Berlin Travel Guide

Getting There

Air

Currently three major airports service Berlin: The northwestern Airport Berlin-Tegel (TXL) (+49 1805 00 0186 / http://www.berlin-airport.de/); the southeastern Airport Berlin-Schönefeld (+49 1805 00 0186 / http://www.berlin-airport.de/); and the central Airport Berlin-Tempelhof (+49 1805 00 0186 / http://www.berlin-airport.de/). The former Central Airport of the GDR (Schönefeld) is being expanded to become the Berlin Brandenburg International Airport. After it opens in 2011, the downtown airports in Tegel and Tempelhof will be closed.

Airport Berlin-Tegel

Air Berlin (+49 1805 737 800 / http://www.airberlin.com/) Air France (+49 1805 830 830 / http://www.airfrance.com/) Air Italy (+356 2364 5300 / http://www.airitaly.eu/) British Airways (+49 180 5 26 65 22 / http://www.ba.com/) Condor (+49 180 5 767 757 / http://www11.condor.com/) Continental Airlines (+49 180 3 21 26 10 / http://www.continental.com/) Delta Airlines (+49 180 333 7880 / http://www.delta.com/) Eurowings (http://www.eurowings.de/) Finnair (+49 180 3 34 66 24 / http://www.finnair.com/) Germania (+49 1805 737 100 / http://www.germania.aero/) Iberia (+49 1805 44 29 00 / http://www.iberia.com/de/) LTU International Airways (+49 30 4101 3601 / http://www.ltu.de/) Lufthansa (+49 180 3 80 38 03 / http://www.lufthansa.com/) SAS (+49 1805 117 002 / http://www.flysas.com/) Swiss International Air Lines (+49 30 4101 2764 / http://www.swiss.com/) TUIfly.com (+49 900 109 95 95 / http://www.tuifly.com/)

Airport Berlin-Schönefeld:

Aer Lingus (+49 89 552 533 53 / http://www.aerlingus.com/) Condor (+49 180 5 767 757 / http://www.condor.com)/ Easyjet (+49 900 1100 161 / http://www.easyjet.com/) Germanwings (+49 900 19 19 100 / http://www.germanwings.com/) Icelandair (+49 69 29 99 78 / http://www.icelandair.de/) LTU International Airways (+49 30 6091 3898 / http://www.ltu.de/) Norwegian (+47 815 21 815 / http://www.norwegian.no/) Ryanair (+49 900 116 0500 / http://www.ryanair.com/) Sky Airlines (+90 242 3108500 / http://www.skyairlines.net/) Transavia (+49 695 09 85 446 / http://www.transavia.com/)

Airport Berlin-Tempelhof

Brussels Airlines (+49 30 6951 3850 / http://www.brusselsairlines.com/) InterSky (+49 30 6951 2686 / http://www.intersky.biz/) LGW Luftfahrt-Gesellschaft Walter (+49 30 6951 2681 / http://www.lgw.de/)

From the Airport

Airport Berlin-Tegel

Public Transport: It's easy to find public transportation connections from Tegel to the heart of the city: The buses 109 or express X9 will take you to Zoologischer Garten. From here you can connect by bus, U-Bahn (subway) or S-Bahn (tram) to anywhere in the city. Tickets are valid for two hours for all public transport. Stops are located outside of the terminal. For visitors from Dresden, Leipzig, and Magdeburg, the airport offers a special shuttle service that will take you to your destination and back. However, you have to book in advance under http://www.berlin-airport.de/.

Taxi: Taxis can be found at ground level outside of Terminal A and Terminal C. Companies include: Taxi-Ruf Würfelfunk "0800-Cabcall" AG: +49 800 222 22 55 Quality Taxi: +49 800 26 300 00 Funk Taxi Berlin: +49 30 26 10 26 TaxiFunk Berlin GmbH: +49 30 44 33 22 Even though most taxi drivers speak English, it shouldn't be expected

Car Rental: The car rental counter is located near parking space P2. Avis (+49 30 4101-3148 / http://www.avis.de/) Budget (+49 30 4101-3364 /http://www.budget.de/) Europcar (+49 30 418520 / http://www.europcar.de/) Hertz (+49 30 4704674 / http://www.hertz.de/) Nationalcar (+49 30 4101-3383 / http://www.nationalcar.de/) SIXT (+49 1805 252525 / http://www.sixt.de/)

Airport Berlin-Schönefeld

Public Transport: From the airport's train station (located 400 meters/0.2 miles north), you have easy access to the subway (S9) that will take you to many of the downtown locations, such as Ostkreuz, Ostbahnhof, Alexanderplatz, Hackescher Markt, Hauptbahnhof, and Zoologischer Garten. If you want to reach Schöneberg, Charlottenburg, or the Westkreuz, S45 will take you to these destinations. A wide range of buses depart from the airport (some of them even directly in front of the terminals): X7, 162, 163, 171, 734, 736, N60, N71

Taxi: Taxis are located either directly outside of the terminals or outside of the train station. For a list of companies and phone numbers, see above.

