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Looking at a few days away at the end of the year with wife (in a wheelchair if that makes much difference) and 2 boys 15 and 11. Berlin has been recommended a few times and never done Germany so fancy a few days of sausage and beer. Anyone got recommendations for what to do / what areas to stay in??? Or alternative options to Berlin (or Paris which was originally top of my list but its mega expensive vs other european cities).
Berlin with kids is mega!
All good really, and you'll find stuff across most of the city. Food and drink is cheap. Try decent curry wurst here:
I'd stay near Alexander Platz as there is a lot to do there, more than around the Brandenburg Gate. But it is all good.
Get Berlin Pass for travel for at least one of you as the 11 year old will be free.
There's science museums to high rope courses to bits of the wall so you won't be stuck.
https://www.visitberlin.de/en/mountmitte-high-rope-course
https://www.visitberlin.de/en/berlin-welcome-card
https://www.deutsches-spionagemuseum.de/en
Etc etc.
I organised a stag do there 20 years ago. Fabulous place.
Do get a donner kebab. They are amazing, and are one of Berlin's delicacies.
Can't remember much else, and it would be very out of date.
Last time I was there (granted, a while back) top of the list of things to do was 'avoid stepping in the dog shit' I've no idea whether after a while it became conformation bias, but I've never known a city like it.
Sorry, apart from that I did a bike Hire guided-ride thing which was a great way to see the sights. There's so much history in Berlin it's difficult to know where to start really.
Monkey Bar! I've never found anything like the Monkey Bar next to the zoo for entertainment/ uniqueness.
Ramones Museum
Sounds a it lame but it's excellent. There is a similar display of the Berlin Wall by Checkpoint Charlie which is good but not quite as dramatic.
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I presume that the delights of the Kit Kat Club are a no go so here are a few ideas...
If you are interested in history and quirky things to do, I would thoroughly recommend the Berliner Unterwelten - there are a number of tours but this is their 'flagship' one and is well worth the money! I believe that some of the tours are accessible.
https://www.berliner-unterwelten.de/en/guided-tours/public-tours/under-the-berlin-wall.html
I would also recommend the Hohenschönhausen prison - it is only 8Euro for a 2 hour guided tour and it is an amazing, if not harrowing, place. It would be fine for the 15 year old but you'd have to make the judgement for the 11 year old.
https://www.stiftung-hsh.de/history/stasi-prison/
I'd recommend a free trip up the Reichstag for some good views of the city - this is 100% accessible.
For a nice trip (doable on an ABC transport ticket which you may well get anyway), get the S-Bahn in the direction of Wansee and then get off there to get the included boat across the Wansee to Kladow. you will see where the Wansee conference was held and the boat takes around 20 minutes. Once you reach the other side there are a few lovely lakeside cafes/restaurants, and you can then get the bus through the forest to the Bridge of Spies just outside of Potsdam (where a number of exchanges took place). Then hop onto the tram to see the lovely town of Potsdam with its Dutch area and palace/gardens. You can return to Berlin on the S-Bahn or via a main line train which are extremely frequent.
The Zoo is very good by all accounts (I am an animal hater, not a lover so only going off what others have said).
Usual suspects of Checkpoint Charlie, Berlin Wall museum at Nordbahnhof, various war and cold war based museums too.
For the children, the science & technology museum at Gleisdreich is really good.
For something quirky head to Teufelsberg. https://www.visitberlin.de/en/teufelsberg
Trabant tours are good. Basically you drive one and then put the radio on and follow the lead car. They provide a fun commentary of the route. Roads aren't busy so really good fun.
A day trip to Dresden on the train is worth it too.
As an alternative, it depends what you want to do when there. Munich, Salzburg, Hamburg, Gdansk, Prague and Vienna are great. Bratislava is also a hidden gem and can be combined with Vienna on the train if you wish. I would also usually recommend Budapest. However unfortunately they are, let just say a bit behind us, in terms of accessibility and also their politics so perhaps this may not be suitable.
I went a couple of months back. Highlight of the trip was the Trabi Tour. Driving around all the sights in an old Trabant trying to keep up with the lead driver as he weaves in and out of traffic!
http://www.trabi-safari.de/index.php?language=en
We also went Planetarium for the Dark Side of The Moon show. Amazing space visuals set the the Floyd album. My wife loved it and she hates Pink Floyd
https://www.planetarium.berlin/en/events/dark-side-moon-planetarium-experience
For getting around we purchased the Berlin Welcome card that let us jump on and off the trams/trains and also got us discounts at all the attractions.
