Berlin Transportation

On your arrival make sure you get a Welcome card. It runs from the time you stamp your card for three days. Not only does it give you unlimited travel within the city centre on S-Bahn, U-Bahn, trams and buses it also affords you some excellent discount into attractions in the city. They are widely available and a must have if your on a budget. Its 16 euro for 2 days and 22 euros for 3 days, believe me it will save you a lot of shoe leather and cash if you can get one. I've put the web site address below as you can book your ticket on line.

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In Berlin you can easily get around by public transportation, even by night. You have the choice between busses, streetcars ("Tram"), subway ("U-Bahn") and rapid city transport / urban rail system ("S-Bahn").
There are two main companies, that operate the public transportation in Berlin: the Berliner Verkehrsbetriebe "BVG" (streetcars, busses, subway and some ferries) and the S-Bahn Berlin (S-Bahn).

Bus:
The bus routes are very dense all over Berlin. In the city center you can catch a bus about every 5 to 10 min. At night there are special routes ("Nachtbusnetz"), that cover all the important stops in Berlin. There is a bus about every 30 min.

Tram:
Streetcars just operate in the city center (Mitte) and some of the eastern quarters. Usually you can reach your destination by most bus routes. But if you are nostalgic, try the streetcar. It's worth it. If you want, you can also make an appointment to try out a streetcar simulator. But watch out, it's really expensive: 60 Euro for just half an hour!

Streetcar simulator:
www.bvg.de/index.php/en/Bvg/Detail/folder/616/id/67672/nb/1/name/You%2C+too%2C+can+drive+a+tram

Network nets:
- Bus routes (in German):
www.fahrinfo-berlin.de/gis/index.jsp
- Streetcar net (in German):
www.bvg.de/index.php/de/Bvg/Detail/folder/547/id/2157/nb/1/name/BVG+Liniennetz
(Click on the right: "Das Liniennetz mit Straßenbahnlinien im Vordergrund. PDF 129 KB")

Time-tables and connections:
www.fahrinfo-berlin.de/fahrinfo/bin/query.bin/en?L=bvg&ld=bvg4&L=bvg&seqnr=1&ident=63.046821.1150377278&

Bus night routes ("Nachtliniennetz") (in German):
www.bvg.de/index.php/de/Bvg/Detail/folder/887/id/89584/nb/1/name/Nachtverkehr
(click on the right: "Berliner Nachtverkehr - 50 Nachtknoten mit Stadtplan (PDF 276 KB)")

Tickets and fares:
www.bvg.de/index.php/en/Bvg/Index/folder/706
(special offers for visitors)
www.bvg.de/index.php/en/Bvg/Index/folder/710/name/For+Visitors

In Berlin you can easily get around by public transportation, even by night. You have the choice between busses, streetcars ("Tram"), subway ("U-Bahn") and rapid city transport / urban rail system ("S-Bahn").
There are two main companies, that operate the public transportation in Berlin: the Berliner Verkehrsbetriebe "BVG" (streetcars, busses, subway and some ferries) and the S-Bahn Berlin (S-Bahn).

The S-Bahn connects the important junctions in Berlin with the outskirts and the surrounding region ("Umland"). So you can for example take the S-Bahn to get to Potsdam, Oranienburg, Bernau or Königs Wusterhausen. Some of the lines run on weekends at night as well, with an 30 min to 60 min intervall. There are also special tourist offers for taking a trip on the "panorama train" or the "museum train".

Network nets:
- network net ("Liniennetz") for U-Bahn and S-Bahn:
www.s-bahn-berlin.de/streckennetz/index.html
www.s-bahn-berlin.de/pdf/s-bahn_netz.pdf
- night network net ("Nachtnetz"):
www.s-bahn-berlin.de/pdf/S-Bahn-Nachtnetz.pdf

Special offers:
www.s-bahn-berlin.de/englisch/sonderzuege/index.htm

Time tables (in German):
www.s-bahn-berlin.de/fahrplanundnetz/fahrplaene.htm
sbahn.vbb-fahrinfo.de

Tickets, fares, pay scale areas:
www.s-bahn-berlin.de/englisch/tarife/index.htm
(The "S-Bahn company" is part of the "Transport Association Berlin-Brandenburg" (VBB). Therefore S-Bahn tickets are also valid for busses, streetcars and subway in the Berlin city area and vice-versa. )

In Berlin you can easily get around by public transportation, even by night. You have the choice between busses, streetcars ("Tram"), subway ("U-Bahn") and rapid city transport / urban rail system ("S-Bahn").
There are two main companies, that operate the public transportation in Berlin: the Berliner Verkehrsbetriebe "BVG" (streetcars, busses, subway and some ferries) and the S-Bahn Berlin (S-Bahn).

With the U-Bahn you can reach comfortably the different quarters of Berlin. Especially in the city center the transport network is very dense. On the weekends, most U-Bahn lines run at night as well.

