School trip to Berlin: Travel Agent vs DIY

School trip to Berlin: Travel Agent vs DIY

By in Educational Visits, Events
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Some people have been asking me about the lowdown taking Sixth Form students to Berlin. So here it is:

After doing a successful joint trip to Berlin with the MFL department (along with Computer Science) in 2022, I decided to run a similar trip at the end of the Christmas Term (2023). To make the trip viable, we teamed up with the history department too.

Initial quotes from tour companies for around 20 A-Level students + 2 staff were coming in around £650pp, not including a coach to the airport. This far exceeded our cap of £550 + spending money to keep the trip as accessible as possible. So, I went full on DIY mode which significantly lowered the cost and resulted in being able to do more. Much more. Students ended up paying around £450 each. This included hiring a minibus and driver to/from the airport, activities, and bed & breakfast. Students paid around an additional £60 for transport in Berlin and food (around £510 all in). Whilst it took a fair amount of time to organise what was essentially three trips in one, I think it was worth it and good value for money (at least £4.5k saving given what we did!).

Here is the lowdown if you’re interested in a similar trip:

Our trip took place in during the last four days of the December term. The benefits being:

  • Cheap flights out on a Tuesday (but more expensive late Friday night return flight). We are fortunate that the airport is convenient to us and an early Tuesday/late Friday flight means you can make the most of every day.
  • Suitable length for a school trip (3 nights)
  • No having to go back to school the following day as it was at the end of term.
  • Students experience the cultural delights of the Christmas markets and can have relatively cheap street food at the markets for evening dinner.

Here is an outline of the itinerary for 19 students, 3 staff. I’d recommend a minimum of 20 students where possible to benefit from maximum group discounts and economies of scale.

  • Minibus pickup (MK Minibuses – thoroughly recommended)
  • Arrive Luton Airport. Either buy breakfast on the plane, have at the airport or take something.
  • Early morning Easyjet flight from Luton. It is best to book using their normal online booking system. Whilst a group booking gives you more flexibility with changing names, the added cost is arguably not worth it. We took only hand luggage (46x36x20cm). Taking hold luggage would have significantly increased costs (I can’t remember how much by, but it was a lot!)
  • Expect a long and slow moving queue to get through Passport Control in Berlin, and also getting through security in Berlin on the way back. Take a good book!
  • Transport: We collected €30 from each student to cover the cost of AB or ABC 24-hour travelcards. Depending on what you plan to do, the tourist card could work out less expensive.
  • Arrive at a&o Berlin Hauptbahnhof (accommodation). Central location, inexpensive, breakfast is provided and has entertainment: karaoke night and table football/pool game. The only drawback is that room sizes are 1, 2 or 8 with no in-between. Students found the dorms (8-bed) a little cramped, but I would not say overly so for a hostel. Some would have been prepared to pay more to get 2-bed rooms. Book online to get a 5% discount and remember to fill out the tax exemption form unless you want to pay the 5% tourist tax. If you have to book entire rooms to accommodate your group, they will refund you for partially filled rooms. i.e. you will not end up with sharing rooms with strangers. Remember that the cost of towels/sheets is not included for dorms.

Activities

Evidently not every group did every activity! If you’d like further details then do contact me.

Difficulties:

Every activity needs booking in advance to secure places.

The BMW Factory Tour and Olympic Stadium Tours were only bookable 4 weeks in advance, making planning the itinerary somewhat tricky. Don’t be afraid to not firm up bookings until then.

Tips

Get trip deposits early and book the flights and accommodation early. Make sure that students are aware that the cost of flights is non-refundable (and only refunded if the entire trip is cancelled inline with insurance policies).

Leave ample time to get to destinations. Fortunately we just about hit the holy grail of everyone by and large feeling like we made great use of time with it not being too rushed or too much sitting around.

Use your school insurance policy if you already have/use one rather than taking out additional insurance.

Prep students – show them what you are doing before you are going, and then put them in charge of getting everyone from A to B.

There is a lot to do in Berlin. Consider whether you have the right ‘mix’ of fun/historical/etc activities.

Interesting notes

There was no consensus on what students liked best, but they all like something significant and glad they went.

Would I run this trip again? Yes, but maybe every other year.

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