Public transport in Berlin: tickets, airport, lines
Berlin runs on rails: the U-Bahn mostly underground, the S-Bahn on viaducts and embankments, trams in the eastern districts and buses filling the gaps. One ticket covers all of them within the zones you pay for. Zone A is everything inside the S-Bahn ring, B the rest of the city, and C the surrounding area, including Potsdam, Oranienburg and BER airport. Berlin has no free transport ticket for hotel guests, so you need a ticket from your first ride.
From BER airport into the city
- Airport Express (FEX)
- The fastest way to the centre: a regional train from the airport station to Südkreuz, Potsdamer Platz and Berlin Hauptbahnhof, on an ordinary VBB ticket.
- S-Bahn S9 and S85
- Between them they leave the airport about every ten minutes. The S9 is slower than the FEX but runs without a change to Ostkreuz, Warschauer Straße, Alexanderplatz, Friedrichstraße and Zoologischer Garten.
- Express buses and taxis
- The X7 and X71 run to Rudow, the end of the U7, in about 20 min; handy for Neukölln and the south. A taxi to the centre costs about €60 to €70 and takes 35 to 45 min, depending on traffic.
BER is in zone C, so the trip into town needs an ABC ticket: €5 for a single or €12.90 for 24 hours. An AB ticket is not valid at the airport, and inspectors do check. The S-Bahn Berlin airport page lists every link with its timetable.
Which ticket to buy
| Your stay | Ticket | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Your stayOne journey | TicketSingle ticket AB: two hours in one direction, changes allowed, no return trips | Price€4 |
| Your stayA few stops | TicketShort-trip ticket: three S-Bahn or U-Bahn stations with changes, or six tram or bus stops without | Price€2.80 |
| Your stayA day of sightseeing | Ticket24-hour ticket AB: unlimited travel for 24 hours from validation, up to three children aged 6 to 14 included | Price€11.20 |
| Your stayOne or two rides a day | Ticket4-trip ticket AB: four single journeys at a lower price | Price€12.40 |
| Your stayTwo days with discounts | TicketBerlin WelcomeCard 48 hours AB: transport plus reductions at sights, tours and restaurants | Price€28.50 |
| Your stayThree days with discounts | TicketBerlin WelcomeCard 72 hours AB | Price€39.50 |
For most visitors the 24-hour ticket is the one to buy. It pays for itself by the third ride, and up to three children aged 6 to 14 travel on it with you; children under 6 always ride free. If you mostly walk and ride only once or twice a day, the 4-trip ticket at €12.40 saves €3.60 on four singles.
The Berlin WelcomeCard is the city's tourist card: public transport for 48 hours (€28.50, or €34.50 including the airport) or 72 hours (€39.50), plus discounts at sights. Two 24-hour tickets cost less than the 48-hour card, so it only pays off if you use the discounts. The Museum Island version, €62 for 72 hours, adds one visit a day to the Altes Museum, Neues Museum, Alte Nationalgalerie and Bode-Museum; with two museum days it costs less than the separate tickets. An all-inclusive version with free entry to more than 25 sights is described on the WelcomeCard website. If museums are your main interest and you are happy to walk, compare the Museum Pass Berlin at €32: more than 30 museums on three consecutive days, without transport.
Staying a week or longer? The Deutschlandticket, €63 a month, covers all local and regional transport in Germany, including the regional trains to Potsdam, Lübbenau and Wittenberg, but not IC, EC or ICE trains. It is a subscription that renews each month until you cancel it. For a group day out, the Brandenburg-Berlin-Ticket at €36.50 takes up to five people on the trains and buses of Berlin and Brandenburg for a day, from 9 am on weekdays and all day at weekends.
Stamp paper tickets in the validators on the platform or on board buses and trams before you travel; tickets bought in the BVG app are ready to use. There are no barriers, but plain-clothes inspectors do check. Current fares are on the BVG website, and the zones are explained on its fare zone page.
U-Bahn lines that take you to the sights
- U1 Runs on a viaduct through Kreuzberg: from Warschauer Straße over the Oberbaum Bridge, past Kottbusser Tor and west to Wittenbergplatz and the Kurfürstendamm. The ride is a sight in itself.
- U2 Links the eastern and western centres: Prenzlauer Berg, Alexanderplatz, Potsdamer Platz, Wittenbergplatz for KaDeWe and Zoologischer Garten.
- U5 The sightseeing line through Mitte: Alexanderplatz, Rotes Rathaus, Museumsinsel, Unter den Linden, Brandenburger Tor, Bundestag and the main station; eastwards it runs under Karl-Marx-Allee.
- U6 North to south through Friedrichstraße, Unter den Linden, Stadtmitte for Gendarmenmarkt and Kochstraße for Checkpoint Charlie, then on to Mehringdamm in Kreuzberg and Tempelhof.
- U8 From Bernauer Straße, by the Wall memorial, through Rosenthaler Platz and Alexanderplatz to Kottbusser Tor and Hermannplatz in Neukölln.
- S-Bahn: the S3, S5, S7 and S9 cross the city from east to west on the old brick viaduct, through Ostkreuz, Alexanderplatz, Hackescher Markt, Friedrichstraße, the main station and Zoologischer Garten; the S7 continues to Potsdam. The S1, S2, S25 and S26 run north to south through Friedrichstraße, Brandenburger Tor and Potsdamer Platz, and the S1 goes on to Oranienburg. The ring lines S41 and S42 circle the inner city in opposite directions.
On most nights the trains run from about 4 am until about 1.30 am, and night buses cover the hours in between. On Friday and Saturday nights the U-Bahn and S-Bahn run right through the night. The BVG app shows the night network and live departures.
The U-Bahn and S-Bahn network plan
BVG publishes the official network plan as a PDF, with every U-Bahn, S-Bahn and regional line and the boundaries of zones A, B and C. Save it to your phone before you arrive; it is the quickest way to see whether a journey takes you into zone C.