Berlin Sea Life Aquarium & Aqua Dom vs. Zoo Aquarium Berlin....or Happy vs. Sad
There are two aquariums in Berlin: The good one and the slightly sad one.
If you're looking for a feel good, aquarium experience check out the Sea Life Aquarium and Aqua Dom located near Alexanderplatz on Spandauer Strasse. There are lots of tanks at waist level, making it ideal for kids, although I saw plenty of adults grinning from ear to ear as well. It is also easily accessible for wheelchairs and strollers/prams. (I recommend going around 3 pm when it's a little less crowded if you have children, but keep in mind the last elevator rides at 6pm -winter and 7pm -summer.)
English information points inform you about what your looking at and where in Germany it originates. There are also quite a few trivia points both for kids and adults. It is pricey, but they give student (any form of student i.d.) and family discounts (children under 3yrs. free). There are hands on tanks to touch starfish, sea anemone and clams, accompanied with friendly English speaking docents. Following the maze of aquarium tanks and the ray room you are invited to ride in the Aqua Dom elevator located in the main lobby of the Radisson SAS Hotel.
If you have small children, keep in mind that strollers have to be parked outside of the elevator, so you'll have to hang on to any squirming toddlers (The main aquarium exhibits are stroller friendly). The elevator is also really hot, despite the oscillating fan........The elevator runs every ten minutes and takes you up through the world's largest free standing aquarium. It is seven stories high and has to be scrubbed three times a day by a guy in a scuba suit. Everyone likes this aquarium; it won't suck up your entire day, there is a fun gift shop and plenty of good eats right in the shopping center attached to the hotel.
The sad aquarium, the Zoo Aquarium Berlin is connected to the Zoologischergarten (Zoo Berlin). It is very handy to combine a visit to the Zoo Aquarium with a combi ticket to the Zoo Berlin. The Zoo Aquarium offers a tremendous variety of species and is set in a beautiful building....but the sharks are just plain pathetic looking. Their tank is too small and you'll want to take them home for a soak in your tub out of sheer guilt. The Zoo Aquarium is extremely unfriendly in terms of strollers and wheelchair accessability. I had to ask the staff to put our stroller in the wheelchair lift just to reach the ticket area, and they were irritated with me for that. (Let me just clarify that the staff seemed chronically cranky, like most native Berliners.) The uppermost floor houses insects and reptiles, but is also accessible only via stairs.
