Berlin with children

פֿאַרעפֿנטלעכט: 02.09.2018

Berlin is a huge treasure trove for active families with children of all ages. Unfortunately, this small glimpse does not do justice to the fantastic offerings that the city has to offer. When we stayed in Berlin with our children (5 and 7 years old) in 2017 for one and a half weeks, we only experienced and visited a fraction of what would have been possible in this child- and family-friendly city if we had two months. Nevertheless, I will not make any recommendations for destinations that we did not visit - so what is missing here is by no means a bad address, but simply not visited by us. (Please pay special attention to the Historical Berlin section.) Like in the other posts on this blog, I am not providing a nostalgic travel memoir, but a report primarily intended as a helpful guide that other families can use.

Arrival and Public Transportation

If you visit Berlin, you should leave your car as far away as possible - preferably in your own garage. Train connections to Berlin can be easily organized from any major German city - for example, there is a direct connection from Stuttgart. Of course, you can also fly.

Within and even outside Berlin, the public transportation network leaves nothing to be desired; S-Bahn, U-Bahn, trams, buses, and regional trains operate closely and frequently. Like in any other city, you have to familiarize yourself with the system at first, and of course, you can also expect the usual public transportation catastrophes in Berlin, just as in Stuttgart or elsewhere. Apart from that, however, transportation by the Berlin public transport company is generally safe and well thought out. It's also fun; especially the experienced and skilled drivers of the city buses, who are used to tourists and can handle any traffic situation. If you have experienced how a driver maneuvers a double-decker bus through confusing traffic situations and then received a scolding in typical Berlin slang through the microphone because you got up too early on the upper deck, you have already ticked off a very important point on the Berlin all-inclusive buffet hit list.

Excursion: Do not mistake the Berlin dialect for rudeness. If you feel attacked when the bakery saleswoman kindly remarks while checking out, 'you have something between your teeth, girl, get rid of it', you have too little humor and too many reservations. How often have you stood in front of the mirror pondering how long that weird green thing has been stuck between your front teeth? The woman has probably had a similar experience and decided that it feels stupid - and she wants to spare her counterpart that experience. So get ready for the rough humanity of the Berliners; they bark, but it comes from the heart.

If you want to move around within the city, the AB fare zone is sufficient. If you want to go further, for example to Potsdam, you have to switch to the ABC fare zone.

Our Tip: With a day ticket, you can take unlimited rides all day long with all BVG-connected vehicles (including some ferries). The regular fare allows for up to three children under the age of 14 to ride along. The day ticket is valid from the date of validation until 3:00 a.m. the following day and costs 7 euros for the AB fare zone (as of 2018). This is a very affordable price, especially since children under 14 ride for free, even though each adult needs their own ticket. There is no cheaper and more convenient ticket for families, and it offers great flexibility.

The Berlin WelcomeCard is relatively inexpensive and worth considering if you plan a tight sightseeing program for several consecutive days. It is available for up to six consecutive days and becomes cheaper per day depending on the duration - for example, the six-day card costs 42.50 euros for an adult in the AB fare zone (which is about 7 euros per day, the same price as the day ticket; as of 2018) and includes free travel for the holder and three children under 14, discounts for museums (usually 50%), a city map, and a short travel guide. This is actually a very good offer and is worthwhile - but you should think carefully whether you really want to rush from one museum to the next for several consecutive days as a family. Especially for younger children, this can easily become stressful, which is why we only used this card for three days, took a break afterwards, and then switched to day tickets. I can already say that admission prices for Berlin attractions are incredibly cheap for families compared to international standards, and the WelcomeCard is usually not necessarily necessary.

The regular bus lines 100 and 200 are no longer "hidden gems," even though the popular travel guide still stubbornly claims otherwise. Unfortunately, you have to share the practical routes that cover a large part of Berlin's attractions with a whole bunch of other tourists equipped with such tips - to make matters worse, many brave locals also take these routes on their daily commutes. Therefore, you really only have a chance of getting a seat in the front row on the upper deck by luck, patience, assertiveness (yuck), or with children (yay). In the latter case, be fair and only let the children sit in the front while you sit behind them. Once you are comfortably seated, the sway through the city is actually quite fun, and even with children, you can enjoy a whole day of city strolling because there is so much to see along the way.

