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Berlin with teens, never been before

25 replies

NaturalBlondeYeahRight · 13/07/2018 19:36

We are off there this summer, all had our fill of beach holidays (great when they are young but we have different tastes now)
We’ve decided on Berlin for 5 days but we have never been there before. Can you give me any advice? What we have to visit?
As we are there for 5 days, does anyone know of anything near to Berlin is worth going to for the day? I worry that 5 days is a lot for one city.

OP posts:

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EvilEdna1 · 13/07/2018 19:38

I hope it's not too long as we are going for 7 days this August. No idea what we doing yet so hoping this thread is fruitful.

Kmetsch3 · 13/07/2018 19:46

Berlin is brilliant for all ages
To get out of the city, I suggest a day trip to Wannsee
It’s a massive lake with the largest inland beach in Europe
Great for swimm8ng and boat hiring
It’s also where the Nazis plotted the Final Solution

We visited Berlin last year with a 13 and 10 year old
The kids enjoyed two days of the ‘Get on/Get off bus’ and the zoo in particular.
We stayed in a hired apartment so we had plenty of downtime with the internet etc.

Potsdam is also worth a visit (very nice palace) but may be boring for teens

Notquiteagandt · 13/07/2018 20:11

I love Berlin. For teens I reccomend:

DDR museum

Theres a huge indoor waterpark just outside town I forget name of.

Great city to cycle around.

A grafetti tour.

A trip to top tv tower for some great shots of the city.

Currywerst are a must eat.

Loads of cool galleries too if they are at all arty or creative.

Mauerpark has a market on saturday mornings.

Depending on age of teens some clubs are 14+ (obvs booze free!) But a fun experience non the less.

But all in all I love Berlin and visit often.

NaturalBlondeYeahRight · 13/07/2018 21:23

Thanks for these, what is Wannsee?

OP posts:

RemusLupinsBiggestGroupie · 16/07/2018 20:39

Wannsee is a huge lake. If the dc are at all interested in history, it's also where The Final Solution was planned, and you can visit the house by the lake in which they pretty much decided to rid Europe of Jews.

It's an amazing city, and teens would probably love it.

MorrisDancingViv · 16/07/2018 20:43

I went for a boozy long weekend but I loved the Zoo!

Fernsehturm is good.

River Cruise is an easy way to see the city.

There's quite a few bars on the river which are set out as beaches with sand. Not sure if teens would be allowed but might be worth a shot.

RemusLupinsBiggestGroupie · 17/07/2018 18:03

The zoo is excellent.

There's a place on the river by the DDR museum with lots of bars/restaurants/deckchairs etc. No sand, but kids definitely allowed there.

Yes to a river cruise.

Decorhate · 17/07/2018 21:45

We were in Berlin recently with teens - 3 days which was just about right to see the main sights at a leisurely pace (it was very hot). If we'd had more time a river trip would definitely have been planned, also wanted to go to the beer garden in the Tiergarten, maybe one of the museums on Museum Island

ThankYouDebbie · 27/07/2018 09:42

Public karaoke in Mauerpark at 3pm on Sundays. So much fun. No need to sing, yoi can just watch. You sit on the big stone steps and people sell cold drinks to the crowd.

RemusLupinsBiggestGroupie · 29/07/2018 19:29

Prater beer garden is good.

Museum island excellent, but exhausting! Maybe get the three day tickets, so you don't feel you have to see everything at once.

Onlyatoyspider · 29/07/2018 21:55

We went at Easter and found Berlin a fantastic place to visit. Lots of good suggestions above . But to add, Tropical island (about 30 mins out of Berlin) is a water park inside an old aircraft hanger, my kids loved it ! We also spent a fun few hours in the Computerspielemuseum ( loads of different consoles / arcade games from the 60's to modern day to play on). I remember we ate amazing burgers in a very cool place called 'The bird'.

whiteroseredrose · 29/07/2018 22:08

Watching with interest as I want to go next year. I've heard about WW2 bunkers. Does anyone know anything about that?

RemusLupinsBiggestGroupie · 30/07/2018 21:14

Not done this yet, but these are the people you need: www.berliner-unterwelten.de/en/guided-tours/public-tours/dark-worlds.html

CherryBlossom23 · 31/07/2018 14:19

Go for a walking tour on your first or second day, it's a great way to get your bearings and learn more about the city. There's lots of free ones you can Google. Potsdam is really nice for a day trip.

Mentounasc · 31/07/2018 17:18

As a long- term resident I've written posts on this theme many times, have you tried doing an advanced search? Most of the things I recommended in the past haven't changed.

