Some days the kids just need space: grass to run on, a hill to roll down, a climbing frame to conquer. This list pulls together the city's parks and playgrounds, from adventure playgrounds where kids build and dig to wide lawns, gardens and the hills that turn into sledding runs when it snows. Pack a snack and pick the one closest to you.
The playground sits in Weinbergspark, a hillside park on the site of old vineyards. The toddler area has a climbing tower and slide that wheelchairs can reach, plus a nest swing, a carousel and a spinning disc on firm, step-free surfacing.
Older kids get a rubber-surfaced ball cage, ping-pong tables and a wooden deck to hang out on. The rest of the ground is sand, so a bucket and spade earn their place.
Waslala is a staffed adventure playground and children's farm in Altglienicke. Kids build their own wooden huts with real tools, light fires and climb, with educators keeping watch. The animal yard has ponies, sheep, a goat, rabbits and bees, and kids help feed and care for them.
It is a parent-free zone: parents don't stay, so it suits kids who are happy to play on their own.
The Tiergarten is a 210-hectare former royal hunting ground turned landscaped park, with woodland paths, meadows, ponds and the Victory Column at its center. A large playground sits in the southeastern corner near Potsdamer Platz.
Kids can cycle the long avenues or kick a ball on the lawns. Café am Neuen See runs a lakeside beer garden in summer, and in some winters the small lakes freeze hard enough to skate.
Volkspark Rehberge, in Wedding, covers 115 hectares of meadows and woodland, laid out as a landscape park in the 1920s. There are several playgrounds, a wild boar enclosure on the western side, a chain of three small ponds (no swimming), big sports grounds and kilometers of paths where kids learn to ride a bike. In winter, the long sledding hill draws families from the surrounding neighborhoods.
Treptower Park runs 88 hectares along the Spree, with wide lawns for ball games and picnics and a riverside promenade where tour boats leave from the pier. An arched bridge crosses to Insel der Jugend, a small island with boat hire.
It also holds the Soviet War Memorial, a solemn war grave with a 30-meter soldier statue, and the Archenhold Observatory, home to a 21-meter telescope and a small planetarium.
Mauerpark sits on the former Berlin Wall death strip, and 300 meters of the Wall still stand along its east side, covered in street art. An amphitheater set into the slope hosts open-air karaoke on summer Sundays.
Up north are the Moritzhof children's farm and a 15-meter climbing wall, and kids have several playgrounds to choose from, the biggest built in 2020.
Berlin's oldest public park was laid out in the 1840s on the edge of Friedrichshain and Prenzlauer Berg. At the west entrance, the 1913 Märchenbrunnen fountain has over 100 stone figures from German fairy tales. Two hills built from wartime bunkers and rubble, Mont Klamott and Kleiner Bunkerberg, look out over the city center. There are playgrounds, sports grounds, a swan pond with a beer garden, and a barbecue area.
Park am Gleisdreieck opened in 2013 on former railway land, and U-Bahn trains still cross it on raised viaducts. Its 30 hectares hold several playgrounds, including a water playground with climbing frames and a 5,000 m² nature play area with a clay landscape and water pump. Older kids head for the 1,300 m² skate park, table tennis and beach volleyball courts.
Tempelhofer Feld is the former Tempelhof airport, opened as a park in 2010. Over 300 hectares of meadow surround the old runways, where kids bike, skate and fly kites on wide, flat asphalt with no cars.
By the southeast entrance, the Tempelschlucht nature play area has a water pump feeding a little stream, sand and clay for mud play, and big boulders to climb.
Botanic Garden Berlin covers 43 hectares in Dahlem and grows around 20,000 plant species. The Great Tropical Greenhouse, an Art Nouveau glasshouse, stays warm all year and holds giant bamboo, and the cactus house has columns taller than an adult. Outside, long paths loop past ponds, an arboretum and beds that group plants by where in the world they grow.
A three-deck play ship on the Spree bank, nicknamed the Black Pearl. Kids climb and balance their way between decks, ride a 5-meter spiral tube slide, cook in the galley play kitchen and play table tennis on deck.
Ramps reach part of the ship, and pieces like a marble run, speaking tubes and a memory wall are built so kids with and without disabilities can play together.
Kolle 37 is a staffed adventure playground (Bauspielplatz) on about 4,000 square meters near Kollwitzplatz, open since 1990. Kids build their own wooden huts with real tools, make fires, work in the garden and help with the animals. Youth workers run projects in the pottery, the wood and felt workshop, the smithy and a music rehearsal room, and kids help decide what the projects are.
A large park of themed gardens from around the world: Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Balinese, Oriental, Italian Renaissance, English and Jewish gardens, plus a hedge maze and a labyrinth to run through.