Noooo, don't buy a tourist welcome card they are not worth the value.
It'd almost certainly be cheaper to buy a small group 24hr ticket - https://www.bvg.de/en/subscriptions-and-tickets/all-tickets/24h-tickets/24h-small-group-ticket and then just pay into museums.
This is because your children will need to pay to travel but will more than likely be free in most museums.
The tickets can be bought from all the DB (red & white) or BVG (yellow & green) ticket machines at stations. The machines can be changes to English and all fares are available in English too
Thanks! Some awesome suggestions - at least it sounds like there's loads to do. Think I'll just get flights and hotel booked and work out the rest between now and October!
Reichstag is a full on security check thing, book ahead. You wont get in by just turning up.
Fatbike tours from the base of the TV tower... not actual fatbikes but great tours with knowlegable guides....
Lots of tips in here - we had a fantastic time, sure you will too. 🙂
https://singletrackmag.com/forum/topic/things-to-go-in-berlin/
Do get a donner kebab. They are amazing, and are one of Berlin’s delicacies.
Which goes to show how shit food is around Berlin. Either a Döner or Currywurst mit Pommes. Wow.
Have been to berlin many times over the years for work and privately.
Generally, my favourite thing about Berlin was getting onto the A 9 and of south to Munich.
Went back in September, best bit was the weird nightlife and attractions like the bars around Hackescher Market, and to wander around the slightly more lively hipster neighbourhoods out east. Went to a streetfood night at Markthalle Neun, good fun.
OK bit: DDR Museum/Spy Museum. Felt a bit low-effort, if I'm being honest.
Bit shit: Underground Tour of air raid shelter attached to a U-bahn station. Very dull indeed, although apparently the company's other tours are better. Obviously Checkpoint Charlie is not worth the walk to get there, unless you're doing something else around there.
Museums on museuminsel are very good. Potsdam seconded. The park and palaces are very good. Breakfast on top floor of Reichstag.
A few beers in Mauerpark watching the bearpit karoke
The holocaust memorial is a quiet refective place to visit not far from Brandenburg Gate https://www.visitberlin.de/en/memorial-murdered-jews-europe
For great views and a cafe with a bit of cold-war kitsch, head to the Fernsheturm (TV tower) https://tv-turm.de/en/sphere-restaurant/
Which goes to show how shit food is around Berlin. Either a Döner or Currywurst mit Pommes. Wow.
I don't think anyone is suggesting that kind of street/fast food is the best culinary or cultural experience on offer in Berlin, just something some Brit visitors might enjoy. Not everything needs to be highbrow. As someone whose experience of the place is so very jaded, perhaps you are not well placed to offer objective advice for a new visitor?
It’d almost certainly be cheaper to buy a small group 24hr ticket – https://www.bvg.de/en/subscriptions-and-tickets/all-tickets/24h-tickets/24h-small-group-ticket and then just pay into museums.
This is because your children will need to pay to travel but will more than likely be free in most museums.
Just check as the Berlin card includes those 14 & under. If you have two under 15s the Berlin pass usually works out cheaper, and you get some adult museum discounts into the bargain, so it MIGHT be cheaper, if not always.
Checkpoint Charlie museum
Definitely NOT this. Total tourist trap. There's a stupendous wall museum on Bernauer Strasser. I seem to remember it was accessible, but not 100% sure.
Reichstag is spectacular, as mentioned have to pre-book.
The area around the bombed out church is good, (as is the church) near the zoo and there's a place with trendy shops and eateries called Bikini Berlin over the road.
Helmut Newton museum. Maybe not for kids ….
Hackescher lively at night
Museum island is good
Checkpoint Charlie worth a look
Topography of terror is right by checkpoint Charlie
Mall of berlin by potsdamer platz behind is the site of the Fuhrer's bunker
Unter den linden see the bud Spencer shop
Alexanderplatz can be dodgy at night
Berlin zoo is cool
Rosenthaler platz has some nice bars and eateries
Templehof airfield good place to hang
Be careful around kruezberg at night by the s bahn stations
someone whose experience of the place is so very jaded, perhaps you are not well placed to offer objective advice for a new visitor?
