and the winter timetable.
Memorial sites
Sachsenhausen Memorial
S1 and bus 804 · about 55 minutes · free entry
The site of the Sachsenhausen concentration camp in Oranienburg, which is now a memorial and museum. The Sachsenhausen guide has the route, the station to get off at, and the guided tours from Berlin.
The House of the Wannsee Conference
S7 to Wannsee, then bus 114 · about 37 minutes · free · open daily 10:00 to 18:00
The villa at Am Großen Wannsee 56-58 is where, at noon on 20 January 1942, representatives of the SS, the Nazi party and Reich ministries met for about 90 minutes at a meeting convened by Reinhard Heydrich, on the “Final Solution of the Jewish Question”, the Nazi term for the murder of Europe’s Jews. It is now a memorial and a museum. The exhibition and the garden are open every day from 10:00 to 18:00, with last admittance 15 minutes before closing, and entry is free. It is closed on 1 to 4 January, 8 March, Good Friday, 1 May, Ascension Day, 3 October and 24 to 31 December. The Joseph Wulf Library, a public reference library, is open Monday to Friday 10:00 to 18:00. Guided tours and seminars are for groups of 10 or more and need a reservation. Take the S7 or the S1 from Hauptbahnhof to Wannsee, then bus 114 to the stop Haus der Wannsee-Konferenz; Wannsee is in zone B, so an AB ticket is enough (ghwk.de).
The House of the Wannsee Conference, seen from its garden path. Photo: Orderinchaos, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0.
Other trips
Leipzig
ICE 1 hour 15 to 1 hour 17 · from Hauptbahnhof about hourly · Runde Ecke €5
ICE trains leave Hauptbahnhof about hourly, from 06:29, and the last ICE back leaves Leipzig at 22:12, arriving at 23:29. A Deutschlandticket does not cover the ICE, and a Brandenburg-Berlin-Ticket does not reach Leipzig; fares are in the DB Navigator app. The Thomaskirche is open to visitors Monday to Thursday 10:00 to 18:00, Friday 10:00 to 16:00, Saturday 10:00 to 13:30 and 16:30 to 18:00, and Sunday 11:30 to 17:30, with changes for rehearsals. Its motets are on Friday at 18:00, a vesper of about an hour, and on Saturday at 15:00, usually a Bach cantata of about 80 minutes; a programme at €3 is required at the door (thomaskirche.org). The Museum in der “Runden Ecke”, the Stasi museum, is open daily 10:00 to 18:00 with no booking, for €5 (€4 reduced) including an audio guide in several languages (runde-ecke-leipzig.de). For the Stasi in Berlin, see Stasi Museum or Hohenschönhausen.
The Thomaskirche in Leipzig. Photo: Tdn70, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 4.0.
Wannsee
S7 25 minutes · AB ticket · Seven Lakes boat tour €22.50
Wannsee is the lake and the station on the S7 between Hauptbahnhof and Potsdam, 25 minutes from Hauptbahnhof. The same station is the start of the way to the memorial above. Berlin: Seven Lakes Tour from Berlin’s Wannseead is a 2-hour boat tour from €22.50 (2,642 reviews). The S7 carries on to Potsdam.
Further away
Lutherstadt Wittenberg: ICE 39 to 42 minutes · Hamburg: ICE 1 hour 47
ICE trains reach Lutherstadt Wittenberg from Hauptbahnhof in 39 to 42 minutes, and the regional RE3 takes 1 hour 26 to 1 hour 34. Hamburg Hauptbahnhof is 1 hour 47 by ICE, so it is a long day.
Before you choose a day
| Where | Limited or closed |
|---|---|
| Trains | The timetable changes on 13 December 2026. From 14 June to 12 December 2026 regional and long-distance trains do not use the Stadtbahn; the S7 to Potsdam runs, and the Railjet to Dresden still calls at Hauptbahnhof |
| Potsdam | Sanssouci Palace is closed on Mondays and the New Palace on Tuesdays; Cecilienhof is closed for restoration |
| Dresden | The Residenzschloss is closed on Tuesdays and the Zwinger’s Picture Gallery on Mondays; the last direct train back is the 20:49 ICE |
| The Spreewald | The Lehde open-air museum is closed from 2 November 2026 to 31 March 2027 except four days; the last direct RE20 back is at 19:44 |
| The House of the Wannsee Conference | Closed on 1 to 4 January, 8 March, Good Friday, 1 May, Ascension Day, 3 October and 24 to 31 December |
| Borders | Germany checks its land borders from 16 September 2026 to 15 March 2027, including those with Poland and the Czech Republic, and Poland checks its German border from 2 October 2026 to 30 March 2027. These day trips cross no border; carry a passport or ID card for Poland or the Czech Republic |
Airport to the city and Berlin public transport cover the first and last day. What to book before you go to Berlin has the city tickets and the entry rules for Germany, 3 days in Berlin shows where a day trip fits between them, and where to stay in Berlin compares the areas. Prague, Kraków and Vienna are cities in their own right, each with its own guides. For the month, see the best time to visit Berlin. In the city, the Holocaust Memorial, the Berlin Wall Memorial and the other free sights fit the days between trips.
Common questions
What is the easiest day trip from Berlin?
Potsdam. The S7 runs from Berlin Hauptbahnhof to Potsdam Hauptbahnhof in 35 minutes, every 10 minutes, on a Berlin ABC ticket: €5.00 single or €12.90 for 24 hours. Sanssouci Palace is €14 and closed on Mondays.
Which day trips from Berlin need a train that is not an S-Bahn?
Dresden, Leipzig and the Spreewald. Dresden is 1 hour 34 to 1 hour 39 by direct Railjet, Leipzig 1 hour 15 to 1 hour 17 by ICE and Lübbenau in the Spreewald 1 hour 9 to 1 hour 13 by the direct RE20. A Deutschlandticket covers the RE20 but not the Railjet or the ICE.
Can I visit Sachsenhausen and the House of the Wannsee Conference without a tour?
Yes. Entry to the Sachsenhausen Memorial and Museum is free: take the S1 to Oranienburg and then bus 804. The House of the Wannsee Conference is free too, open daily 10:00 to 18:00: take the S7 to Wannsee and then bus 114, about 37 minutes from Hauptbahnhof.
Which day trip is a tour better than a train?
Dresden with Saxon Switzerland and the Bastei Bridge, from €58 for 12 to 12.5 hours, and Potsdam if you want a guide with the palace entry included, from €64 for 4 hours. For Leipzig and the memorial sites there is no tour to book, and the Spreewald tour is €99 against €36.50 for a group train ticket.
Does the Stadtbahn closure affect day trips from Berlin?
Until 12 December 2026 regional and long-distance trains do not use the Stadtbahn through the centre, so go to Potsdam by the S7, and the IC trains to Dresden are diverted over Ostkreuz. The Dresden Railjet, the Leipzig ICE and the Spreewald RE20 still leave from Hauptbahnhof. The timetable changes on 13 December 2026.
