Family Attractions in Berlin - Indoors

- On a rainy day head to the Potsdamer Platz. This huge ultramodern Centre will definitely drive away the weather blues. Legoland Discovery Centre is its most popular attraction for younger kids. The children will really enjoy the fantastic exhibits and hands-on building opportunities. The IMAX 3-D Cinema in the Sony Center is also the largest in Europe with spectacular films, shown in 3-D. Then are stores, pavement cafes, restaurants and a multitude of shops so there is more than enough for a full day out.

- Berlin’s largest indoor leisure park is Jacks Fun World.  It has all the usual attractions for very active children from trampolines, go-carts, dodgems, bumper boats and slides. There are also some nice places for you to sit while all that awesome young energy is being released.

- The German Museum for Technology is top of the pops for any child with a curious bent. The building is easy to spot. It has a real airplane on its roof!  Inside there are over a dozen different exhibition areas with everything from ships to paper making with the emphasis very much on hands on family activities. You don’t have to be confused by the language either as the museum offers an interesting audio tour especially designed for kids in English.

Family Attractions in Berlin - Outdoors
- The best and most popular place for a family outing has got to be the Tiergarten. This is Berlins biggest park and it is full of kids enjoying themselves. There are lawns to run on, hidden paths to explore, pitches for footballers, a lake to paddle on, cafes for you to relax while the children have fun and it is also where you will find the fabulous Berlin Zoo.

- You can spend a whole day in the Berlin Zoo. It has more species living in its luxurious parkland than any other zoo in the world. In fact if animals had the vote, this is where they’d choose to live. Children’s highlights are the giant panda, an Amazonian Jungle, gorillas, a trip under the great Barrier Reef, a hippo aquarium where they can see them swimming under the water and the cutest, littlest baby polar bear And as if all that isn’t enough they also have a gynormous playground in there as well.

- Berlin has parks and gardens aplenty. For garden lovers don’t miss the Britzer Garten at Mariendorf with a huge playground area as well as its beautiful flowers.  Kollwitz Platz, in the heart of Prenzlauer Berg has giant coloured vegetables for the children to climb on and leafy trees for you to sit under. There’s also a very popular garden in Potsdam by the famous wall.

- Berlin’s stateliest home is Shloss Charlottenburg, a seventieth century palace with lovely grounds and an impressive interior to explore. The kids however will probably enjoy the Klausnerplatz.nearby, where they can literally let off steam under water sprays.

- If it's really hot then a trip to the Wannsee Lake is a good option because there is a long sandy beach with clear, warm and shallow water. Good place for a picnic

- A trip on the water is always a popular choice for children so check out the many Boat Tours on the River Spree, which flows right through the historic center of Berlin including the Reichstag and Berlin Wall.  You can board the boats at Museums Island.

Where to eat with the children in Berlin

- For sitting down outside, try the Café am Neuen See, in the middle of the Tiergarten or the cafes and ice cream parlours around the Kollwitzplatz with a children’s play park nearby. Some the biergartens are also very child friendly such as the Schleusenkrug.

- If you have small children and want to do a bit of shopping without the kids in tow, then head for KADEWE department store in the centre of town. It has a supervised toy and play area for young children where you can leave them if they are over 2 years old. After you collect them there's a great self-service cafe on the sixth floor.

- The Cafe Charlottchen near the Charlottenburg train station has a popular indoor play area,

Getting around Berlin
Like any other major city, Berlin has numerous open top tourist buses that besides being a favourite with the kids are always a great way of getting a feel for a place. Choose one with an English-speaking guide. For the rest, the city’s public transport is clean, frequent, ubiquitous and very inexpensive especially if you check out the great offers that come with the ‘Berlin Welcome Card’. Best of all on every Welcome Card you can take up to 3 kids under the age of 14 for free!