Berlin and Brandenburg Family Holidays & Breaks

Berlin Green Spaces and Outdoor Activities

• Head for Berlin’s largest park, the Tiergarten, and rent a paddle-boat or bikes to explore. 

• Cycle along the perimeter of the living art gallery that is the Berlin Wall, independently or as part of a tour (the latter covers about 9km).

• Whatever the season, don’t miss the Badeschiff, a floating swimming pool on the River Spree – open-air in summer and covered in winter, it also boasts saunas, a lounge bar and great views.

• Discover the eastern district of Friedrichshain, for summer beach bars on the banks of the Spree and classic Soviet architecture. It also has the huge Volkspark and smaller Boxhagener Platz park, the latter host to a Saturday farmers' market and a Sunday flea market. Theater der Kleinen Form offers weekend puppet shows, occasionally in English.

• Take a boat-trip, a good way to sightsee within Berlin, especially with younger kids – you can watch the landmarks glide by without overtiring little legs. 

• Venture to Kollwitz Platz in leafy Prenzlauer Berg, Berlin's mecca for young families, with one of the biggest and best playgrounds in the city.

• Check out pretty Helmholtzplatz, a park ringed by cafés and kids’ shops (including Mundo Azul children’s bookshop) and the MACHmit! interactive children’s museum.

Berlin Best Museums

• With older kids, take a trip to the evocative Checkpoint Charlie Museum, showing what life was like during the Cold War. It’s in vibrant, multicultural Kreuzberg, once home to Berlin's notorious squat scene and the Hansa music studios, where Bowie, Eno, Iggy Pop and others recorded.

• Explore the excellent Natural History Museum and German Museum of Technology, both offering plenty of hands-on exhibits. 

Brandenburg with Kids

• Discover this state surrounding Berlin but worlds apart in feel. Berliners flock here in droves at weekends. The Sorbs who live here still have a distinct culture and traditions and it’s fascinating seeing their costumes and houses and watching them wood-carving.

• Explore the Spreewald, a huge nature reserve with more 300 canals, dubbed the ‘German Venice’, with bike, rowboat, raft and even gondola hire. 

• Wander around Brandenburg’s crown jewel, Potsdam, where Frederick the Great hung his hat. It’s chock-a-block with baroque palaces and gardens, the most famous being Parc Sanssouci and Schloss Sanssouci with gorgeous open spaces and spectacular buildings.

• Head for the Filmpark Babelsberg, a theme park set on one of the world’s oldest film production sites, with film-themed offerings including a 4D Action cinema.

• Experience Tropical Islands, a ‘tropical holiday world’ with the world’s biggest indoor rainforest including a mangrove swamp with turtles, helium balloon rides above the trees, a tropical sea with a 200m sandy beach, Germany’s tallest water-slide tower, a sauna and spa complex, and more. You can stay on-site, in tents (indoor or out), lodges, apartments and hotels.