Help me out with your Berlin recommendations

[BurntSausage]

I’ve asked for similar recommendations before and you all came up with some belters for Paris. This time: Berlin with a five year old. Any secret gems that anyone can recommend? Thanks in advance.

Get one of these cards. It allows access to public transport and discounts to lots of tourist attractions.
www.berlin-welcomecard.de/en

Zoo & Aquarium www.visitberlin.de/en/zoological-garden
Aquadom www.visitberlin.de/en/aquadom-sea-life-berlin
Dungeons www.visitberlin.de/en/berlin-dungeon
Bus Tours www.visitberlin.de/en/hop-on-hop-off-bus-tours-berlin
Boat Tours www.visitberlin.de/en/boat-tours-berlin
Outdoor pool/park area www.visitberlin.de/en/sommerbad-neukolln
Fez: Children and Youth Leisure Centre Wuhlheide fez-berlin.de/ueber-uns/das-fez-berlin/
Legoland www.visitberlin.de/en/legolandr-discovery-centre-berlin

Thanks Mama that does look good. I like the idea of a boat trip and the outdoor pool, especially if the weather stays nice 🤞🏻

Have you booked accommodation yet? We stayed in a lovely hotel near the zoo last year with DS age 9.

There are some nice beer gardens that are also good for kids. I will have a look for my notes later.

I would definitely agree with getting a welcome card.

Do a walking tour first, we did one last and we wished we had done it when we first arrived.

Walking tours are at least a couple of hours. I did one when there without children and loved it but not sure if it would be too boring/long for a five year old.

There are loads of amazing themed playgrounds berlin-playgrounds.de

The currywurst museum is quite fun and has a pretend food van mine loved

Mine also liked Ritter sport world (you can get them to make up a special bar for you)

We loved the Spy Museum, it was great fun. And liked Rausch Schokoladenhaus, which is an amazing chocolate shop, the top floor has a cafe where cakes go round on a belt like a Yo Sushi

We went there when the DC were a similar age and they enjoyed the zoo, hop-on hop-off bus tour (the no. 100 bus is a cheaper alternative), boat trip and the revolving restaurant in the TV tower. It might be best to book that in advance, though - we've just come back from a weekend in Berlin and there was a 6 hour wait between getting tickets and being able to go up to the observation platform, and the restaurant was fully booked for the next two weeks.

I haven't been there myself, but friends who live in Berlin have recommended Little Big City.

Thanks everyone, that’s brilliant!

Luckily I booked the TV Tower when I booked the holiday and managed to get a slot. I’m a bit nervous about it to be honest 😬 thanks Linzer for reminding me I need to get things printed off.

Rausch sounds great too. DD will be happy, if she still has space for chocolate after today’s Easter extravaganza. Thanks DIKate

Glorious thanks for that link to the playgrounds, that’s exactly the kind of thing DD will love. And Ritter Sport World! Omg, I love Ritter chocolate! I’ll have a proper look into that.

Granhands I might make up a little walking tour as DD is a good walker - I don’t drive so she doesn’t have a choice 😁 She’s not as arsed about landmarks as I am, so maybe just the Brandenburg Gate and a few other things, broken up with some playground action and she’ll be happy.

Yellow thanks for seconding the Welcomecard recommendation. I’ll definitely do that. We’ve got our hotel booked in the Mitte area. So many nice areas to choose from it was difficult to pick!

I would hate to over sell Ritter sport world, as it's kind of a glorified shop. But DD loved it and it's very central so could be combined with something else.

There are tonnes more similar parks that aren't on that site, so if you want one in a particular area it's worth looking.

things in Berlin the kids loved:-

Zoo
Olympic stadium
Reichstag dome

Also second the welcome card. Free public transport and lots of discounts.

Have a fab time!!

@Glorious I am reliably informed that the Currywurst museum has closed down Loved that place.

Worth knowing that there are 2 zoos. The main one and then the Tierparkwww.tierpark-berlin.de/en/animals which is absolutely lovely and very spacious - much more like a big country park. I was at the main zoo a couple of weeks ago and although it was quietish when we got there first thing, by the time we left before lunch the queues were massive.

This beer garden was lovely www.brachvogel-berlin.de/en. It’s by a canal and there is crazy golf and an adventure playground (children can sneak in through a gap in the fence to save going round to the front entrance to the playground). We ate there too. There was an outdoor public pool between it and the tube station. We didn’t go as our hotel had a pool but it might be nice to combine the two.