A cable car glides up to 35 meters above the Wuhletal valley to the Kienberg hill. The playgrounds follow Erich Kästner's book "The 35th of May", with a climbing whale, a water forest and giant wooden ants.
Britzer Garten is a landscaped park built around a lake, with rolling lawns, themed gardens and big seasonal flower shows of tulips and dahlias.
The adventure playground at the Tauernallee entrance has a 10-meter slide tower, a climbing net and ground-level trampolines, and both main playgrounds have a water play area. Sheep and goats graze in pastures around the park, and the Britzer Mühle windmill stands on the grounds.
The Rixdorfer Höhe is a hill built after World War II from about 700,000 cubic meters of rubble, rising 22 meters above the surrounding Hasenheide park. When snow falls, most families sled the short, gentle run down in the valley. Bolder kids take the winding run of about 100 meters that spirals down from the top. The park also has playgrounds, an animal enclosure and an outdoor cinema.
Two hills in Volkspark Friedrichshain were built from blown-up wartime flak bunkers and city rubble: Mont Klamott, the taller one, and the Kleiner Bunkerberg.
The marked sledding run is on the east slope of the Kleiner Bunkerberg, fenced on both sides, with a steep, bumpy start and a long runout at the bottom. Both hills have more open slopes, and each has a viewing platform looking over the city center.
Viktoriapark climbs the Kreuzberg, the highest hill in the inner city, with Schinkel's cast-iron National Monument at the top. After a snowfall, families sled down its several slopes. The gradient is moderate enough for small kids, and the main run is wide.
Between runs, there's a wooden climbing playground and an enclosure with goats, rabbits and guinea pigs.
The Insulaner is a 78-meter hill built from World War II rubble, now wooded and crossed by footpaths. After a snowfall its west side holds one of the city's longest sledding runs, about 220 meters, with a smaller beginner slope at the bottom for younger kids.
The Wilhelm-Foerster observatory sits on the summit, the Planetarium am Insulaner at its foot, and there is a mini golf course on the hill.
Teufelsberg is a hill built from World War II rubble in the Grunewald forest, topping out at 120 meters above sea level, the city's second-highest point. When snow falls, families sled and snowboard down its open slopes, which once had a ski lift and an official sled run.
The old run is now closed and partly fenced off. The abandoned US listening station sits on the summit.
Some days the kids just need space: grass to run on, a hill to roll down, a climbing frame to conquer. This list pulls together the city's parks and playgrounds, from adventure playgrounds where kids build and dig to wide lawns, gardens and the hills that turn into sledding runs when it snows. Pack a snack and pick the one closest to you.
The playground sits in Weinbergspark, a hillside park on the site of old vineyards. The toddler area has a climbing tower and slide that wheelchairs can reach, plus a nest swing, a carousel and a spinning disc on firm, step-free surfacing.
Older kids get a rubber-surfaced ball cage, ping-pong tables and a wooden deck to hang out on. The rest of the ground is sand, so a bucket and spade earn their place.
Waslala is a staffed adventure playground and children's farm in Altglienicke. Kids build their own wooden huts with real tools, light fires and climb, with educators keeping watch. The animal yard has ponies, sheep, a goat, rabbits and bees, and kids help feed and care for them.
It is a parent-free zone: parents don't stay, so it suits kids who are happy to play on their own.
The Tiergarten is a 210-hectare former royal hunting ground turned landscaped park, with woodland paths, meadows, ponds and the Victory Column at its center. A large playground sits in the southeastern corner near Potsdamer Platz.
Kids can cycle the long avenues or kick a ball on the lawns. Café am Neuen See runs a lakeside beer garden in summer, and in some winters the small lakes freeze hard enough to skate.
Volkspark Rehberge, in Wedding, covers 115 hectares of meadows and woodland, laid out as a landscape park in the 1920s. There are several playgrounds, a wild boar enclosure on the western side, a chain of three small ponds (no swimming), big sports grounds and kilometers of paths where kids learn to ride a bike. In winter, the long sledding hill draws families from the surrounding neighborhoods.
Treptower Park runs 88 hectares along the Spree, with wide lawns for ball games and picnics and a riverside promenade where tour boats leave from the pier. An arched bridge crosses to Insel der Jugend, a small island with boat hire.
It also holds the Soviet War Memorial, a solemn war grave with a 30-meter soldier statue, and the Archenhold Observatory, home to a 21-meter telescope and a small planetarium.
Mauerpark sits on the former Berlin Wall death strip, and 300 meters of the Wall still stand along its east side, covered in street art. An amphitheater set into the slope hosts open-air karaoke on summer Sundays.
