Visitors to Berlin can save on public transportation tickets, admission fees to popular sights, restaurants, culture, and entertainment by using the Berlin Welcome Card or the Berlin City Tour Card. These two discount passes allows for unlimited travel on Berlin’s comprehensive public transportation system (including buses, trams, trains, and ferries) and discounts of at least 25% on city tours, boat cruises, museum and top sightseeing sites admission fees, discounts on restaurant meals, and entertainment.
Save with the Berlin Welcome Card and the Berlin City Tour Card
For a city with over 30 different kind of public transportation tickets, having a single discount card for tourists was always going to be too simple. Berlin thus has two major tourist discount passes: the Berlin Welcome Card and the Berlin City Tour Card. The Berlin Welcome Card and Berlin City Tour Card are very similar and similarly priced but the slightly more expensive Berlin Welcome Card generally gives the best value.
Both Berlin discount cards include unlimited use of public transportation and give discount to various sights, restaurants, tours, and entertainment. Both cards are available with validities of 48 hours, 72 hours, or five days. (Note that the five day card expires midnight on the fifth day, irrespective of what hour it was originally validated.)
Both savings passes come in Berlin public transportation zone AB and ABC zone versions. Families can save by buying the ABC zone card. In contrast to the AB zone cards, the ABC zone cards allow up to three children age 6 to 14 to travel for free with a parent bearing either the Berlin Welcome Card or the Berlin City Tour Card. Children under six (as well as one dog per card holder) travel for free.
Differences between the Berlin Welcome and City Tour Cards
The main differences between the Berlin City Tour Card and the Berlin Welcome Card are that the Welcome Card gives discounts at over 300 partners and the City Tour Card at just over 50. The Welcome Card comes with a 150-page guidebook while the City Tour Card comes with a fold out brochure and map.
The Berlin Welcome Card is marginally more expensive than the Berlin City Tour Card but is valid at many more attractions and often gives bigger discounts. Most visitors will probably find the best deal by using the Berlin Welcome Card.
Buying the Berlin City Tour Card & Berlin Welcome Card
The Berlin City Tour Card with a fold-out brochure and map is available from BVG (Berlin bus) and S-Bahn ticket offices as well as around 300 hotels in Berlin. If the ticket is bought from vending machines or from bus drivers, the brochure can be collected later from a BVG or S-Bahn ticket office.
The Berlin Welcome Card is generally available from the same venues as well as from the Berlin Tourist Information Offices and DB German Railways ticket windows. The five-day Berlin Welcome Card cannot be bought on buses or from vending machines.
The Welcome Card can conveniently also be bought on arrival in Berlin at:
- Berlin Hauptbahnhof (Main Train Station) from the Berlin Info Store (Ground Level, Europa Platz exit);
- Berlin-Tegel Airport (TXL) from Rewe Touristik Flughafenservice at Gate 9; and
- Berlin-Schönefeld Airport (SXF) from Tourist Information Berlin-Brandenburg.
The Berlin Welcome Card in its 48h / 72 h / 5 day versions cost for zone AB €16.90 / €22.90 / €29.90 and for zones ABC €18.90 / €25.90 / €34.90. The Berlin City Tour Card is generally €1 cheaper. (The ABC card is sometimes referred to as Berlin-Potsdam as it includes transportation to and discounts on sights in Potsdam and Oranienburg as well.)
Discounts Offered by the Berlin Welcome & City Tour Cards
The largest portions of the Berlin Welcome Cards and Berlin City Tour Cards are for public transportation. However, further savings can be significant too. Discounts of at least 25% are given on admission ticket prices at many museums including the DDR, German History, German Technology, Wall, and Berlin Jewish Museum.
Discount pass holders can generally also save at least 25% on city sightseeing bus tours of Berlin and cruises on the Spree River and other Berlin waterways. Similar discounts are granted to most walking and cycling tours including the very popular English Berlin Walks and Berlin on Bike tours. The biggest single discounts are for theatre shows but it may be difficult to actually cash in on these discounts as the tickets can usually only be bought on the same day or a few days in advance.
The Berlin Welcome Card and City Tour Card are generally good value for money. The difference between two standard Berlin public transportation day tickets and the 48h tourist discount cards can easily be made up by the savings offered on a single admission to Madame Tussauds Berlin, or a visit to two or three other museums. See also Tips on Public Transportation Tickets in Berlin for more ideas on how to use the buses and trains in Berlin as well as suggested bus routes that passes by Berlin's top sights.
Henk Bekker - Henk Bekker is a freelance travel writer currently living on the shores of Lake Geneva in Switzerland.
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