We also enjoyed going here for a drink www.cafeamneuensee.de/. We had heard that the service was rubbish so just did the self-service drinks and food. It’s by the water also and very pretty. This was really near our hotel and there is a park a few minutes away. If you visit the Tiergarten zoo, it might be nice for a visit.

There’s a restaurant chain which reminded me a little of pizza express, Called L' Osteria. We went to the one in Tiergarten but I think they had one in Mitte. It was good for our slightly fussy DS. We went once and then for take away another day.

The underground is really easy to use. Don’t forget to validate your tickets- each time for single use and at the start of using a welcome card. Our tickets were often checked.

We flew into Schoenefeld and the taxis were quite pricey into town. We got the airport express, which was very easy (follow covered walk way to the left as you exit the station to the train station) and then a can for from the train station to our hotel to save negotiating the pavements with luggage and child. Just make sure you look online at how to use the ticket machines in advance as there were lots of stressed tourists holding up the lines. I found a guide on TripAdvisor.

In terms of places to visit, we enjoyed:

• The Reichstag- you need to book a few weeks in advance. You can get a free audio guide. You can buy an ice cream from the cafe at the top.
• waking to Brandenburg gate and the Holocaust memorial (close together)
• seeing the wall at the Eastside gallery
• If any of you are slightly geeky (we are!), you will enjoy the computer museum. Lots of retro games to play.
• Lots of outside parks. We liked the dragon one at Friedrichshain. There’s also a water one in Mitte I think.
• We visited Alexanderplatz but didn’t go up the tower as DH is not fond of heights.
• Visit an ampelmann shop- look it up. The traffic lights in the easy are different and have become a tourist thing.
• DDR Museum- really interesting and enough interactive stuff to keep kids engaged. We walked up from Alexanderplatz.
• Spy museum. We loved this, especially the laser mission impossible type experience!
• Lego- we went to the shop near Tiergarten but there is a Lego experience. It didn’t sound worth the money from the reviews so we didn’t bother.
• There is also a science centre which we didn’t make it to.
• There are various lakes near by with lovely clear water for swimming. Take those surf shoes to save twigs etc on feet. We went to Krumme Lanke, which is easily accessible on the tube. We went to Lidl when we arrived and took a picnic down to a sandy nook. We had packed a small folding picnic blanket with us so took that. Very pretty. There are bigger lakes more set up like a beach resort with loungers and facilities...and entrance fees.

*we got a cab from the train station to our hotel
*traffic lights in the East

Eeek, thanks again everyone. I’m a bit nervous! It’s silly really, but it’s me and DD going on our own and I’m a bit wobbly.

Thanks for the good wishes Curcubita, I’m looking forward to it and bricking it at the same time!

Fuggler thanks for that info about the two zoos/parks. Tierpark looks lovely. We’ll probably end up doing both 😁

Thanks for that great list Yellowsun and the info on validating tickets. Always appreciate knowing things like that in advance! And I’d forgotten about the east side gallery, thanks for the reminder, that’s something that I want to see.

It’s going to be a busy few days!

Agree with the Olympic Stadium and the Bundestag (as it is now called). Not so sure about the DDR museum as it features naturism, unless you are comfortable talking about that if the five year old asks.

The Holocaust memorial I suggest if you visit you ask your five year old not to run about, out of kindness to others.

East Side Gallery is an interesting walk too.

I took my DD when she was six and she enjoyed the zoo, Teirgarten and all the many, many Ampleman shops. We had a grand time 😀

Berlin is super relaxed, friendly and easy/going. You will have a lovely lovely time (although I'm devastated to hear that the Currywurst museum is gone!)

Thanks everyone for the recommendations, we just got back. It was brilliant. What a bloody lovely place. It was hot though, peaked at 27 degrees, which was a bit of a shock! And people were so lovely to DD. I don’t know whether it was some kind of Easter hangover but she kept being given sweets and chocolates. Pop in a shop, here, have some sweets! Got on a bus, bus driver gave her a chocolate chick!

The welcomecard was great too. Would definitely do that again, it made everything so much easier. It didn’t get checked once though!

Sigh. And now we’re home and it’s cold and I’m dreaming of moving there 😁