Winter here is dark by 4pm and often gray, but it comes with cheap district ice rinks and, when snow falls, sledding hills built from wartime rubble. The rinks open from about November to March. For the one-week February break and the gray days around it, we added hands-on museums and big indoor events. Here's what we checked, from the Teufelsberg to the Labyrinth Kindermuseum.
Eisstadion Neukölln is the district's open-air artificial ice rink, at the edge of the Werner-Seelenbinder-Sportpark by Tempelhofer Feld. The public rink is about 65 by 39 meters, next to a separate competition rink used by hockey and figure skating clubs.
A rental shop on site rents skates in all sizes, plus double-blade gliders for kids up to 1 meter tall. Beginners can join the local skating schools that teach here.
Horst-Dohm-Eisstadion is a large public ice rink run by the Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf district, with room for first-timers and confident skaters on the same ice. A rental shop on site lends skates and sharpens blades, so kids without their own pair can still go.
The restaurant inside the stadium is the place to warm up between laps.
Erika-Heß-Eisstadion is Berlin's third-largest ice rink, with a covered rink and an open-air rink side by side on Müllerstraße in Wedding. The open-air ice reopened for public skating in 2026 after years closed.
In winter it draws neighborhood families and skaters from across the city. The covered rink keeps sessions going when it rains, and the open-air rink is the one to pick on a crisp, dry day.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Grüne Woche is a huge indoor food and farming fair across the Messe Berlin halls. Around 1,600 exhibitors offer tastings of regional and international specialties, from fruit and vegetables to fish, meat, wine and beer. Kids can try hands-on activities on farming and food, and there is a family room for breaks. It is closer to a trade fair than a kids' festival, so it suits curious school-age children best.
Berlinale Generation is the Berlin International Film Festival's section for young audiences. Kids and teens watch features, documentaries and animation from around the world, often with filmmakers and their young stars in the room for questions afterward. Children's and Youth Juries, made up of young viewers, choose the winners of the Crystal Bears.
A hands-on children's museum in a former factory on Osloer Strasse in Wedding. The current exhibition, TALENTOPIA, is about finding what each kid is good at: building cardboard-tube cities with a construction crane, solving analog programming puzzles in a control center, painting at an art materials bar, playing word games, and making music from bottles and dishwasher parts.
There is no maze, despite the name.
A large technology museum with a locomotive shed full of historic trains, a shipping hall where kids hoist sails and steer a boat into harbor, and an aviation wing with the "Candy Bomber" plane up on the roof terrace.
The Science Center Spectrum, on the same ticket, has more than 150 hands-on experiments. Outside, the museum park has a playground and picnic areas.
Winter here is dark by 4pm and often gray, but it comes with cheap district ice rinks and, when snow falls, sledding hills built from wartime rubble. The rinks open from about November to March. For the one-week February break and the gray days around it, we added hands-on museums and big indoor events. Here's what we checked, from the Teufelsberg to the Labyrinth Kindermuseum.
Eisstadion Neukölln is the district's open-air artificial ice rink, at the edge of the Werner-Seelenbinder-Sportpark by Tempelhofer Feld. The public rink is about 65 by 39 meters, next to a separate competition rink used by hockey and figure skating clubs.
A rental shop on site rents skates in all sizes, plus double-blade gliders for kids up to 1 meter tall. Beginners can join the local skating schools that teach here.
Horst-Dohm-Eisstadion is a large public ice rink run by the Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf district, with room for first-timers and confident skaters on the same ice. A rental shop on site lends skates and sharpens blades, so kids without their own pair can still go.
The restaurant inside the stadium is the place to warm up between laps.
Erika-Heß-Eisstadion is Berlin's third-largest ice rink, with a covered rink and an open-air rink side by side on Müllerstraße in Wedding. The open-air ice reopened for public skating in 2026 after years closed.
In winter it draws neighborhood families and skaters from across the city. The covered rink keeps sessions going when it rains, and the open-air rink is the one to pick on a crisp, dry day.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Grüne Woche is a huge indoor food and farming fair across the Messe Berlin halls. Around 1,600 exhibitors offer tastings of regional and international specialties, from fruit and vegetables to fish, meat, wine and beer. Kids can try hands-on activities on farming and food, and there is a family room for breaks. It is closer to a trade fair than a kids' festival, so it suits curious school-age children best.
Berlinale Generation is the Berlin International Film Festival's section for young audiences. Kids and teens watch features, documentaries and animation from around the world, often with filmmakers and their young stars in the room for questions afterward. Children's and Youth Juries, made up of young viewers, choose the winners of the Crystal Bears.
A hands-on children's museum in a former factory on Osloer Strasse in Wedding. The current exhibition, TALENTOPIA, is about finding what each kid is good at: building cardboard-tube cities with a construction crane, solving analog programming puzzles in a control center, painting at an art materials bar, playing word games, and making music from bottles and dishwasher parts.
There is no maze, despite the name.
A large technology museum with a locomotive shed full of historic trains, a shipping hall where kids hoist sails and steer a boat into harbor, and an aviation wing with the "Candy Bomber" plane up on the roof terrace.
The Science Center Spectrum, on the same ticket, has more than 150 hands-on experiments. Outside, the museum park has a playground and picnic areas.
