Public transport

The Berlin WelcomeCard as your ticket

The Berlin WelcomeCard is your ticket for Berlin's public transport. Depending on the zone you choose, it's valid in AB (city area) or ABC (also BER Airport, Potsdam and Oranienburg), and covers U-Bahn (metro), S-Bahn (suburban trains), bus, tram, regional trains within its coverage area, and the BVG ferries. It isn't valid on long-distance trains (IC/ICE) or sightseeing buses. Within its validity period, you can travel as often as you like - whether that's 48 hours, 72 hours, or 4 to 6 days.

Zone AB or ABC

Berlin is split into three zones. A is the inner city within the S-Bahn ring, B reaches to the city boundary, and C covers the surrounding area - including BER Airport, Potsdam and Oranienburg. For anything within the city, AB is enough. As soon as you're travelling to or from the airport, or planning a trip to Potsdam, you need ABC. An AB card can not be upgraded to Zone C afterwards, so decide before you buy.

Activation and validity

Before your first journey, validate the printed card once at a validator on the platform or on the bus. If the printout already carries a fixed start time, it's valid from that time and doesn't need to be validated.

• 48 and 72 hours run on a rolling basis from validation. Validate at 15:00 on Friday, and the 48-hour card is valid until 15:00 on Sunday.
• 4, 5 and 6 days run by calendar day and end at midnight on the last day.

With one card, you can bring up to three children aged 6 to 14 free of charge; children under 6 always travel free. When checked, simply show the card - travelling without a valid ticket means a penalty fare.

Timetable and app

The BVG Fahrinfo app (free for iOS and Android) plans journeys with real-time departures. Operating hours: U-Bahn and S-Bahn trains run roughly from 5:00 to 0:30. On the nights from Friday to Saturday and Saturday to Sunday, most lines run all night. On weeknights, night buses and a few night trams take over.

Key lines for visitors

• BER Airport: with the ABC card, you can reach the centre in around 30 minutes on the FEX express train, or about 40 minutes on the S9 or S45. The station sits directly beneath Terminal 1/2.
• Sights: reach the Brandenburg Gate via the U5 and S-Bahn, the TV Tower via Alexanderplatz, and the East Side Gallery via Warschauer Straße or Ostbahnhof.
• The cheapest sightseeing tour: bus route 100 runs from Zoologischer Garten to Alexanderplatz, passing the Victory Column, Bellevue Palace, the Reichstag, the Brandenburg Gate and Museum Island - at no extra cost with the WelcomeCard, with the best views from the upper deck.
• Ferries: the F10 across the Wannsee to Alt-Kladow is part of the BVG network and so included with the card - a half-hour boat trip for the price of a normal fare.