Visits & Tours

​In addition to course-integrated field trips, students can enjoy exploring this global city, with optional group outings:  

• Tiergarten to Beer Gardens: Experience one of Berlin’s favorite summer outdoor traditions in search of the best schnitzel, sausage, sauerkraut and pils, enjoying the scenic Café am Neuen See in Tiergarten or Prater in Prenzlauer Berg, one of Berlin’s oldest biergartens. Additionally, HU-Berlin students enjoy the nearby riverside biergarten at Strandbar Mitte, where there is a lively dancefloor with dance lessons and a relaxed atmosphere to meet locals.
• Out in Berlin: Educate yourself at the Schwules Museum, the world’s first gay museum opened in 1985. The Homosexuals_IES exhibit examines the political contributions the gay emancipation movement has made toward the development of a democratic civil society in Germany. The role of lesbian activists is to be brought into special focus. The social struggle for the emancipation of sexual minorities has been and continues to be closely linked to women's struggles for equality.

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  You are leaving the American sector . . . : Take a cultural tour and learn the history of divided Berlin in this 25th year anniversary of the fall of the Berlin wall, visiting Checkpoint Charlie, the Berlin wall monument, the Allied museum, the Berlin Friedrichstraße station (the historic border crossing and farewell point), and Tränenpalast or “Palace of Tears” museum, and DDR museum to understand daily life in East Germany.
• Kreuzberg Culture: Enjoy authentic Turkish cuisine in the neighborhood established by Berlin’s largest immigrant minority group, quickly becoming one of the trendiest neighborhoods in central Berlin. After dinner at a delicious Turkish restaurant, students may check out one of the best venues for outdoor English language and English-subtitled foreign films in Freiluftkino Kreuzberg.

Students have three extended three- to four-day weekends to explore the best of Germany and Europe. German and European railroads are efficient, comfortable and affordable, with many specials that allow you to travel on the weekends to explore Germany in groups of up to five people at very attractive costs. In addition, low cost airlines provide affordable nonstop service to many of Europe’s most popular cities. Possible weekend excursions include:

• A view of Old City Hall in Potsdam, Germany.
• Potsdam (half hour by train), a historic site where Stalin, Churchill, and Truman convened at Schloss Cecilienhof in the summer of 1945 to plan the aftermath of World War II. Potsdam is also home to the stunning architecture, interior, and gardens of the Sanssouci Palace of the Prussian royal family.
• Prague (five hours by train), a beautiful Bohemian city where you can visit the Charles Bridge, Old Town, and Jewish Quarter.
• Amsterdam (six hours by train), a charming city of more than a thousand kilometers of canals, islands, and bridges you can visit on foot, bike, or bus. Visit the Anne Frank House, Rijksmuseum, Van Gogh museum and red light district.
• During the program, students have organized an endless number of long weekend trips to historic European capitals and cities accessible by short flight, such as London, Paris, Rome, Budapest, and Stockholm.