Berlin with hard to please teenagers!

[ikeepforgetting]

Hoping to go for around 3 nights over the Easter holidays. Youngest (DD14) is doing GCSE history so there will be a bit of that, but otherwise wandering and exploring with her and DS17. First holiday post-divorce so I want to make it laid back and fun if I can.

Any tips? Particularly accommodation that won't break the bank since will likely need two rooms. They are the usual phone-addicted, jaded types so I need as much to shock and awe them as possible!

Omg, Tacheles is still open to the public (in a different form)?! I used to go partying there 30 years ago!!!!
Currently planning a trip to Berlin as part of our Interrail trip this summer with a 10 year old and a 15 year old. I am obsessed with GDR history (and revisiting the sites of my youth- I used to live in a van at the wagenberg behind East Side Gallery!), and DS1 is into WW2 history.
I would LOVE to go on a Berlin Unterweld tour (there's one where you can visit a genuine Cold War escape tunnel), but it seems that there's a minimum age of 14.
Other than that, on my list is East Side Gallery (of course!), the Berlin Wall Memorial, possibly the Topography of Terror but I will have to check that it's suitable for DS2, mooching round Mitte and Kreuzberg to revisit old haunts, the GDR Museum, the Jewish Memorial (and possibly the Jewish museum), maybe walking some of the Mauerweg - and for a change of pace, visiting one of the lakes on the outskirts for a swim (there's a dizzying choice! We will end up just choosing one that's easy to get to from the U- or S- bahn I think!) Oh and the Hackescher Hof sounds interesting.

On a similar vein….dont Airbnb if you’re coming to Northumberland…local people have to move away as housing prices are sky high!

Have to say I agree about the swing vs cycling in Mitte (and I have only seen film of the swing and it made me - not scared of heights usually - feel sick). A much safer thrill than both of these is the huge slide in the Mall of Berlin.

I do think Oranienburger Str has had its day - quite overtouristy now, but the C/O is great. With teens I'd go to Kreuzberg and walk up Oranienstrasse and/or Bergmannstrasse and also look at Friedrichshain. Prenzlauer Berg (Kollwitzplatz etc) is lovely but really for an older demographic - a bit chi-chi.

The DDR-Museum goes down well with people but is quite a small space and often packed. Agree with doing Hohenschönhausen prison or also the Tränenpalast (it's small but free entry and at Friedrichstr station so you can pop in on the way to somewhere else).
This exhibition in the new building at the Deutsches Historisches Museum is fascinating https://www.dhm.de/en/exhibitions/roads-not-taken-oder-es-haette-auch-anders-kommen-koennen/ - how some historical developments might have turned out differently.
Also see Topographie des Terrors or the Blindenwerkstatt Otto Weidt.
There's a spy museum and a computer games museum too.

I love Berlin, it's a very cool city for teenagers and feels very green with wide open spaces. Other than what's already been mentioned mine loved going to the Ritter Sport chocolate shop and making their own weird concoctions of bars of chocolate, the zoo and aquarium and a boat ride down the river. We did try out the kebabs and they are awesome, although we never got round to the currywurst!

I wasn’t very keen on the DDR museum, only because as a pp said, it is v small and crowded, and was stiflingly hot (in summer!). Lots of interesting exhibits, though. The Stasi Museum left a huge impression. You get a real feel for how oppressive living under that kind of regime must have been for ordinary East German citizens.

This is all brilliant thank you so much - challenge will be to narrow it down now! Any specific hotel names would be great (point taken about AirBNnB). I assume best to stay in somewhere like Mitte rather than Kreuzberg or Friedrichshain?

I'll post my three day plan here when I get round to it!

The Honigmond is very central, long-established and supposed to be lovely to stay in (dh and I used to go there years and years ago for their lunch buffet), but prob quite pricey.

We went with teens at Easter too. We stayed near Checkpoint Charlie and crucially near a bike hire on street point. We cycled everywhere it was such fun. Was €1 for 30 mins and we could get most places we wanted and then just return the bike. We cycled through the Brandenburg gate, through the park, home from the restaurant at night. It made it lots of fun.

Why don't you each plan one day? Get them to do a bit of research and see what they'd like to do. Whoever is in charge of that day can choose where to eat out and what to do.

For trips like this I think you still can't beat a good guide book we used this one - I found it invaluable and always buy this series for any city break I go on. www.dk.com/uk/book/9780241419113-dk-eyewitness-top-10-berlin/

Be careful with some of the museums, the Pergamon one is closed and I think also the Deutsche Museum, only the Road not taken exhibitiion is on.

The Nikolaiviertel - yes, it's not authentic but it is a nice quite area, the church is interesting, we also did the Knoblauchhaus, which is a family home set up during the mid 1800s, it gives a good impression about higher middle class Germans in Prussia.

DDR museum - if you don't know anything about it, do go. DH and I are Germans so for us it was not that interesting, DD though enjoyed it. Quite cramped and busy though.

Reichstag - we only did the dome, there is plenty of explanations about German history, also in English. Do book in advance if you don't want to gamble on getting a ticket on the day.

If you want, you can take public transport to Potsdam to see Schloss Sanssouci. Alternatively Schloss Charlottenburg is lovely.

There is the concentration camp Sachsenhausen also nearby.

We didn't do it but friends loved the Berling Story Bunker museum.

And the Haribo shop......

Is Templehofer worth a visit? It sounds fascinating how they have transformed it into an urban park, but is there much to do other than walk? Walks with a purpose is the teen ethos here, never walking or the sake of it!

