Selected Travel Guide:		More Berlin Travel Guides:			Adjust Font Size:

Getting There By Air:

Berlin-Tegel (Otto Lilienthal) (TXL)
Tel: 0180 500 0186.
Website: www.berlin-airport.de

Berlin-Tegel is located in northwest Berlin, 8km (5 miles) from the city center.

Airport facilities: The airport offers several snack bars, a bistro, a champagne bar and a restaurant. Other facilities include a post office, bank/bureau de change, ATMs, florist, newsagents, duty-free shops, left luggage, 24-hour first aid, travel agents, tourist information and clothing shops. There are Mercure and Holiday Inn hotels near the airport. Car hire is available from Avis, Budget, Europcar, Hertz, Nationalcar and Sixt.

Business facilities: The LSG conference center (tel: (030) 4101 3316), located on the third floor, has four function rooms with a capacity of up to 150 people, as well as a media center with photocopier, fax, computers with Internet access and printers. Secretarial and translation services can be arranged. The GSS Airport Service Center (tel: (030) 4101 3434), opposite gates nine and 10, provides fax services for public use. There are also four business lounges in the airport, located in the Airport Gallery, above the main hall.

Transport to the city: The JetExpressBus TXL, operated by Berlin's public transport provider, BVG (see Getting Around), leaves the airport for Berlin Hauptbahnhof, Unter den Linden and Alexanderplatz (journey time - 30 to 40 minutes) every 20 minutes. Taxis are plentiful at the airport and there is a taxi rank immediately outside the arrivals' hall. The fare into Berlin is approximately €20.


Berlin-Schönefeld (SXF)
Tel: 0180 500 0186.
Website: www.berlin-airport.de

The airport (recently renamed Berlin Brandenburg Airport, but still referred to as Schönefeld), is located in the southeast of the city, 18km (11 miles) and 22km (13.5 miles) from the Eastern and Western centers respectively. Schönefeld was the primary airport for East Berlin and now handles flights mainly to Eastern Europe and Asia, as well as many charter flights to summer destinations. It is due to expand to become Berlin Brandenburg International (BBI), Berlin's new transport hub.

Airport facilities: The airport has a restaurant, bars, bank/bureau de change, ATMs, newsagents, duty-free shop and first-aid facilities. Services available 24 hours a day include left luggage, snack bar, and hotel reservations. There are Airport hotel and Albergo hotels located near the airport. Car hire is available from Avis, Budget, Europcar, Hertz and Sixt.

Business facilities: As well as one business lounge on the second floor in Terminal A (tel: (030) 6091 6036), conference rooms are available at the Konferenzzentrum Flughafen Berlin-Schönefeld GmbH (tel: (030) 6091 2222), a 10-minute walk from the terminal. Fax facilities are available at the information desk in Terminal A.

Transport to the city: The easiest way for visitors to get into the city is with the AirportExpress Schönefeld train, which is operated by DB (see Getting There by Rail) and runs daily every 30 minutes. The train terminates at Hauptbahnhof (journey time - 30 minutes). The airport station is located 0.5km (0.3 miles) from the airport. The station is also served by S-Bahn trains 9 and 45, as well as some mainline and local rail services. Bus 171 connects the airport with the U7 U-Bahn line at Rudow. Taxis are available 24 hours a day and cost approximately €30 (journey time - 30 minutes).

Approximate flight times to Berlin: From London is 1 hour 45 minutes; from New York is 8 hours 25 minutes; from Los Angeles is 11 hours 45 minutes; from Toronto is 8 hours 30 minutes and from Sydney is 21 hours 55 minutes.

Getting There By Road:

Germany is covered by an excellent and extensive system of major roads (prefixed ’B’) and motorways (prefixed ’A’ for Autobahn). There are no tolls or speed limits on the Autobahnen but a maximum of 130kph (81mph) is recommended. Speed limits are 130kph (81mph) or 100kph (62mph) on major and minor roads outside the cities and 50kph (30mph) in built-up areas. Traffic drives on the right. Seat belts must be worn at all times and children under 12 are forbidden to travel in the front seat without a child restraint.

The minimum age for driving is 18 years. Foreign drivers require proof of insurance and their national driving license. A Green Card is strongly recommended. A country identification sticker is compulsory. The legal maximum alcohol to blood ratio for driving is 0.05%, while that for drivers aged below 21 or drivers who have held their license for less than 2 years is 0%. Leaded petrol is unavailable; unleaded petrol with a lead additive can be found at some petrol stations.

