Berlin with kids

Berlin is a great city to visit with kids. You will find plenty to do whatever the weather. With hundreds of playgrounds, two zoos, two aquariums, leafy parks, lakes and great museums, your kids will not be bored! 

OUTDOORS

Playgrounds (in German Spielplatz or Spielplätze plural)

Berlin has hundreds of playgrounds scattered around the city.

If your child needs a break from sightseeing or shopping, you will not need to search long to find a playground. Type in Spielplatz into an online map service to find the one closest to you.

Spielplatz am Heinrich-Lassen-Park

Some of the best playgrounds in Berlin are

Hirschhof Spielplatz (Prenzlauer Berg) – close to the Mauerpark.

Spielplatz am Wasserturm (Prenzlauer Berg) – it’s very close to Kollwitzplatz; green and child-friendly neighbourhood with lots of nice cafes.

Spielplatz am Kollwitzplatz (Prenzlauer Berg) – visit the market on a Thursday afternoon or on a Saturday.

Blauer Spielplatz (Mitte) – inside the Weinsberg Park, where you can get a bite to eat of a proper meal at the cafe/restaurant in the middle of the park.

Spielplatz am Monbijoupark (Mitte) – close to Museum Island.

Tiergarten – there are several playgrounds at different ends of the park; you could combine it with a visit to the Reichstag, Potsdamer Platz, the Zoo or the Aquarium.

Volkspark Friedrichshain (Prenzlauer Berg/Friedrichshain) – there are three playgrounds; this park gets very busy at the weekend.

Gleisdreieck Park (Kreuzberg) head to the Museum of Technology first and the stop off for lunch or dinner at the Brlo Brewery.

Spielplatz am Heinrich-Lassen-Park (Schöneberg) – brand-new playground with a castle. It’s right next to a swimming pool with a small outdoor pool and close to Volkspark Schöneberg-Wilmersdorf. It’s only a short walk from Rathaus Schoeneberg, where John F. Kennedy gave his famous “Ich bin ein Berliner speech”. Meanwhile, David Bowie fans might like to head to Hauptstraße 155, where the great artist lived between 1976 and 1978. There is a memorial plaque outside the building.

On a hot day, look for a Wasserspielplatz, a playground with water.

Swimming pools and lakes 

Some of the best outdoor pools (in German Freibad or Sommerbad) and lakes are

Kinderbad Monbijou (Mitte) – best for small children.

Sommerbad Pankow (Pankow) – good for all ages: there is a paddling pool for the little ones, a swimming pool for older ones and a leisure pool with slides and diving boards; it can get very crowded on a hot day and at the weekends, but there’s plenty of space on the lawn. 

Freibad Orankesee

Strandbad Weissensee (Weissensee) – good for swimming, sunbathing, having a drink and hanging out with the locals.

Freibad Orankesee (Hohenschönhausen) – good for swimming, sunbathing and avoiding tourists. There is a spacious and shady Biergarten nearby.  

Schlachtensee (Zehlendorf) – beautiful lake surrounded by trees located in the posh area of Berlin. There is a large beer garden and adjacent playground. It gets crowded at the weekends, especially close to the S-Bahn station.

Parks

Tiergarten – the city’s green lung. There are plenty of paths and hidden treasures to discover, as well as two nice beer gardens where you can stop off for lunch or a drink: Café am Neuen See and Schleusenkrug.

Volkspark Friedrichshain – large park with playgrounds, cafes and a beer garden but gets very crowded with local Berliners at the weekends.

Gleisdreieck – former wasteland converted into a park. I’ve written about it in the past.

Tempelhof – the old airport runway has been transformed into a huge park; very popular with the locals. Read my previous entry.

Mauerpark – get there early on a Sunday to avoid the crowds and visit the flee market; the karaoke starts at 3pm and will keep your older kids entertained. I’ve also written about this in the past.

Schloss Charlottenburg – visit the castle and/or walk, play, run in the grounds. 

INDOORS

Labyrinth Kindermuseum

Museum für Naturkunde (Natural History Museum)

Don’t miss the dinosaurs! Tristan Otto is the only original skeleton of a T. Rex in Europe to date.