Up north are the Moritzhof children's farm and a 15-meter climbing wall, and kids have several playgrounds to choose from, the biggest built in 2020.
Berlin's oldest public park was laid out in the 1840s on the edge of Friedrichshain and Prenzlauer Berg. At the west entrance, the 1913 Märchenbrunnen fountain has over 100 stone figures from German fairy tales. Two hills built from wartime bunkers and rubble, Mont Klamott and Kleiner Bunkerberg, look out over the city center. There are playgrounds, sports grounds, a swan pond with a beer garden, and a barbecue area.
Park am Gleisdreieck opened in 2013 on former railway land, and U-Bahn trains still cross it on raised viaducts. Its 30 hectares hold several playgrounds, including a water playground with climbing frames and a 5,000 m² nature play area with a clay landscape and water pump. Older kids head for the 1,300 m² skate park, table tennis and beach volleyball courts.
Tempelhofer Feld is the former Tempelhof airport, opened as a park in 2010. Over 300 hectares of meadow surround the old runways, where kids bike, skate and fly kites on wide, flat asphalt with no cars.
By the southeast entrance, the Tempelschlucht nature play area has a water pump feeding a little stream, sand and clay for mud play, and big boulders to climb.
Botanic Garden Berlin covers 43 hectares in Dahlem and grows around 20,000 plant species. The Great Tropical Greenhouse, an Art Nouveau glasshouse, stays warm all year and holds giant bamboo, and the cactus house has columns taller than an adult. Outside, long paths loop past ponds, an arboretum and beds that group plants by where in the world they grow.
A three-deck play ship on the Spree bank, nicknamed the Black Pearl. Kids climb and balance their way between decks, ride a 5-meter spiral tube slide, cook in the galley play kitchen and play table tennis on deck.
Ramps reach part of the ship, and pieces like a marble run, speaking tubes and a memory wall are built so kids with and without disabilities can play together.
Kolle 37 is a staffed adventure playground (Bauspielplatz) on about 4,000 square meters near Kollwitzplatz, open since 1990. Kids build their own wooden huts with real tools, make fires, work in the garden and help with the animals. Youth workers run projects in the pottery, the wood and felt workshop, the smithy and a music rehearsal room, and kids help decide what the projects are.
A large park of themed gardens from around the world: Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Balinese, Oriental, Italian Renaissance, English and Jewish gardens, plus a hedge maze and a labyrinth to run through.
A cable car glides up to 35 meters above the Wuhletal valley to the Kienberg hill. The playgrounds follow Erich Kästner's book "The 35th of May", with a climbing whale, a water forest and giant wooden ants.
Britzer Garten is a landscaped park built around a lake, with rolling lawns, themed gardens and big seasonal flower shows of tulips and dahlias.
The adventure playground at the Tauernallee entrance has a 10-meter slide tower, a climbing net and ground-level trampolines, and both main playgrounds have a water play area. Sheep and goats graze in pastures around the park, and the Britzer Mühle windmill stands on the grounds.
The Rixdorfer Höhe is a hill built after World War II from about 700,000 cubic meters of rubble, rising 22 meters above the surrounding Hasenheide park. When snow falls, most families sled the short, gentle run down in the valley. Bolder kids take the winding run of about 100 meters that spirals down from the top. The park also has playgrounds, an animal enclosure and an outdoor cinema.
Two hills in Volkspark Friedrichshain were built from blown-up wartime flak bunkers and city rubble: Mont Klamott, the taller one, and the Kleiner Bunkerberg.
The marked sledding run is on the east slope of the Kleiner Bunkerberg, fenced on both sides, with a steep, bumpy start and a long runout at the bottom. Both hills have more open slopes, and each has a viewing platform looking over the city center.
Viktoriapark climbs the Kreuzberg, the highest hill in the inner city, with Schinkel's cast-iron National Monument at the top. After a snowfall, families sled down its several slopes. The gradient is moderate enough for small kids, and the main run is wide.
Between runs, there's a wooden climbing playground and an enclosure with goats, rabbits and guinea pigs.
The Insulaner is a 78-meter hill built from World War II rubble, now wooded and crossed by footpaths. After a snowfall its west side holds one of the city's longest sledding runs, about 220 meters, with a smaller beginner slope at the bottom for younger kids.
The Wilhelm-Foerster observatory sits on the summit, the Planetarium am Insulaner at its foot, and there is a mini golf course on the hill.
Teufelsberg is a hill built from World War II rubble in the Grunewald forest, topping out at 120 meters above sea level, the city's second-highest point. When snow falls, families sled and snowboard down its open slopes, which once had a ski lift and an official sled run.
The old run is now closed and partly fenced off. The abandoned US listening station sits on the summit.