The Allgemeine Deutsche Automobil Club - ADAC (tel: 0180 510 1112; website: www.adac.de) provides breakdown services throughout the country. In the Berlin area, Auto Club Europa - ACE (tel: 0180 233 6677; website: www.ace-online.de) can also offer assistance.

Emergency breakdown services: ADAC (tel: 0180 222 2222) or ACE (tel: 0180 234 3536).

Routes to the city: The A10 is an orbital motorway that encircles the city. The A111 and A115 connect this to the A100 - which wraps part way around the Western center - from the north and south, respectively. The main roads leading to Berlin from outside the orbital are the A24 (from Hamburg), A9 (from Leipzig and Munich), the A113 (from Dresden), A12 (from the Polish border) and A2 (from Hanover, from where the A7 connects to the A5 toward Frankfurt am Main in the south).

Approximate driving times to Berlin: From Hamburg - 3 hours 15 minutes; Dresden - 2 hours 25 minutes; Frankfurt am Main - 5 hours 50 minutes.

Coach services: Eurolines (tel: 0870 580 8080, in the UK only; website: www.eurolines.com) international coach services cover 500 destinations including Paris, Strasbourg, Vienna and London, and more locally, Frankfurt, Hamburg and Hanover. Berlin Linien Bus (tel: (030) 861 9331; website; www.berlinlinienbus.de) also runs these national and international services. Buses on both international and domestic routes arrive at the Zentraler Omnibusbahnhof (ZOB) Messedamm in Charlottenburg, near the International Congress Center (ICC). The station has a restaurant and snack bar; information and tickets are available from the DTG Ticket Center, Kaiserdamm 30 (tel: (030) 306 7210) and at the ZOB Reiseburo (tel: (030) 301 0380; website: www.zob-reisebuero.de). Taxis are available and the U-Bahn Kaiserdamm and S-Bahn Witzleben stations are located nearby.

Getting There By Rail:

Deutsche Bahn (tel: 0800 099 6633; website: www.bahn.de or www.bahn.co.uk, UK reservations), Germany’s national rail service provider, operates a comprehensive and efficient rail service, including high-speed InterCityExpress (ICE) trains. There is a national railway enquiries line (tel: 11861, in Germany only, or 0180 599 6633).

The main station is the massive new Berlin Hauptbahnhof, Europaplatz (website: www.hbf-berlin.de), Europe’s largest station linking east/west and north/south lines in the city center. Facilities include a travel center, tourist information, lounge, bank, restaurant, food halls, cafe, shops, florist, newsagents, pharmacy, optician, hairdresser and left luggage. Gusundrunnen station to the north provides rail links to the Baltic. The other major mainline stations are Bahnhof Lichtenberg, Weitlingstrasse 22, and Ostbahnhof, Am Ostbahnhof 9, in East Berlin. Some mainline services also stop at Bahnhof Spandau, to the west, and Bahnhof Sudkreuz, in the south.

Rail services: Berlin is part of the InterCityExpress (ICE) network, with super-fast trains to Hanover (journey time - 1 hour 40 minutes) and Frankfurt am Main (journey time - 3 hours 40 minutes). ICE trains also go to Hamburg (journey time about 1 hour 40 minutes). An expanding web of high-speed trains serves destinations across Western Europe. Supplements are incurred for travel on ICE, IC and EC trains.

Getting Around:



Public Transport
Berlin has a highly integrated transport system comprising U-Bahn (underground), S-Bahn (commuter rail), bus, tram and ferry services, with easy connections to regional and mainline rail services. The Verkehrsverbund Berlin-Brandenburg (VBB), Hardenbergplatz 2 (tel: (030) 2541 4141; website: www.vbbonline.de), co-ordinates activities among the Berlin transport providers and those of the surrounding region.

Berlin’s Eastern and Western city centers are linked by the main east-west axis of the S-Bahn, which is crossed by the north-south lines at Bahnhof Friedrichstrasse and intersects the S-Bahn ring at Bahnhof Westkreuz and Bahnhof Ostkreuz. Operated by S-Bahn Berlin GmbH (tel: (030) 2974 3333; website: www.s-bahn-berlin.de), the trains run daily 0500 to 0030.

The other public transport services are operated by the Berliner Verkehrsbetriebe - BVG (tel: (030) 19449; website: www.bvg.de) and generally run daily 0600 to 2300. There are nine U-Bahn lines, which operate daily 0600 to 0000 with some services during the night. Bus services crisscross the city, and night buses operate when trains are not running, while the network of 27 trams only operates in East Berlin. There are three seasonal and three year-round ferry services to the ports of Hamburg, Kiel, Lubeck and Rostock, which are linked by road and rail to Berlin. The BVG has an information center in the pavilion at Hardenbergplatz, in front of Bahnhof Zoo, as well as counters at Tegel and Schönefeld airports and at Turmstrasse U-Bahn station.

