City break with teens - Amsterdam, Barcelona or Berlin?

[PoloMintPatty]

Just as the title says really.

We are thinking of 4 or 5 days in a European city with our teens (13 & 16). Where would you go?

I am googling and each city has things to do but I'm interested if anyone has been with their teens and would specifically recommend.

We have been to Rome and absolutely loved it so maybe that's raised our bar too much.

PoloMintPatty - we are doing a road trip to Amsterdam and Berlin over Easter, our teens similar ages. I could have written your original post, so am lurking with interest, hope you don’t mind!

Last time I was in both places was 25 years ago in our VW camper van minus kids so completely different trip. We have booked an apartment in Potsdam, which last time we visited was ultra dodgy and grim so hoping it’s improved ALOT!

DH took older teen to Amsterdam for a long weekend last year and he loved it, so we are breaking our journey for a few days. They did some amazing stuff my DH thought younger teen would enjoy it. Me well I am along for the ride.

so interesting to hear others recommendations, as usual MN comes up trumps!

Berlin every time. We went when the DC were about 12 and 15 and they loved it. Special favourites were the Pergamon museum and the DDR museum. But there is so much there to see. Very easy to get around the city on the U Bahn so I'd try to stay somewhere in easy range of an U Bahn station.

Go for it!

I'm getting so many fabulous tips here. MN at its very best

Berlin, and there have been a few Berlin threads recently so worth a look for the recommendations on where to go, etc. You could live a life in Berlin and still not see everything - as friends that live there tell me whenever I'm over and we catch-up on the places I've found and seen in the city that they hadn't heard about!

We had a couple of days in Berlin at half term, and went to Amsterdam last year with our teenagers. Been to Barcelona too, but not with kids.

See you've settled on Berlin (which would be my pick of the three). We really enjoyed our trip, and could happily have spend quite a few more days there. I used to know Berlin quite well, but hadn't been for more than 15 years. It's still a buzzy, friendly, accessible city.

We had an apartment in Mitte, which worked well. Public transport is excellent (both the U bahn and the trams), so you could stay anywhere really.

Highly recommend the Reichstag. We also really enjoyed walking along the East Side Gallery, which is the largest bit of the Wall that remains. My 14 year old has just been learning about the Weimar republic/rise of the Nazis, so it was really interesting for them. We wanted to go to the DDR museum, but it's just being refurbished, but it sounds great!

Food-wise, German bakeries are very good for breakfast, snacks, pretzels, pizza slices etc. There's loads of choice of food, and veggie DD and I were pleasantly surprised by the availability and variety of veggie/vegan food (when I was last in Germany, the veggie options were basically baked camembert or soup that you had to pick the ham out of!).

I went to the DDR museum years ago, it’s a great place! I found it fascinating.

And I second that about the food- as a vegetarian kid on holiday in Germany many years ago I didn’t have much choice, now I can’t get enough! I could happily eat Kasespaetzle every day of my life 🤤

Go to Berlin.Kids that age love it .Everyone I know that has been to Barcelona recently has been pickpocketed or robbed of something.My DS's girlfriend had her cellphone taken last week .Beggars belief that the authorities in Barcelona do absolutely nothing about this although it is going on for years.

I really didn't feel safe in Barcelona, although it's a gorgeous and vibrant city. Too many pickpockets and looky-looky men everywhere we went that were very determined and wouldn't leave you alone. Same with Prague - lovely city absolutely decimated by tourism.

DD went to Amsterdam last year and loved it - they said there was a really relaxed vibe.

How long will you be in amsterdam for? Do you want to just stay in the city or do other things nearby? How old are the people in your group?

I do think you‘d be best off based in a Mitte hotel or apart-hotel. You’re just so central for the main sights, but with excellent public transport to places like Potsdam, close to Hauptbahhof so a good link from the airport, and the restaurant/bar/club scene is incredibly dynamic. We were at an Asian fusion place on Chausseestrasse last night, fantastic food at reasonable prices. Have a look around the Kiez (neighbourhood) close to Naturkundemuseum - I often walk past Garden Living boutique hotel on Invalidenstrasse and Garden Hotel a bit further down the street, but you’d want a room looking out onto the garden at the back because the front is on a busy road. Garden Hotel has two huge orange cats who spend their days asleep in the front window…
Other parts of Mitte with a good scene are Rosenthaler Platz, Rosa Luxembourg Platz and Hackescher Markt. The hostels Heart of Gold and Zirkus are pretty decent (or at least used to be), but you might not want a hostel vibe with teens in tow. Prenzlsuer Berg is a lovely district with great bars, but you’d have to do a lot more travelling to get to the main sights.
A PP mentioned booking the Reichstag visit online in advance - I totally second that, it gets booked out very quickly. It’s a nice view and it’s free of charge, so why not. Democracy is a wonderful thing.
Let me know if there’s anything else specifically you want to know about.

Mitte or Prenzl great bases, with plenty of bars and restaurants.

The Olympic Stadium is one of my favourite places.

Schlactensee for walking, or for a swim if it’s warm enough.

The Jewish museum, Holocaust Memorial Museum and Topographie of Terror all brilliant but hard hitting. Don’t do them all in one day.

