Anyone taken a trip to Berlin?

[TheRoadToEverywhere]

Stumbled across a few articles about family breaks in Berlin and was wondering if anyone has any experiences to share? Is there plenty to keep young kids entertained?
I'll be travelling with a 5 year old, for approx 3 or 4 night stay

Thanks in advance!

[soundsystem]

Yep, Berlin has loads for kids! What time of year are you thinking of going?

[TheRoadToEverywhere]

Oh fab! Looking at late July/early August as can't take DS out of school.
The packages I've seen look remarkably cheap!
Lots of parks and playgrounds apparently, also I believe there's a Lego centre which DS would love!

[Archfarchnad]

Hi Road,
I've raised two kids in Berlin, it's a very child-friendly city.
In summer there are lots of lidos- the best for you would be the Monbijou park one, which is specifically aimed at younger kids and families. It's very central. Yes, there are loads of parks and green spaces, and the play area in the main zoo is brill. There are also lots of lakes out in the suburbs which are lovely for evening picnics. The Tiergarten Park is also very Central, you can rent boats there too.
The downside: the weather in summer CAN be tricky - hot (by British Standards), sticky, thundery. We're at the same latitude as New York, but don't go along with all that namby-pamby air-conditioning.
Museums: the Science and Tech Museum is Great for littlies- full sized trains and boats etc.
going up the Reichstag dome is free of charge, but you need to book online ages in advance in summer.

[Archfarchnad]

You mentioned the Legoland - My DC went with rellies quite a few times. It's OK for passing a few hours, but don't imagine anything as fancy or big as the main Legolands (in Windsor or Denmark). It's actually underground at the Sony Center.

[TheRoadToEverywhere]

Hi Arch, thank you so much, that's so helpful!
Can I ask what the transport network is like? Is it easy to get to all these lovely parks and attractions?
We did Copenhagen a few years ago and I was so impressed by how easy it was to get around, so the bars been set quite high now!
Being Germany, I expect its very efficient?

[Janek]

The public transport is amazing. We went in the summer hols five years ago, with the plan of swimming in some lakes. We thought we would choose where to stay based on what lakes we wanted to swim in, but actually, most seemed to be easily accessible, no matter where you started. So we just went for an apartment that looked suitable/was a good price.

The weather was really hot though - needed to go in those lakes and we hardly used any sun cream as it was too hot to actually be in the sun. Because it was a city the infrastructure got hot too (so our balcony was too hot in the evening after the sun went down), then every four or five days there was a massive thunderstorm which cooled everything down and then they cycle started again.

But we loved it, we definitely go again, particularly as dd1 has just started doing German at school. Oh yes, and your five-year-old will travel on public transport for free!

[Chewbecca]

We went a few years ago & really enjoyed it.

The lego place is ok but nothing like the UK ones, better for smaller children actually so may work very well for you.

We stayed at Louisa's Place which was like a mini apartment & worked well for us. It's in a nice area and v close to the metro as well as plenty of eateries. It had a pleasant pool too which made a nice break from sightseeing.

Food was relatively cheap and tasty.

The science centre spectrum, next door to the techniks museum was our highlight.

[UrbaneSprawl]

The MACHmit children’s museum in Prenzlauerberg was a hit with my boy (aged 4) when we went. He also loved the many and various parks and playgrounds in summer, particularly the Arabian Nights-themed one at Hasenheide Park. The ‘informal’ allotments in Tempelhof Airfield were also good fun to stroll around, as some folks had incorporated home-made play equipment into their patch.

[Archfarchnad]

I would back up Janek's Statement about the excellent public transport, and that kids under 6 are entirely free.
The transport company is called BVG, so you can look up transport connections at bvg.de (in English too) a excellent resource. For your own ticket, it's worthwhile getting a flat-rate ticket for your entire stay (for 3/4/5 days) - there are Kiosks at both airports so you can buy them at when you arrive. If you arrive at Schönefeld DO get the ABC zone ticket, not just AB.

Hmm, what else? Oh yes, a law has been passed against privately renting out entire apartments (so an airBnB flat is illegal, but a room in a flat is ok). There are still lots of flats on offer, but do you want to take the risk?

MachMit Museum - Great idea.

Once of our favourite things with our kids at that age was going to small kids' theatre performances, often on weekends at 4 pm all over the city, but most of them will be in German. But if you find one in English, that is the most 'authentic' family activity in these parts.

Efficient transport - compared with the UK, definitely. I once apologized to visiting friends because their underground train arrived two minutes late, they thought it was hilarious how German I'd become!