BERLIN, next week. Advice on accommodation and itinerary requested

[NancyJoan]

Three nights for me, DH, and 16 yr old DS.
Only flights booked so far, what is the best area for us to stay in to see sights? Open to both hotel and AirBnB options.
And can anyone recommend things to do? I love shopping, the menfolk less so. DS keen to see Cold War/WWII spots.
I fancy doing a Trabant tour.

Thank you!!

It's a great city with loads to do. I'd probably go on one of the hop on hop off bus tours to get a good overview of the city if it's your first visit. We've also done a bike tour with Berlinon Bike which was excellent and covered a lot of the main sights. The DDR museum is very good. You can go round the Reichstag but need to book. The Stasi Museum is very interesting, there's a big Zoo, river tours, all sorts - you won't be short of things to occupy yourself. Public transport is efficient and reasonably priced too. It's one of my favourite cities.

Ooh hello!

We'll be there in about a month, as part of our Interrail trip. We'll be staying in Kreuzberg, but it's not for everyone. Kind of a German Hackney (I used to live in Hackney though 😆).

There's so much good free stuff! I've booked to visit the Reichstag, even though the dome will be closed for cleaning while we're there ☹️. While we're in that area we'll visit some of the memorials and the Topography of Terror, maybe the Trauenpalast.

I'm intending to book a tour with Berliner Unterwelt- you can visit all kinds of historic bunkers and tunnels, but I'm going to try and book the one where you can actually see the only surviving tunnel that was excavated under the Wall. And then the Berlin Wall Memorial.

And if it's good weather, the Teufelberg in the Grunewald- it sounds fascinating on so many levels. And then a swim in one of the kazillion lakes- the nearest one is the Teufelsee, but it's famed for nudity (it's where the viral clip of the naked guy chasing the wild boar running off with his laptop was filmed 😆).

And East Side Gallery and the Oberbaumbrucke, which are near our hostel. A stroll down the canal to a beer garden, and maybe a visit to a park or two. There's a circus festival going on on Tempelhofer Feld while we're there, which might be a nice way to combine atmosphere and history.

Oh, and tell your DS he can buy himself a beer. That'll blow his mind 😆

Not sure when exactly you'll be there OP but that's the weather for the next 2 weeks. Could potentially be quite warm, and the city heats up fast (and stores the heat), so bring your hats and sun cream, shorts etc 🌞
(Image probably under review for a bit)

Edit: I'd also look for accommodation with aircon

Thanks so much for all your ideas. Got home last night; what a great trip! Brilliant, v cool city. We’ll def go back.
We stayed in Kreutzberg, and used public transport loads. Did a bus tour, the zoo, a boat trip, the EastSide Gallery, Topography of Terror museum and lots of walking. Favourite was an unplanned walk from the hotel along the canal up to the Admiral bridge. Sat with loads of students/locals and had a couple of beers while a couple of people played music and sang.
We were so lucky w the weather. Pouring rain when we arrived, which cleared all the steamy weather, then nice sunny, hot but not overwhelming days.