I was wondering that too. I looked it up and you can do tours of the airport building if you're into 1930s architecture, but the field seems like just a big park. Might be worth checking a what's on guide for the date of your visit, though- it looks like a prime site for urban festivals and events.

I was wondering what the Mauerweg is like- it's a walking route that follows the route of the Wall. I bet there are a lot of hidden gems along bits of it.

Yes and no worth a visit. Locals love it in summer, especially in the long evenings, so take a picnic. What’s fun for teens is that you can rent something wheeled ( go kart, scooter etc) and go barrelling down the old runway, which is really good fun. It’s also very easy to access on the U6 line. But it’s not intrinsically a ‘tourist site’, and a bit boring as a park because it’s flat with no trees (obviously, it used to be an airport, and before that a military parade ground). The airport building is very striking if you’re into 30s architecture. But honestly, there are places I’d recommend more if you’re just here for a long weekend.

You’d be crazy to try walking anything but a very short section of the Mauerweg as a tourist with limited time, but that really would be something you could hire a bike for because it’s a very safe wide path for the most part. DH did the entire Mauerweg once by bike - it took him several Sundays-worth of riding.

I don't know if anyone has mentioned this pathology museum. Full of weird and wonderful body parts, skulls, things in jars! Not sure if its the type of wow your kids would like?
https://bmm-charite.de/en

Just to say, that I went about 10yrs ago. DH had a conference, so I walked and caught the local tube equivalent on my own. I felt safe and thoroughly enjoyed it.

Yes, do stay in Mitte - it’s the only sensible option for a short stay. You find a lot of people who had hotels near Zoo saying they were central, but it’s central for Berlin West, with the entire Tiergarten between you and Mitte with most of the sites. So you’d have to ‘commute’ to most things instead of having the history all around you.
Locals are notoriously bad at recommending hotels, but there was a recent thread with some good recommendations from others. The airport train gets in at Friedrichstrasse, so somewhere near there would be convenient. Garden Living is a non-chain boutique hotel directly opposite the Naturkundemuseum, and it has two big ginger cats who sleep in the front window, so that gets my vote 😁.

This is all really helpful! My teens are going to Berlin alone in the summer.

Berlin is an amazing city, we lived there for 4 years and never got bored!

I would take them to the east side gallery (basically a large part of the remaining Berlin wall by the river which is covered in various artworks). The closest train station is Friedrichstraße - there is a cool art gallery really close to there too called Urban Spree which is an industrial area covered in graffiti which is just an interesting place to walk around (and look out for the vintage photo booths!) - some weekends there is also a great flea market there and lots of excellent restaurants nearby. Then from there you can walk over the Friedrichstraße bridge to Kreuzberg, another area with great food and interesting shops. You could just walk around Berlin looking at all the street art and fill a whole day.

Other areas which I recommend are Prenzlauer Berg (in particular Mauerpark is an interesting place to visit at the weekend you can watch karaoke and there are often graffiti artists working on large artworks on old bits of the Berlin wall there). There is also Bernauer Str nearby where there is an excellent outdoor Berlin wall exhibition. There is also all the usual tourist type stuff to do - museum island, get a boat tour down the river to see the parliament buildings, the holocaust memorial near the American embassy is definitely worth a visit and the Reichstag.

Also Tempelhof Airport is a really great place to go on a weekend - it's a closed down airport but they've kept the runway area as a park and you can go and watch people roller skating, dancing, playing cricket on the runway etc. It's a cool place to hang out.

I probably would try to stay somewhere like Prenzlauer Berg or Kreuzberg or Friedrichstraße rather than right in the centre as they are more relaxed and loads of good breakfast or brunch places nearby.

It's a really easy city to travel around, but if you buy a paper travel ticket make sure you click it in the machine on the platform before getting on a train/tram as you'll get fined if you don't and there are loads of ticket checkers, especially on the trains from the airports!

Enjoy your visit, I can't wait to go back!

@LadyGreySpillsTheTea (and everyone) You've been so helpful thank you - good point about leaving somewhere like Templehof for a longer visit. Definitely doing the Eastside Gallery and the cooler areas for a wander, and a couple of museums. DS is doing animal management at college and I may suggest the Zoo unless it's miles away from everywhere.

@Jajajagi Thanks so much for all that detail, really helpful and absolutely the kind of thing they will be into. I assume public transport is the easiest way around - it seems vast (as of course it would be!). I'll get a 72 hour ticket for us all and I've read too about making sure it covers the airport return. Getting really excited!

Public transport is great in Berlin (although personally I feel it's better in the east as the trams are still there), it's quick and cheap but if you don't want to go too far out you can do a lot of walking. I actually think the main parts of the city are fairly close so you can walk between places if you have the time, or catch a quick tram for a couple of stops but if you want to do the zoo then that's further out.

I would walk home whenever I could/had the time as it's just a really interesting creative city to explore and there is something new around each corner. Just walking around Prenzlauer Berg, or Friedrichstraße or Kreuzberg there is so much street art, restaurants or random galleries or music going on. I love it because it's a pretty relaxed city and still relatively cheap (maybe not so much anymore though) so a lot of creative people live there and create lots of fun things to see and do!

But exclusively female brats so won't work for ds.

Additional suggestion: take the S-Bahn to Potsdam and visit the Babelsberg Film Studios - largest in Europe, been operating over a century and there's even a stunt show apparently. A lot of big-box Hollywood movies were made here.

https://www.potsdam-sanssouci.com/en/potsdam-sightseeing-sights/babelsberg-film-park/

You can do tours inside the airport at Tempelhof which are well worth it - it’s all unchanged inside from when it was an operational airport. If the weather’s nice you can rent a boat to sail down the river as well which is very fun