Train: At the train station, you have access to the Deutsche Bahn (DB), which will take you to other German cities. However the Intercity Express (ICE) does not service this station, only the slower, regional train. Trains serving this station are RE7, RB22, and RB14. To reach other major German or European cities by train, the nearest stop is Ostbahnhof.

Car Rental: Avis (+49 30 6091-5710 / http://www.avis.de/) Budget (+49 30 6091-5700 / http://www.budget.de/) Europcar (+49 30 6349160 / http://www.europcar.de/) Hertz (+49 30 6091-5730 / http://www.hertz.de/) E-Sixt (+49 1805 252525 / http://www.e-sixt.de/)

Airport Berlin-Tempelhof

Public Transport: Airport Berlin-Tempelhof is the most central airport of the city with easy access to the subway U6 at the Platz der Luftbrücke. From there it will take you about 15 minutes to reach the city center at Friedrichstraße from where you have access to subway lines serving Zoologischer Garten, Alexanderplatz, Ostbahnhof, Ostkreuz, and Westkreuz. Various bus stops are located outside of the airport where you have access to the 104 and the 248.

Taxi: Taxis are located in front of the airport at the Platz der Luftbrücke. For a list of companies, see above.

Car Rental: Avis (+49 30 6951 2444 or +49 30 6581 2340 / http://www.avis.de/) Europcar (+49 30 6904 700 / http://www.europcar.de/) Hertz (+49 30 6981 9892 / http://www.hertz.de/) SIXT (+49 1805 252525 / http://www.sixt.de/)

Since May 2006, the central station Berlin Hauptbahnhof is located in Berlin Mitte. From there, travelers are able to reach their final destination in Berlin by using public transport for free if they have a valid Deutsche Bahn (DB) train ticket. Deutsche Bahn (http://www.bahn.de/) is Germany's national railway, offering a comprehensive service to German and other European destinations. Tickets are expensive if you pay full fare, but the DB does have a range of specials which make train travel more economical. Schedules can be found on their website. Special fares to watch out for include: Schönes Wochenende Ticket (Happy Week-end Ticket): EUR33/35. On Saturdays or Sundays, unlimited travel for up to five adults on any regional train in Germany. Brandenburg Ticket: EUR27/29. One day unlimited travel within Berlin and Brandenburg for up to five adults. Brandenburg-Berlin Guten Abend Ticket (Brandenburg-Berlin-Ticket Night): EUR21. It is valid from Monday to Sunday for one day of your choice from 9a until 3a of the following day.

Bus The Central Bus Station (Zentraler Omnibusbahnhof (ZOB)), from which all intercity services depart, is located in the west of city. From here you catch the U2 at Messe Nord/ICC (direction Vinetastraße/Pankow) to get to the city center. The following bus companies have regular departures from the ZOB to all major German & European cites: Berlinien Bus (+49 30 302 5361 / http:// www.berlinienbus.de/) Gullivers Reisen GmbH (+49 30 89 0660 / http:// www.gullivers.de/)

Car Berlin can be accessed by the Autobahn, Straße des 17. Juni, Bismarckstraße, Tauentzienstraße, Potsdamer Straße and Brandenburgische Straße.

Getting Around

Public Transport Berliner Verkehrsbetriebe (http://www.bvg.de/) operates nine underground lines (U-Bahn), 28 tram lines (S-Bahn), 163 bus lines and six ferries. Single Tickets start at EUR2.10, Day Passes at EUR6.10 and 7-Day Cards at EUR25.40. See the website for details. For information on public transportation visit: (http://www.berliner-verkehr.de/traffic.htm/) Berlin Linien Bus (http://www.berlinlinienbus.de/)

Bike In comparison to other German cities, locals find the motorist/cyclist relationship in Berlin rather hostile. For some, however, Berlin is bicycle heaven - wide streets, reserved (and respected) bike lanes. Bicycle Station provides bike rentals and tours of Berlin. For more information visit: Pedal Power (http://pedalpower.de/).2008-08-02T07:29:22.000 9