Deutsches Technikmuseum (German Museum of Technology)

The museum has a huge collection of steam engines and is also a great place for plane and boat lovers. Don’t miss the Rosinenbomber on the top terrace!

Spectrum Science Centre

The Science Centre makes science fun for children. It is just across from the Museum of Technology and tickets are valid for same-day visits to both the museum and Spectrum.

Labyrinth Kindermuseum (Wedding) – the former factory has been converted into a spacious children’s museum, with a special focus on diversity. There are different areas and lots of things to discover and to play with. Aspiring chefs will love the large kitchen area.

Kindermuseum MachMit (Prenzlauer Berg) – housed in a former church, the large museum offers endless opportunities for playing, climbing and learning through play. There is also a cinema. The current exhibition, which has been extended to June 2019, focuses on Native American culture.

Legoland – housed in a basement on Potsdamer Platz, it’s noisy and expensive, with only artificial light. Parents hate it, but kids love it. Best to avoid at the weekend.

Zoo – it’s one of Berlin’s most popular attractions both with adults and children so it gets very busy, especially at the weekends.

Tierpark – not to be confused with the Tiergarten. The Tierpark is Europe’s biggest animal park and is in the Eastern part of Berlin.

Aquarium – the entrance is next to the Zoo. It’s a good place for the little ones and for fish and/or reptile lovers. Don’t miss the sharks! You can get a combined ticket for the zoo and the aquarium.

Sealife – it’s smaller and narrower than the aquarium. The best part is the lift that takes you into the AquaDom at the end: the massive aquarium inside the Radisson Blu Hotel lobby. It’s cheaper if you buy tickets online.

Berlin boat trip – the one-hour boat trip along the Spree is probably the best option for smaller kids. They tend to get bored after a while!

Craft beer, vegetables and shipping containers at Gleisdreieck park

BRLO BRWHOUSE: a unique venue for craft beer

It was the last Sunday of the Berlinale: a fairly bright, albeit windy, day in February. After our first film at Zoo Palast we had a gap of a couple of hours before our next one at the Berlinale Palast, around Potsdamer Platz. So my husband and I decided to go for a stroll in the Gleisdreieck park. 

Gleisdreieck in German means triangular junction. At the end of the second world war, the railway area around Gleisdreieck became a wasteland. Over the years a rich vegetation developed. Thanks to strong public involvement, the abandoned area was successfully converted into a park, which opened in 2013, and has since become a very popular spot for Berliners. 

As we looked for somewhere for a bite to eat and to take shelter from the wind, we stumbled upon a rather odd but interesting looking construction. From the outside all we could see was a series of dark grey containers stacked on top of each other and a rather large white writing. Intrigued, we decided to have a peek inside. 

We were immediately greeted by an enthusiastic waiter and we decided to stay: we had found a true gem. It turned out that BRLO BRWHOUSE (the name of the place) is a brewery and restaurant with a great selection of craft beers, as well as tasty and innovative veggie dishes. Whether fermented, smoked, pickled or salted, the vegetable is the star of the menu at Brlo. For those who cannot live without meat, there is also a selection of regional meats, which are cooked in the smoker.

Core beers, new creations and selected others

The actual brewery is separated from the restaurant area by a glass window and a large panel where the beers are listed. The regular beers (or Stammbiere in German) are Helles, Pale Ale, German IPA, Porter, Berliner Weisse. The bar also stocks many new creations, as well as beers selected from local and international breweries. The house beer is priced at €3 for a small one and €4.5 for half a litre. The €15 menu includes a vegetable main, a side dish and something "on top" (for example "dried and puffed vegetables", "mixed pickles" or "German Kimchi"). 

The unpronounceable name BRLO is the old Slavic word for Berlin. Brlo is the brainchild of three friends with a passion for craft beer. Initially conceived as a brewery, BRLO BRWHOUSE is currently home to a brewery, restaurant, bar and beer garden. (When I visited the place last February the beer garden was still under construction).

The venue is unique: it is made of 38 shipping containers and, as indicated on the website, "the modular nature of the structure means it can be quickly disassembled and reconstructed anywhere in the world". As it so often happens in Berlin, the current location is temporary so a new home will soon be needed. Make sure you get there before it's too late!