Realistic pricing for travel to Berlin in December?

B0bbyEwing

Was going to book at the start of the year & there was no options or at least none that I could find. Same applied as far as March & then just forgot to look again in April.

Had a look today & for 2 of us in the middle of December, flights & accommodation for 3 days (go Monday, come back Wednesday) is £600-£800.

Sounds steep to me for 3 days. Am I being unrealistic? Is that just the going rate for that destination at that time of year?

Looking elsewhere & it's looking like a similar story so is then looking like we'll have to knock the idea of going abroad on the head. 

zagfles

It'll probably be cheaper booking nearer the time. I often go on short city trips at that time of year and usually get good prices, went to Berlin a few years ago and it was surprisingly cheap, IIRC about £60 return flight and about £40 a night hotel. 

itsthelittlethings

Yeah Berlin isn’t expensive.

B0bbyEwing

Thanks for the tip. So it should reduce massively then (you'd expect)?

Having never sorted abroad travel before, what do you guys book through? 

I was just doing a Google search & going off what Google was telling me. 

The wife was doing a Tui search & similar & going off their pricing. Our results were basically the same. 

What bothers me is waiting so close to the time & there being nothing - and then we're left with no option of anything other than staying at home. 

As I say, having never gone abroad I've never paid attention to pricing at different points in the year so don't know how it's likely to pan out. 

B0bbyEwing

Oh and as I appreciate different points in the year will be dearer than others

I'm specifically talking about the second week in December. 

Doshwaster

B0bbyEwing said:

Thanks for the tip. So it should reduce massively then (you'd expect)?

Having never sorted abroad travel before, what do you guys book through? 

I was just doing a Google search & going off what Google was telling me. 

The wife was doing a Tui search & similar & going off their pricing. Our results were basically the same. 

What bothers me is waiting so close to the time & there being nothing - and then we're left with no option of anything other than staying at home. 

As I say, having never gone abroad I've never paid attention to pricing at different points in the year so don't know how it's likely to pan out. 

For city breaks I would usually ignore the package holiday companies and just book flights and hotels separately. Easily done once you get the hang of it though I can understand it may be confusing if you've never done it before

1) Find flights from your preferred airports through https://www.skyscanner.net/ - Berlin used to be confusing with the choice of 3 airports but they only have one now.
2) Books direct with the airline. 
3) Find hotels on Booking,com, hotels.com or similar 

Berlin is one of the cheapest capital cities in western Europe (maybe second only to Lisbon) and very easy to do independently though it's going to be very cold in December

B0bbyEwing

Superb thanks for the help. 

Cold doesn't bother me one bit. It's the summer I worry about! 

jimi_man

BA Holidays show that three nights in a 4* hotel in Berlin with scheduled flights is £205 pp on Wednesday 11th December. £215 pp on Tuesday. 

That same package is also available next Sunday  (19th May) for £213 pp should you be interested!

And yes, I'd probably look doing it independently also.