ISRAËL & PALESTINA
NOOIT LOS VAN ELKAAR TE ZIEN!
Perhaps one of the most loaded destinations to go or write about. Perhaps the most beautiful trip we have been able to make with our children.
Why Sri Lanka?
You know the word 'Serendipity' ? In the 18th century, the English writer Horace invented Walpole. Serendipity is an unplanned, unexpected but fortunate discovery, a happy coincidence . In other words, finding something useful but not specifically sought after, not expected.
The word serendipity itself comes from Serendip, an ancient (Persian) name for Sri Lanka. And that completes the circle, because whatever you think you are looking for in Sri Lanka you will not find, but what you do find is invaluable!
More Berlin
Itinerary (examples)
The forgotten gems
Do's & Dont's
Ideal for children
Colombo
sunny south
Hilly mountains
Perahara festival / Kandy dancers
Trains in Sri Lanka
The best hotels
How long, and when?
How long?
How much time do you have? That question is much more interesting. We would never advise anyone to go to Sri Lanka for less than three weeks, especially not with children. We did it once in 4.5 weeks and once in 3 weeks. You can find those route examples here.
When?
This answer is very simple, Sri Lanka is an ideal island to visit at any time! However, and now it comes.... You have to adjust your destination to your travel time!
If you travel between the end of October and the beginning of May, choose the southwest coast. The other months it rains here more than usual, so it is not relaxing swimming. But between May and the end of October it rains in the southwest, so it is better to head north during that period.
But rain during your trip in Sri Lanka cannot be ruled out!
TOP 5
1.
Checkpoint Charlie
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— Name, Title
“Share the amazing things your customers are saying about you. Double click, or click Edit Text to make it yours.”
BERLIN TV TOWER - FERNSEHTURM
4.
KAISER WILHELM GEMNISCHIRCHE
5
BERLIN WALL
Sri Lanka in a nutshell
Sri Lanka is a country with an enormous history, somewhere with a link with the Netherlands (1638-1796), the tea country par excellence. Sri Lanka is still known to the older generation under the beautiful name Ceylon. But Sri Lanka is also a country that harbors a lot of sadness, many people remember the tsunami in 2004. Less well known is that the civil war only ended 5 years later.
Tropical Island
On Sundays practically everything is closed in Berlin. Great to get up a little later and take a nice long city walk or to visit the zoo, for example. For everyone who has a Sunday in Berlin with small children, we recommend going out in Berlin! The reason is very simple, Tropical Islands is just under 70km away. Before we leave Berlin, we only drive for a while to see the East Side Gallery, a remnant of the Berlin Wall. This part has been painted by no fewer than 118 artists. Absolutely worth it!
Then take the car and in less than an hour you will reach the impressive Tropical Islands swimming pool. Trust us, it's totally worth it. Tropical Islands is situated in an old zeppelin shed. This is the largest building (by volume) in the world. The building, 360 meters long, 210 meters wide and 107! Meters high, is an architectural gem. The pool is so large that you can spend the night in the pool. This can be done in houses or in tents. Once you have arrived, it is a swimming pool that you will not find elsewhere. It consists of various 'areas', such as a real rainforest where flamingos and parrots live. A little further you will find a real beach with sand. You can make use of the numerous sunbeds or simply position your towel on the sand. You can walk straight into the pool from the beach. Here you will also find quite a few slides for the little ones among us.
Next to the beach there is a lagoon, with warmer water, rapids and waterfalls. It's unbelievable, but you really feel like you're in a tropical resort. Outside there is a large swimming pool with, among other things, a large whitewater course, slides and whirlpools. There is something for everyone. In addition to the many swimming pools, there is also a large indoor playground for the little ones, so when they are done swimming you can still go here. You can easily spend a whole day here, which is a great alternative if the shops in Berlin are closed.
Evening Walk in Berlin
After a day of swimming it is time to relax in the hotel (bet the children will close their eyes on the way back?). When night falls, the search for a good restaurant begins.
We always combine that with a nice walk. From the hotel it is easy to walk to Potsdamer Platz. This is a busy and one of the most famous squares in Berlin. The war has completely destroyed this part, making it an empty plain. The wall also ran right through this section. After the fall of the wall, this area turned into the largest construction site in Europe.
The Sony Center is located here, and is full of shops and restaurants. You will also find LEGO Discovery for children here. From Potsdamer Platz it is a short walk to the Branderburger Tor. You will then pass the extremely impressive Holocaust Memorial. These 2710 concrete blocks are all different in height. Walking among them evokes a sense of disorientation and isolation, which is symbolic of the experiences of the Jewish population during the Nazi rule.
Next to the Branderburger Tor you literally walk into the Reichstag, the parliament building of Germany.
Of course, this building, like almost all of Berlin, was bombed. The glass dome (accessible to visitors) is again a contrast to the imposing building. From the Reichstag you can easily walk up to the Unter den Linden, where you can easily find a restaurant (or get a delicious ice cream). This road runs from the Brandenburg Gate to Alexanderplatz. After about 800 meters you cross the Freidrichstrabe, another large shopping street. For us the road to the hotel. A lovely evening walk where we were able to see many sights without the massive crowds.
BERLIN AT ITS BEST
Our last day in Berlin with the kids, and to see a lot of Berlin today, we booked a vintage tour. Our guide is expecting us at 11:00 at the Berlin Cathedral. This ensures that we have enough time to walk there after breakfast. The Berlin Cathedral is impressively large. But make no mistake, the current dom is not as old as it seems! It was built between 1894 and 1905.
The Dom is located on the Museum Island, an island in the Spree. This part of Berlin is the oldest part of Berlin and is full of museums. The Museum Island itself is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and that is more than logical. The many museums here have either just opened or are still being restored. To the left of the cathedral is the Atlas Museum. In the Nazi period, this museum was often used as a backdrop for large gatherings, but fortunately it survived both the Nazi era and the GDR.
Our guide from the vintage tour arrives just in time in his Volkswagen Samba bus. This is our mode of transport for the two-hour tour in Berlin. Everyone knows the VW vans, and how nice is it (with children) to have this as a means of transport? I can really recommend this tour to everyone, in two hours you will be (privately) driven around Berlin. The stories behind all the museums, squares and streets are told. And you can't escape the stories about Berlin from before, during and after the Second World War. You literally drive through East and West Berlin. Our guide could tell so beautifully about the wall (he was an East Berliner) and experienced the fall.
By driving this classic through Berlin you get the impression how Berlin has been transformed. This is really recommended. We booked the tour here, through the site getyourguide . What made it so cool is that the guide tells everything based on photos. He has made a beautiful book with clear photos, so it became a game for the children to 'find' the buildings in the photos.
After the two-hour tour (in practice this was even 2.5 hours) we are dropped off at the cathedral again. From here it is a short walk to Fernsehturm. This 368 meter high TV tower (2.5x 'our' Euromast) gives visitors a beautiful view. This view is really special for children. When you view Berlin from the Fernsehturm, you realize how big Berlin is. The tower stands on Alexanderplatz, a large square surrounded by many shops. At the rear is a train station and there is also the Alexa shopping center, good for hours of shopping fun.
