Berlin for grandmother and 16 yr old grandson

I think the Hard Rock Cafe' trend has come and gone. Those of you with teens, do chime in if I am wrong on this one. It is just that no one really talks about them anymore. How about a trip to the Spree Wald? For the Berlin tours, they have so many to choose from, perhaps some of the more alternative ones might be interesting, like Berlin Underground, or the Graffiti Art tours? Sachsenhausen and Ravensbruck Concentration Camps would also be good choices. A day trip to Potsdam maybe?

We were in Berlin in June and my 16 year old son recommends the following: Fat Tire Bike tour of Berlin. The riding is easy (Berlin is totally flat) and the English-speaking guides are young and hip. Our kids loved it! The Technical Museumlots of airplanes, trains and German tech Going up the Reichstag dome (maybe they are doing that after mom arrives) Day trip to the ship lift at Niederfinowyou can take a one hour boat ride through the lift, raising up 36 meters, and back again ANDquite possible the coolest thing EVERthe Kletterwald Gruenheide. This is an adventure forest with ropes course on the SE edge of Berlin. 40 min. from Alexander Platz. The ropes courses are not just for kidswe saw folks of all ages having a great time at multiple sites throughout Germany. Great fun.

Thank you all for the great leads. You just filled up their schedule. I agree on the suggestion of letting the boy the activities and with this list he will have much to choose from.
BTW ... The bike tour was a great suggestion. We did it in Munich and it was a great way to see the local sites.

Thanks again....

If you trust the kid, give him 8 hours to explore by himself. He'll thank you for it...

Angela's suggestions are excellent. The Fat Tire tours include a Berlin Wall and Cold War tour that looks perfect. Having him watch the Great Escape before the trip is another great suggestion--- it will help give some WWII background. ( I was 16 when that movie came out. Loved it then, and still love it now).

Berlin is the hippest city in Germany (possibly in Europe) and very oriented to the youth set. So I think a 16 year old will be pretty impressed in general. After the great suggestions already, I would also recommend the DDR Museum. It's colorful, kitschy, and small for a museum so I doubt anyone will get bored. A really entertaining way to learn about this strange time in history. Just walking around some of the hip neighborhoods (Prenzlauerberg, although it's more gentrified, Kreuzberg, Kreuzberg-Ost, Freidrichshain) will be fun. There's a computer game/video game museum, I haven't been but I bet he'd find that cool. There are tours of the abandoned U-Bahn stations at night that might be really appealing to him as well. I haven't done one - next time.

Mike, If the grandson has a keen interest in history, he and your wife can be going to a list of places, starting from the Brandenburg Gate going east...Köpenick, Karlshorst, Mitte, Treptow, etc. Yes, Prenzlauer Berg is usually the attraction for the younger set. Kreuzberg might interesting if he wants to see graffittied neighborhood.

Tom Your suggestion to let the boy wander for a day would freak out grandmother and mom, however your absolutely right, he'd love. We'll float the idea along with all the other great suggestions.
Hmmm 16 yr olds aren't allowed in brothels...just asking.

As for the ME-262 and the ME 109 I have seen them both at various places, such as in Munich and London. I recommend seeing both at the RAF Museum in north London (Colindale), even a close-up of the Juno engines. You'll also quickly notice how both aircraft are differently "displayed" between London and Munich. If the grandson is interested in planes, there's the Luftwaffe Museum in Berlin-Gatow...a bit far to get to.