You WILL want to go swimming! It's hot right now. I saw a thermometer outside a shop today at 42degrees. Go wild swimming in either Schlachtensee (take S1 train to Mexikoplatz) or Krumme Lanke (U3 to end of the line). Or you could pay for entry to Wannsee lido, which is like an inland beach.

Tropical Islands is ok for a treat but I've never seen the point in summer, and it's horribly expensive and difficult to get to.

If you want an authentic and unique day trip go to the Spreewald. About 90 mins by train. Amazing landscape. Or go canoeing in the lakes to the north - good fun for teens.

Current cool districts are Neukölln, Friedrichshain, Prenzlauer Berg, Kreuzberg. Where are you staying?

If you want to go up the Reichstag dome book online giving your passport numbers ASAP.

Do go to the Humboldt-Box and find out all about the new Humboldt Forum in Mitte! Berlin cultural politics at its best.

RemusLupinsBiggestGroupie · 31/07/2018 19:27

Schlachtensee is one of my favourite places - it's wonderful in summer, but even better in winter! There's a Lidl not far from Schlactensee train station, where you can buy stuff for a picnic before hitting the lake.

Prenz B is a wonderful neighbourhood, with great bars and a good range of restaurants. The Kulturebrauerei has an excellent, free museum about the DDR which is much more interesting than the touristy one by the river in Mitte.

cantkeepawayforever · 31/07/2018 19:40

Do the Insider Tour (walking) www.insidertour.com/ if you don't know much about the city and its history.

It's long, but entertaining, and provides a great framework on which to hang everything else you do and to identify places you want to see more of.

History-obsessed teen DS made sure we saw Sachenhausen and the Jewish museum, which were both grimly fascinating. The Olympic swimming pool (open air) and Potsdam were other big hits. Zoo ws good for final day relaxation.

Fascinating, amazing, exhausting. Oh, and just watch out for posters / information about events. We saw an extraordinary youth orchestra and a weird but wonderful jazz concert in an extraordinary white-and-gilded concert hall, just because we passed a poster at the right time...

Mentounasc · 31/07/2018 20:48

@ Remus, have you been skating on Schlachtensee too? It's great fun. It's hard to Believe that I was skating on a smaller lake in late March this year. The difference in temp is so extreme here.

But there's not much to beat an early evening picnic and swim at Krumme Lanke.

ComeOnGordon · 31/07/2018 20:52

I agree about the hop on/hop off buses - Berlin is a big city & if it’s hot like it is now you’ll want a rest.

RemusLupinsBiggestGroupie · 31/07/2018 20:57

No ice when we were there in December, so no skating - just a wintry picnic!

We managed to get lost at Krumme Lanke and just wandered in the woods, without finding the lake. The woods were lovely though.

RemusLupinsBiggestGroupie · 31/07/2018 21:26

Mentounasc - Have messaged you. Hope you don't mind!

PostNotInHaste · 01/08/2018 07:53

Very timely thread for us thank you all. We’re here at the moment and it is definitely hot. Staying in Prenlauzer Berg is great and I recommend for families with teens. DS not an early riser so DH and I can go for a potter locally then when DS gets out of his pit the U Bahn at bottom of road.

Not a long stay for us and we aren’t great in the heat. Yesterday did the Jewish Museum, cake stop and then a wander round Checkpoint Charlie. Had heard it is very tacky which it is indeed but to one side of the bit in the middle of the road is an outside area with a display of how they build the walls and successful and unsuccessful escapes which was interesting and I think DS found that good.

Today we’re doing the computer games museum and Ampelmann shop. Was going to do the DDR museum but I think we’ll do the one at Kulturbrauerei instead so thanks for that recommendation. Cake will be involved, it is for me a very important part of Germany and making sure I get that across to DS who is a quarter German, think the message getting through! If anyone knows where I can buy Bienenstich I will be eternally grateful...

gussiefox · 01/08/2018 08:05

If your tastes lean towards weird, can highly recommend this place www.designpanoptikum.com/ Stumbled across it whilst strolling around. The curator is a very friendly and knowledgeable chap and there are lots of other little shops in the vicinity. BubbleBerlin, just around the corner, has some brilliant fabric designs and other arts and crafts stuff.

Also, for anyone into arts/crafts then take a trip to Moritzplatz on the U8 and lose hours of our life in Modulor which is amazing.

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whiteroseredrose · 19/08/2018 21:02

Looking at 5 days in Berlin next summer but would then like another few days chilling by a lake or beach. Somewhere within a couple of hours of Berlin. Any suggestions gratefully received.

PoptartPoptart · 20/08/2018 00:17

I

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