The zoo is really good and could take a full day.

Berlin is awesome. Loads for young people to do.

Berlin. Went with 12 & 14year olds pre Covid. Older one is about to go back on A level history trip and is v excited. Wish I was going too. Watch Deutschland 83 and go to the Stasi museum.

How long will you be in amsterdam for? Do you want to just stay in the city or do other things nearby? How old are the people in your group

@LiquoriceAllsorts2 - us and teens aged 16 and 19. Thinking of staying 3 nights. Preferably just the city, I think.

I love all three cities too but agree with Berlin for all the reasons already given.

If your DD is into history I would 100% recommend a day at the zoo in east Berlin (Tierpark) rather than the busier central one (in Tiergarten). It’s great both as a zoo of course, but also as a reminder of the divided city, it feels distinctly soviet! We found it really thought-provoking.

definitely do a boat trip on the canals. You could also hire kayaks or paddle boards if it’s good weather and you want to be more adventurous.

If you go to the red lights district then I recommend the red light secrets museum; it provides a lot of info about how it operates which is really interesting.

close to the city is Zaans schans, where there are a number of small museums, you can go windmills etc.

if you do want to leave amsterdam, utrecht is half an hour by train, is similar to amsterdam but smaller and less touristy.

Amsterdam, loads to see and do it’s not all weed and sex lol

PolyMintPatty - just came back on to report back on our epic road trip to Berlin (& Amsterdam). Not sure if you have been yet.

Teens (and us) absolutely loved it. I enjoyed Berlin more than I thought I would. We rent a semi-detached house in Babelsburg (near Potsdam) and it was a fab place. Loads of cafes, restaurants, train station round the corner and it was a 30 min train ride into Berlin. Was really cheap (compared to the 4 star hotel in Haarlem, Amsterdam - found out Easter weekend is the most expensive weekend of the year to book accommodation) and a very safe area. Think I would stay in the centre of Berlin next time, but it was last minute and availability wasn’t good. Can highly recommend getting a “Welcome Berlin Card” pass for public transport & discounts into museums etc.

We did a 2 hr Trabi self-driving car tour (in convoy with a guide at Trabi World and had commentary in English over the radio) which was brilliant. DS didn’t want to do a walking tour, this was my solution so they could get to see the city & the history. We had two stops to stretch our legs as it was a bit cramped inside. I am short but my DH and 2 DS are very tall. My DH did an amazing job with the driving (but he likes to drive anywhere), it was brilliant fun. We actually covered a lot of the stuff I had planned to see on foot on my itinerary (Brandberg Gate, Jewish Memorial, East Side Gallery, Reichstag, Museum Island, Checkpoint Charlie (we took a wrong turn and drove right past it), last Guard Tower and memorial etc. We couldn’t get ticket to the glass dome at Reichstag (which are free) worth booking in advance.

After we went back on foot to Brandberg Gate, The Jewish Memorial, East Side Gallery, Museum Island. The Berlin Wall Museum was really interesting (outside bit and across the road from Trabi World) and was free.

Walked thru the Jewish Memorial which was very humbling when you get right inside. The DS wanted to go to Berlin Mall (as it was freezing outside) which was huge but just a great big shopping mall and was heaving with people.

We ventured into Potsdam and it was much nicer than I remember from 25 years ago, some great cafes, shops etc and revisited the Sanscoussi Palace and Gardens.

certainly didn’t have enough time to cover everything but had a great time and will visit again. the people we encountered were all really friendly and helpful and they sure can drive well (and very fast) on the Autobahns - no potholes either😂😂

Anyway hope this is helpful in some way!

Barcelona is great with kids and teens, we were there last summer and didn’t see any crime at all in the main tourist bits. Berlin is fabulous too

This is the OP with a name change. Sounds like an amazing trip!! So glad you had a good time.

We visited Berlin early in April and had a fantastic time. Stayed in Potsdamer Platz and did many of the things you described. Lots of walking and so much to see! Thanks to advice here we booked the Reichstag and it was so good. We also visited the DDR museum. No car ride for us this time though we did see them. Looked so much fun! Next time....

We also enjoyed the new eating and shopping centre in Potsdamer - NBA shop and the Manifesto eating area were big hits with our teens. Very chilled vibe with pop up eating places and music.

Thanks to everyone for the tips and hints

Banshee19

Always good to get feedback on how your holiday went and am glad you had a good time. We also did Amsterdam with our teens and it was brilliant, can recommend some great things to do if you ever decide to go. City breaks are now a thing according to my youngest - no more beach hols he much prefers these!😁

Berlin out of the ones you're mentioned but if the Netherlands, I'd choose Rotterdam, slightly cooler and trendier for teens!

DD has done a lot of travelling including Amsterdam and Berlin - first went to the later age 16. She spent a year in Germany with uni last year and I've lost count how many times she visited Berlin (on her own and with friends) - says it's her favourite city.

We stayed in the Hackersche Hof area which has really good transport connections (although most things south of the river you'd really want to see are walkable). Nice outside eating area there as well. DD thinks this area and slightly west of it are the best places to stay.