Tickets are priced for either two or three zones - almost all visitors will use the AB tariff. Nearly all tickets are available for purchase from automated machines at stations and stops, as well as from service desks and, in the case of buses, from the driver. Bus drivers only sell day tickets and two-hour tickets.

A number of passes are also available. You can buy day tickets valid until 0300 on the following day of purchase and seven-day tickets valid until 0000 on the seventh day. The WelcomeCard (see Sightseeing), available from the tourist office covers free travel on all buses and trains in zones A and B for one adult and up to three children under 14 and also includes reductions on many attractions and performances in Berlin and Potsdam. The City Tour Card combines transport in zones A and B and an advantage card for around 50 tourist attractions. It is available for 48 or 72 hours.

Taxis
Beige Mercedes-Benz sedans make up most of Berlin’s taxi fleet. Outside the main centers, it is better for visitors to find a taxi rank rather than try to flag one down. Taxis are also available by telephone from Taxi-Funk Berlin (tel: (030) 443 322; website: www.spreefunk.de), Würfelfunk (tel: (030) 210 101 or 0800 222 2255; website: www.wuerfelfunk.de) and Alt Ursel (tel: (030) 744 4592). It is standard for passengers to tip taxi drivers, usually between 5 and 10% of the fare.

Driving in the City
Berlin has an excellent public transport system, so it should not be necessary to drive in the city. The city center is now a ’Particle Free Emission’ area and drivers must display a specially approved sticker or risk a fine. The ticket is available from Umwelt Plakette (website: www.umwelt-plakette.de).

Car Hire
All of the major car hire firms are represented in Berlin and all have multiple locations throughout the city. Some of the most central are Avis, Budapester Strasse 41 (tel: (030) 230 9370; website: www.avis.com), Europcar, Alexanderplatz 24H (tel: (030) 240 7900) and Messedamm 8 (tel: (030) 306 9590; website: www.europcar.de), Hertz, Budapester Strasse 39 (tel: (030) 261 1053) and Hauptbahnof, Europaplatz 1 (tel: (030) 2064 9328; website: www.hertz.com), and Sixt, Leipzigerstrasse 104 (tel: 18052 52525; website: www.sixt.com).

Drivers usually must be over 23 years old and require a valid national driving license. Third party insurance is included in the rate.

Bicycle Hire
Bicycles are plentiful in Berlin - the flat terrain and extensive network of bicycle paths make cycling in the city a pleasure. Cycling maps, information and assistance are available at Das Radlerzentrum, run by the cycling lobby group Allgemeine Deutscher Fahrrad-Club (ADFC), Brunnenstrasse 28 (tel: (030) 448 4724; website: www.adfc-berlin.de). Bicycle hire is available from Berlin by bike-Fahrradstation (tel: 0180 510 8000; website: www.fahrradstation.de), which has offices at Goethestrasse 46, Auguststrasse 29A, Leipziger Strasse 56 and Bergmannstrasse 9. You can also hire bikes left at stands at major junctions in the city from the Call a Bike service (tel: 0700 0522 5522; website: www.callabike.de). You call the company, give them credit card details and get a code to unlock the padlock. Pre-register one week in advance.

Related Berlin Content

Related Germany Content

Germany Airport Guides: Berlin-Tegel Cologne - Bonn Düsseldorf International Frankfurt Hamburg Hanover Munich Stuttgart	Germany City Guides: Berlin City Guide Cologne City Guide Dusseldorf City Guide Frankfurt City Guide Hamburg City Guide Hanover City Guide Munich City Guide Stuttgart City Guide
Germany Attraction Guides:
Brandenburg Gate (Brandenburger Tor) Checkpoint Charlie Museum (Haus am Checkpoint Charlie) Cologne Cathedral (Kolner Dom) English Garden (Englischer Garten) Freiburg Cathedral (Freiburger Kathedrale) German Parliament (Reichstag)	Heidelberg Castle (Schloss Heidelberg) Jewish Museum Berlin Munich Residence (Residenz Munchen) Neuschwanstein Castle (Schloss Neuschwanstein) Pergamon Museum (Pergamonmuseum) Sanssouci Palace (Schloss Sanssouci)
Available Tours to Germany: iExplore Northern Germany Experience -  $4695, 8 days iExplore Southern Germany Experience -  $4595, 7 days Dolomites Trek -  $1818, 8 days