People complain a lot about public transport in Berlin, but it’s actually pretty good . There are 10 subway lines, countless trams and buses and the S-Bahn.
According to aviationopedia, the subway runs every 5 minutes during peak times, every 10 minutes later in the evening and every 15 minutes on average at night on weekends.
The trains run until about 1 a.m. during the weekday. From then on, night buses will take over the most important subway routes. The trains run all night on Fridays and Saturdays.
Public transport tickets
The following tickets are the most important:
Single ticket AB: 3.00 euros
With a single ticket you can travel from A to B for 120 minutes and change trains as often as you like. But you can only drive in one direction. So if you want to go there and back within 2 hours, you need two tickets.
Four-journey ticket: 9.40 euros
With the 4-journey ticket you can save a bit if you generally want to travel more often. With the ticket you basically only pay 2.35 euros for a single ticket of the 4-journey card.
Short-distance: EUR 2.00
With a short-distance ticket, you can either travel three stops on the subway or S-Bahn or 6 stops on the tram or bus.
Day ticket or 24-hour ticket: 8.80 euros
A day ticket is worthwhile for more than two journeys per day. It is valid for 24 hours after validation and applies to all public transport in Berlin.
Small group day ticket: 25.50 euros
If you are traveling with a group of up to five people, a small group day ticket is often worthwhile for 3 or more people. This also allows you to use all public transport for 24 hours after validation.
Our tip: It is best to download the public transport or BVG app . There you can always query the best connections and also see which public transport is currently running in your area.
Unfortunately, the public transport app is only available for Android, but the BVG app is for Android and IOS.
Berlin WelcomeCard
The Berlin WelcomeCard (BWC) is Berlin’s official tourist ticket.
This allows you to travel through the city with all means of transport and get a discount of between 25-50% on around 200 sights, tours, museums, restaurants and attractions.
If you don’t intend to drive far out of Berlin, e.g. B. to BER Airport or to Potsdam , then a ticket for the AB fare zone is usually sufficient.
For comparison, a 24-hour BVG ticket costs 8.80 euros, i.e. 26.40 euros for 3 days. A 72-hour Berlin WelcomeCard AB costs 33 euros.
This means that for just a few euros more you save money on many of the sights you are likely to visit during your time in Berlin. So it doesn’t sound that unattractive, we think.
Conclusion : If you want to visit a few sights and/or museums that cost admission, then the Berlin WelcomeCard is worth it for you.
What variants of the Berlin WelcomeCard are there?
The Berlin WelcomeCard is basically offered in two different tariff zones, tariff zone AB and ABC .
Tariff zone AB is the entire Berlin city area, in zone ABC the surrounding area of Berlin including Potsdam and BER airport is also included.
Variants
Price (Berlin AB)
Price (Area ABC)
Berlin WelcomeCard 48 hours
24 euros
29 euros
Berlin WelcomeCard 72 hours
34 euros
39 euros
Berlin WelcomeCard 72 hours incl. Museum Island
52 euros
55 euros
Berlin WelcomeCard 4 days
41 euros
46 euros
Berlin WelcomeCard 5 days
47 euros
50 Euros
Berlin WelcomeCard 6 days
50 Euros
53 euros
The tourist ticket has been expanded to include a new variant, the Berlin WelcomeCard All Inclusive .
The special thing about this variant is that in addition to the services of the normal Berlin WelcomeCard, you also get free entry to many Berlin attractions . The Berlin WelcomeCard All Inclusive is even more expensive with a starting price of 69 euros.
This “all inclusive” tourist ticket is only worthwhile for you if you plan to visit some of the approximately 30 attractions. Among them are some museums, city tours , bus tours and attractions such as the Berlin Dungeon.
Our tip: It is best to make a plan in advance of what you want to visit and calculate exactly what the entrance fees will cost you. In the end you will probably save with one of the variants of the Berlin WelcomeCard.
Where can you buy the Berlin WelcomeCard?
You can buy the Berlin WelcomeCards on site in the Berlin Tourist Info offices, in many Berlin hotels and at the sales points or ticket machines of the BVG and S-Bahn.
You can also buy the Berlin WelcomeCard online in advance. There are different options here.
Our favorite of all the variants is the Berlin WelcomeCard Museumsinsel , as you get free entry to the five museums on Museumsinsel.
Buy the Museum Island WelcomeCard
All other variants can be purchased online from Berlin’s tourism organization visitBerlin :
Buy the Berlin WelcomeCard online
Note: Unfortunately, if you buy the Berlin WelcomeCard online, you have to exchange the voucher that you receive after the purchase for a valid ticket at one of the Berlin Tourist Info offices. Then you will also be given the guide with a city map. Unfortunately a bit cumbersome, but maybe Berlin can do it differently.