City Tours

You can explore Berlin for half a year and still gain new and exciting impressions. As mentioned in the Amsterdam report, city tours with children can be tricky because children naturally have a different perspective on the world than adults. Nevertheless, you can dare to do it in Berlin because the sheer number of visual attractions combined with regularly occurring playgrounds, unique restaurants, and the opportunity for hop-on-hop-off tours on bus lines 100 and 200 will keep even the laziest children entertained for hours without them realizing it. Take your time, take breaks, generously distribute powdered drinks, currywurst, and Ampelmännchen keychain souvenirs, and give them a whole backpack full of unforgettable life experiences with the gift of exploring this city.

Visit the lobby of the Radisson Blu Hotel opposite the Red Town Hall and marvel at the huge aquarium, venture into the remaining, unsanitized, brightly colored courtyards of the Hackescher Markt while they still exist, browse the huge flea market at the Mauerpark (Sundays), whose adjacent preserved section of the Berlin Wall invites you to delve into history, but also offers music, cabaret, relaxation, and picnics - in short, set off and be surprised - adventure awaits around every corner in Berlin.

As a highlight, you can stop by the Fassbender & Rausch chocolate house at Gendarmenmarkt, where the café on the first floor sets all the senses, especially the sense of taste, on high alert. Enjoy one of the delicious pastries and one of the delightful hot chocolates, let your gaze wander over Gendarmenmarkt, and admire the chocolate sculptures in the ground floor shop.

Historical Berlin

To explore Berlin, you need to create your own tailor-made program that is suitable for the age of your children. Despite their young age (5 and 7 years old), our children, who were born 'Wessis' like us, were mercilessly confronted with the entire recent history of the city, and for that, you don't even have to visit a museum. The city is dotted with monuments, memorials, and hints at its division and all its accompanying manifestations (airlift, deaths at the Wall, etc.). And once you start with this topic, the inevitable question arises from the children who know from us that our family would not exist without the reunification of the two German states: who came up with the stupid idea of this division in the first place? And then you have to go further back, to World War II, and this is where things get interesting and difficult.

If you have teenagers, visit the architecturally impressive Jewish Museum (particularly moving: the Holocaust Tower, which leaves visitors stunned by its stark message), the Holocaust Memorial, and the Story of Berlin Museum - a bunker tour could also be impressive, but it's not for everyone. Our children were still too young for these institutions, which we had previously visited without children, so I won't describe these experiences in detail here - but perhaps it's just right for you. The Reichstag building, including the dome with its cool architecture (maybe one morning you will wake up and be able to do something like that?), its insights into the plenary hall, and the views of the city is a destination that we unfortunately did not have time for this time - but don't miss it if possible, because they also offer special attractions for children, including a child-friendly audio guide.

New Guardhouse

Unter den Linden, you will inevitably find yourself at least once. In addition to the many other attractions here (Brandenburg Gate, Gendarmenmarkt, etc.), I would especially recommend taking a look inside the New Guardhouse. It costs nothing and gives you a lot. Even younger children can handle the impressive memorial, Käthe Kollwitz's sculpture Mother with Dead Son. In a city that literally breathes history from every pore, you have the opportunity to share with your children the message that war and violence in any form bring terrible pain. The visit to the New Guardhouse is particularly impressive on rainy or even snowy days. The figures in the sculpture are exposed to the weather through the hole in the ceiling, and their heartbreaking, desperate expressions gain even more strength. Let it affect you and discuss it with your children.

Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church

The Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church is also worth a visit with children. The impressive combination of a war ruin and a (successful) new building offers a lot of historical conversation. Despite the always high number of visitors, it is worth taking five minutes to sit quietly on a bench and indulge in the glorious play of colors of the (especially in sunshine) deep blue windows.

TV Tower

Oh yes, yes - you have to go up! The TV Tower at Alexanderplatz was one of the first destinations we visited - make sure you have clear weather! It is best to arrive in the morning when it opens, then you will pass through the security check and into one of the elevators relatively quickly. Later in the day, the queues can get longer; the 'skip-the-line tickets' available online are a socio-economic outrage at 19.50 euros per adult and 12 euros per child (fortunately, not all attractions in Berlin are so expensive). However, even the regular TV Tower prices of 15.50 euros / 9.50 euros are painful (the WelcomeCard is already a great deal; thankfully, not all attractions in Berlin are so expensive). Nevertheless, visiting the 'tele-asparagus' or, as the Berliners called it during the Cold War due to the Cross reflected in the ball, the 'Pope's Revenge' in the middle of Berlin is simply a must that your children probably won't forgive you for missing out on. You can skip the overpriced café on the upper deck; visiting the lower sphere is sufficient, where you can walk around and enjoy the view to your heart's content. Take your time for it.