There are also special offers for visitors. You can take a tunnel walking tour for 10 Euro or have a night time tunnel ride (which is quite expensive: 40 Euro!). For a tour you have to register. You can find out more about it here:
www.bvg.de/index.php/en/Bvg/Index/folder/603

Network map for U-Bahn and S-Bahn:
www.bvg.de/index.php/en/Common/Document/field/file/id/1398

U-Bahn at night:
To find out which lines are running at night, you can take a look at this 24-hours network map. (It's a bit confusing at first, but all the lines which have an "N" (="Night") in front of the number, operate at night on weekends.)
www.bvg.de/index.php/en/Bvg/Detail/folder/699/id/2719/nb/1/name/BVG+Network+Maps
(Click "24-hours network (PDF 135 KB)").

Time-tables and connections:
www.fahrinfo-berlin.de/fahrinfo/bin/query.bin/en?L=bvg&ld=bvg4&L=bvg&seqnr=1&ident=63.046821.1150377278&

Tickets and fares:
www.bvg.de/index.php/en/Bvg/Index/folder/706
(special ticket offers for visitors)
www.bvg.de/index.php/en/Bvg/Index/folder/710/name/For+Visitors
(The BVG, that operates the U-Bahn, is part of the "Transport Association Berlin-Brandenburg" (VBB). Therefore U-Bahn tickets are also valid for busses, streetcars, the S-Bahn in the Berlin city area and vice-versa. )

This is one of the most beautieful subway stations in Berlin. It is not only the stop to get of for the KaDeWe department store, but also inside reminds me of the atmosphere during the 1920ties and 30ties.
Read the book from Christopher Isherwood, his novel "Berlin Stories" gave the background for the movie "Cabaret".
When I stop at this station I am reminded somehow of this book.
Don't expect something too spectacular though.

If you are on your first visit to Berlin, it could be useful for you to take line 100. It travels from Zoo Garden to Alexanderplatz, and stops at many of the most visited places in Berlin: it passes across Tiergarten, and travels east, so that you may see the Reichstag, the lovely Under dem Linden avenue, the Museum island, the Staatsoper and finally arrives to Alexanderplatz, the perfect starting point to explore the Eastern Berlin. You get a good idea of the city which will help you to plan your sightseeing.
The best of this trip is that, although you have a kind of tourist tour, it's a part of ordinary city transport system, so it only cost 2,10€, but it will possibly be better for you to buy some kind of pass to use the public transport.

Si es tu primera visita a Berlín, te puede venir bien coger la línea 100 de autobús. Va de Zoo a Alexanderplatz y para en muchos de los lugares más visitados de Berlin: atraviesa el Tiergarten y va hacia el este, al lado del Reichstag, la encantadora avenida Unter dem Linden, la isla de los museos, la Opera y llega a Alexanderplatz, el punto de partida perfecto para explorar el Berlín del Este. Te da una buena noción de la ciudad que te ayudará a planear tus visitas.
Lo mejor de este trayecto es que, aunque haces una especie de tour turístico, es en una linea ordinaria del transporte urbano, así que sólo cuesta 2,10 €. Probablemente puede ser mejor comprar algún tipo de pase por varios viajes.

The Welcome Card is really convenient to move around Berlin: you can take one for 48 hours (16 euros) or 72 hours (22 euros) and it allows you unlimited trips in bus, train (s-bahn), underground (U-bahn) and tram. The best thing about this card is that you can use it in any area of the city, including airport stations or bus stops and even to visit Potsdam. Potsdam is located nearly 20 kms. far from Berlin, so it's a bargain to get there for such a convenient price. The single ticket of public transport costs 2,10 euros, so add your figures up and consider if you are interested in Welcome Card. For longer stays, the 7 days ticket is even more convenient.

La Welcome Card va muy bien para moverse por Berlin. Puedes sacar la de 48 horas (16euros) o la de 72 horas (22euros) y te permite viajes ilimitados en bus, tren (s-bahn), metro (u-bahn) y tranvia. Lo mejor de esta tarjeta es que la puedes usar en cualquier zona de la ciudad, incluidas las estaciones y autobuses de los aeropuertos e incluso para visitar Potsdam. Potsdam esta a casi 20 kms de Berlin, asi que es una ganga llegar alli por un precio tan bajo. El billete de transporte publico de un viaje cuesta 2,10 euros, asi que echa cuentas y considera si te interesa la Welcome Card. Para estancias mas largas, el billete de 7 dias es incluso mas conveniente.

Tickets for public transport are valid on all types of local public transport.

If you visit Berlin, it is highly recommended that you buy a card for public transport as Berlin is very very big. You are gonna make a very good use of daycards or multiple daycards. Additional advantage is that these kind of cards are also valid on Regional Trains, Regional Express Trains and Ferries, all within the Berlin zones.

The zones are A/B/C, the A zone is the citycenter, the B zone covers outlying area's including airport Schoenefeld and Tegel. The C area covers the outer limits, and the city of Potsdam.

Cardtypes you can use are:
Daycards (€6,- for zone ABC)
Weekcards ( €31,- for zone ABC)
Welcome card 48hr (€16,- for zone ABC + loads of discount coupons on tourist attractions)
Welcome card 72hr (€22,- for zone ABC + loads of discount coupons on tourist attractions)
CityTour card 48hr (€14,50, zone AB only, some addtional discounts on tourist attractions)
CityTour card 72hr (€18,90, zone AB only, some addtional discounts on tourist attractions)

If you stay for several days in Berlin, it is recommendable to get a card for zone A/B/C as Potsdam is a very recommendable daytrip.