Perhaps you're right.
We've had number plates taken from our trucks, diesel siphoned out of the tank (coppers turned up, we asked if he was going to take any finger prints and then throws the tank cap to my mate and says "no point, your prints are all over it"), tools nicked whilst unloading......
The City doesn't have enough money to fix neither the potholes nor the pavements.
It's pretty grim in the winter months with the cold easterly winds that bite through you.
Oh, and watch out for dog poos.
You're too German to like Berlin, Alpin. 😉 And Berlin is not Germany. Things I didn't mention on Pondo's thread:
Gorlitzer park to watch the bizarre mix of things going on. Drug dealers selling openly, women with push chairs, community football... . Maybe it's changed: the mayor proposed restricting the dealers to certain areas, that sums up Berlin, drug dealing is OK in some places, prostitution is OK in some places, techno all night and day long is OK in some places, hanging around drinking more than is reasonable is OK in some places (the canal). It reminds me of 1980s Paris before it was cleaned up and reglemented (no more roller bladers and sk8ers pulling stunts down Trocadero, no more improvised tourist trap shows in front of the Pompidou building).
So I like the tolerance and slightly anarchistic feel, but that also means keeping your wits about you, paying for safe off-street parking, no external signs of wealth, don't look like a tourist. Can't say I've fallen foul of the dog shit, I live in France so I'm used to walking around it.
The holocaust memorial is a quiet refective place to visit not far from Brandenburg Gate
Put a dampener on the day by going to the Topography of Terror on Niederkirchnerstraße, then something sweet to take the edge off.
BVG app for public transport, the 24hour ticket tends to be good value.
Posh breakfast at Cafe Wintergarten, visit the loos as they are rather plush and also a bit bonkers.
Technical Museum on Trebbiner Straße and see the history of the COVID vaccine development.
Bookmarking this for a future trip!
More for ww2 history. I've been told the walking tours (2 or 4 hrs) are very good?
Hope you manage to sort something OP.
You should have had to head East to Cottbus every other week for about 2 years. Especially in January or February when it was snowing.
That would have made you appreciate h of Berlin.
Which goes to show how shit food is around Berlin. Either a Döner or Currywurst mit Pommes. Wow.
Have been to berlin many times over the years for work and privately.
Generally, my favourite thing about Berlin was getting onto the A 9 and of south to Munich.
In have always found Munich is a tad up its own arse. It is completely obsessed with money and status (and the far right)
Try and get into Berghein. Then opt to go to Tresor instead.
Berlin Zoo is pretty good.
East Side Gallery and the area across the river. Gorlitzer Park. just wander and enjoy. Eat kebabs.
Spy museum (better with kids but still interesting..)
Very cool hippy flea market in East Side not far from the Mercedes Arena mall with funky bars and some uber trendy Berlin types.
Have been a few times
the TV tower for drinks and views is amazing
we found a cracking cocktail bar across from the Alexanderplatz,Happy hour from 3pm till 2am
bus tour is good,museums are good too and currywursts
Bookmarking this thread as I'm going there for the first time in March 🙂
last time I was there I had a really nice time wandering around Friedrichshain - specifically KopernikussStrasse and the streets around it. (Nearest U Bahn is Warschauer Strasse IIRC). Really lively and buzzy - felt like everyone was trying to do stuff. Get a coffee machine and a few old sofas, throw the doors open: a new cafe, just opened this morning, also selling t-shirts or 2nd hand books. Really fun. Just round the corner is Simon Dach Strasse which has a bazillion restaurants and cafes.
Just over the river from there is Markthalle Neun which is a foodie market, great for a lunch one day.
There are some smashing art galleries in Charlottenburg, over the other (posher) side of the city. Frustratingly I can't remember the name of the one I went to, which had a really excellently curated exhibition with loads of Goya and Piranesi et al. But if art is your thing then do take a look up there.
And yeah Berlin is grimey, and that's part of its charm. IMO the difference between Berlin and Munich is like the difference between Knightsbridge and Brick Lane in London. Munich was not for me but I can see why people would prefer it, if that's their bag.
Although one thing I do agree with Alpin on is that you can really do better than currywurst.
the TV tower for drinks and views is amazing
'Twas shut for us during very cold weather in December 2022!
