LOXX Minatur Welten Berlin - indoor miniature railway

We recently returned from a family city break to Berlin and were delighted to discover that there are some amazing places in Berlin to visit with young children. One of our absolute highlights was LOXX Miniatur Welten Berlin - a huge indoor model railway but also much more than that, with scale models of Berlin landmarks, typical German scenes, plenty of interactive elements and even a model airport with planes that land and take off.

LOXX Miniatur Welten Berlin is housed inside the ALEXA-Center shopping centre in Alexanderplatz and covers over 950 square metres. There is a large display in the centre and smaller displays around the edges. Children can borrow a little stepladder so that they can see everything.

Harry was so excited when we entered the room, first he wanted to see everything at once, then stood transfixed once he realised that trains were actually running around the tracks. There are lots of buttons to press to make things happen, it is a really interactive exhibit. Make sure that you don't miss the popular chocolate factory tucked away below the tracks - watch a little chocolate bar make its way through the smallest chocolate factory in the world - and then receive a real chocolate bar at the end!

Harry loved the smaller display above where you press a button to make the train run around in a circle - he chased it round and round several times! The lighting in the room periodically changes to reflect day and night, and it's fascinating to see all the little buildings light up. We also experienced a thunderstorm, with plenty of thunder and lighting although fortunately no rain!

The displays have a definite German feel to them. There is a large fun fair, complete of course with beer tent. There is also a fantastical display of tiny scenes from popular German and European fairy tales.

The airport was excellent. Not only to the planes take off and land, they taxi around the runways, little buses and trucks come up to them when they are parked to refuel, and they wait for imaginery passengers to get on. There's a raised bank to one side with comfortable, real aeroplane seats where you can sit and watch the airport going about its business. I spent ages here, and I even made a little video of the planes by night, I was so delighted with it.

LOXX Miniatur Welten was the first place that we visited on our trip to Berlin, and it was a great way to introduce our children to some of the landmarks of the city like the Brandenburg Gate, the Reichstag Building and the Television Tower. Our children loved it and I would absolutely recommend a visit here if you have children, and even if you don't!

LOXX Miniatur Welten kindly gave us complimentary access to experience this attraction. Adult admission is currently 12.90 € and child admission (above 1m in height) is 8 €. Family tickets are also available, and Berlin WelcomeCard holders receive a discount.