Anyone done a city break in Berlin?

[Booksandflowers]

Thinking about this in the next year. Where did you stay? What did you do? How long? It will be two adults and two teens. Would want to get a bit of the history in as one of the teens is doing the Second World War in history at school but also some other fun bits.

we normally book with Thomas cook but not sure if there’s cheaper out there.

thanks

Berlin is super cool ❤️

Loads of fab stuff to do and just ace 👍

We stayed in the Scandic at Potsdamer Platz.

I went pre-covid and loved it. DH was attending a conference, so I travelled the tubes and walked about myself, mainly to museums whilst there. Museum island and seeing the Nefertiti head at the Neues museum was a highlight.
The Jewish museum. I expected it to be mainly about the holocost, but this made up only a tiny amount of the museum.
Museum of pathology- maybe if not squeamish
Edited as forget where I stayed! It was an apartment, like AirBNB but booked via booking.com. We ate out for several meals, but meant we could have breakfast and snacks in the apartment if wanted. I can't recall the name of it now though.

Lots of museums and great art galleries. They all charge admission and it's best to book in advance. Some have a day a month where it's free I think. Lots of interesting and beautiful buildings - esp on Museum Island.
We were there recently and found that a lot of small pubs, cafes and restaurants preferred to be paid in cash which we hadn't accounted for. Next time we'll bring lots of cash.
I found the prices on par with here.

It's one of my favourite cities. Great public transport and lots of really interesting things to see. The revolving restaurant in the Fernsehrturm is fun. The museum at Checkpoint Charlie is absolutely fascinating. The breakfast buffet or coffee and cake at KaDeWe is also good. It's surprisingly green city too. You can get a train to the outskirts and spend a day walking in the Grunwald or around the Havel and it's very tranquil and beautiful.

DH and I went pre-covid (&pre-kids) and would like to go back.

The spy museum, east side gallery, checkpoint Charlie museum are all great. The zoo was a nice day out. We also went on an Underworld tour which was fascinating (& then there was a nearby currywurst van).

We stayed in the hotel with the enormous aquarium that broke, it was a nice area, near the cathedral, some nice bars and restaurants nearby and the public transport was pretty straightforward.

I second the cycle tour. Great fun and lots of WW2 sights.

I've been shedloads of times partly with work. I stay at the Titanic- lovely smart hotel in quiet convenient area with indoor pool . It's not a pretty city as such but lots to see and do especially if you like history. The boat trip on the grunewald is very nice as are the beautiful palace and gardens in Potsdam

DH took 15 year old DS a couple of months ago. They enjoyed visiting checkpoint Charlie, a walking tour and the Olympic stadium

I love Berlin and could live there. I have friends in the city and have been many times.

Spring is good, summer lovely but you might get a heatwave. It’s still quite a northern city. Just avoid the chilly winter!

I can’t recommend more highly doing a walking history tour. We did this one which took us all around the centre in 3.5 hours, covering the founding of Berlin to the modern day. I found it fascinating: from Napoleon to the Weimar Republic, the rise of the Third Reich, WWII, defeat of the Nazis, the slicing up of Berlin by the allies, Soviet rule, communist Berlin, the fall of the Wall, the reunification of the city, the active memorialising of the atrocities by the people of Berlin as part of “never again”, the deliberately transparent parliament building that’s open to all.

Standing on the spots where the Russians liberated Berlin, outside the university where the Nazis burned the books as students cheered them on, the place where Hitler killed himself, sites where people made desperate and courageous escapes over the Berlin Wall… it’s the history of our continent in one city.

We did it with our kids aged 14 and 10 and even they enjoyed it (I did step away with my ten year old for a couple of the less appropriate parts - Hitler’s bunker) but there were teens on the tour too. We used this company: Berlin History Tour

The tour provided breathing spots including a couple of bakeries to take it all in, but afterwards we wound up at mt favourite Berlin summer spot - the Prater Beer Garden in Tiergarten (Berlin’s answer to Central Park but twice the size - hire bikes!) and wound away the afternoon drinking, eating and boating in dappled sunlight and reflecting on all we’d heard.

I also recommend the DDR Museum, the Spy Museum, the East Side Gallery, clubbing in the old bombed out warehouses, and if you have time to go to the suburbs, the 1936 Olympic Stadium - more chilling yet uplifting history. Berlin is surrounded by wonderful countryside especially lakes for swimming in so if you do go in the summer you could include a day there to cool off with the locals. Enjoy!

Berlin is a fantastic city. Ensure you make time to visit the most amazing chocolate cafe - www.rausch.de/en/chocolate-house

I loved it. Fascinating place.
We stayed at the Hotel Indigo in Alexanderplatz. Did a walking tour which was fascinating and you see so much. Went up the TV tower for cocktails. Went to a restaurant over the monkey cage in the zoo.great place to just wander. You can also do boat trips on the river that looked good. Museum island by the river is beautiful so it's unfair to call it all ugly.

@spiritowl i am just nibbling on my loot from there!

Oh wow. Thanks guys. Think we will probably be looking at going at Easter time so I have plenty of time to plan it. Lots on this thread which I will save. Thanks.

Love Berlin. Liked wandering around, the museums, the feel of the place. Having beer and chips at the Brandenburg gate!

I was there this time last week! We had a great time - I echo what PPs have said about the Spy Museum, it was great. There’s also a computer games museum, if your kids are into that. The zoo is good too and has giant pandas!

The Neue Nationalgalerie is an impressive museum with an excellent collection and it’s free on Thursday evenings. The Neues Museum is also worth visiting, if just for the beautiful Nefertiti bust. I was disappointed in the Natural History Museum - it seems very small and poky, though Tristan the T-Rex is impressive.

Some great shopping - for some reason even going to chains like Zara are a far nicer experience on the continent than in the U.K!

LOVE Berlin - one of my favourite cities 🥰

You need to book Reichstag before you go - it’s free but needs reservations.

Yes, and well in advance too. We couldn’t go as I left it until the week before to try for tickets and by then they were all gone.

Went with a group of friends in early December- we stayed in the Mitte district, which was a great location, great hotels and places to eat and close to museums and a doable walk to other main spots.
we booked a private tour which included guided transport out to the Eastside Gallery- would definitely recommend this.
if you go over a weekend, you need to factor in that many shops and restaurants are closed on Sundays- even the restaurant and bar in our hotel was closed- and we had no access to any parts other than our rooms

Some interesting ideas here, thanks everyone. 👍

if you go over a weekend, you need to factor in that many shops and restaurants are closed on Sundays

And most state museums and galleries are closed on Mondays. You should be ok with those that are privately run like the Spy or DDR museums though.

Love Berlin. Can recommend The Circus Hotel in Mitte.

circus-berlin.de/hotel/

We stayed a few years ago when our children were teens, in an apartment near Kreuzberg. Maxed out on the history, the museums and galleries. Went out to Wannsee, Charlottenberg and also the musical instrument museum and the military aircraft museum, which were a bit different. Went to a couple of classical music concerts and ate generally in beer gardens.

We went a couple of years ago as part of a longer road trip at Easter time, have a pre-teen and teen.

Highlights were:

Spy museum
Video games museum
Replica of Hitler's Bunker (cannot remember official name), harrowing but important to learn
Bus tour - was cold but a good way to see the sights
Brandenbug Gate
DDR Museum

We stayed on the outskirts to save money but getting the train into the centre was easy.

Any recommendations where a group of 5 teenagers could stay (all male and 17/18 year olds) ) could stay - definitely somewhere central with a bit of life.