Try and get into Berghein. Then opt to go to Tresor instead.
Lol, I came here to say this.
I think the Rausch Shokoladenhaus was the highlight of our trip as far as the kids were concerned. Definitely worth booking yourself late morning/afternoon tea in the cafe there.
https://www.rausch.de/en/chocolate-house
Close to the center as well so easy to walk to from the other big attractions.
Steer clear of kottbusser tor sbahn station ...most intimidating area day and night
We were there in December - blimey , it was cold, really cold
Plenty of culture and art stuff to do. We like the alternative tour type of stuff.
The Reichtag needs to be booked up in advance - but as others have said the Holocaust museum and Jewish memorial, Tiergarten, Brandenburg gate, Unter den Linden, the Berlin Wall Museum, East Side Gallery, Museum Island. Templehof is also worth a visit. If you want to be truly horrified by the cruelty of the Nazi regime , the Sachsenhausin is a 30 Tain ride away in Oranienburg
Having lived in Germany, food is maybe not as haute cuisine as Paris. But Currywurst from Konnopke's Imbiss is a rite of passage. Plenty of beer halls and small craft style brauhauses around. But be aware Germans do like pig - and in big quantities
Look up and you walk around , esp in old East Berlin and Kreuzberg , and you will see the scars of the Battle of Berlin.
The new airport makes access to Berlin much easier than it was from the old Schonenfeld airport
Kottbusser Tor station isn't that bad ! Most of Kreuzberg is kind of edgy / run down and tatty - I am not sure it is at the state of Bahnhof Zoo and Christiane F and her mates
Do get a donner kebab. They are amazing, and are one of Berlin’s delicacies.
WTAF....
What? He's right.
Anyhoo, assuming that hiring a beer bike is out then can I recommend this? https://www.museumfuernaturkunde.berlin/en
Kruezberg is edgy and cool , I can only vouch for myself battling off a mad fella coming at me 😂😂
In have always found Munich is a tad up its own arse. It is completely obsessed with money and status (and the far right)
I would tend to agree.
Been visiting the place since early 2000s and lived there for a good part of the last 15 years.
Lots of big companies like BMW, Siemens, MAN Trucks, Allianz as well as a fair few internationals paying big money which attracts a lot of people which in turn means lots of taxes.
Infrastructure is in much better shape (and in most other major DE cities compared to Berlin).
One of my Berliner mates always comments about the number of new, flash motors everywhere. (his lad always used to get and count the Porsches driving around Munich.... One day he counted 30 age then didn't bother again.)
The area surrounding Munich is very pretty and if you're into outdoor activities it's one of the best cities in Germany to live. You can go south, following the river cutting through town for 60km, and ride exclusively on bike paths all the way into the alps. Or 30mins in the car and you've got 1000m of elevation to ride.
Despite that, I left ~16 months ago.
After a while it is quite a stifling place to live....
Lots of big companies like ....MAN Trucks...as well as a fair few internationals paying big money which attracts a lot of people which in turn means lots of taxes
Bloody hell you're right. No wonder the Nürnberger hate the Munchners....
What's in a name...
Bloody hell you’re right. No wonder the Nürnberger hate the Munchners….
What’s in a name
Nochmal, bitte..... 🤔
Ah..... Yeah... Maschinenwerk Augsburg Nürnberg....
They're now between Munich and Dachau.
Think Airbus have a big thing nearby, as well as Infinion.
Re Berlin... A trip along the canals/rivers on a badge with a few drinks was a pleasant experience.
Maschinenfabrik Augsburg-Nürnberg
Edit: leider zu langsam
Those of you complaining about wursts and kebabs clearly didn't try this place:
https://disgustingfoodmuseum.berlin/
Unfortunately ran out of time on our trip to do this but it would have been fun with the kids.
Maschinenfabrik
Touché
Just back again as its always good to find things to see/do in Berlin.
Klo. The Toilet
Beer from pee bottles, food from bedpans... cheesy but amusing...
Also something that caught us as non city folk. Rail travel is great, easy to get tickets but they need to be validated and its a separate stamping machine. Having bought a ticket, got on a train and within 5 mins, checked and fined €60 each for not stamping them with the time/day. A €3 journey turned into €126 for 4 stops...