Getting Around Berlin: Transport, Airport Transfers and Where to Leave Your Bag

The airport sits in zone C, so the ticket you need from BER is an ABC single at €5.00, valid for two hours. The in-between BC fare no longer exists: it was scrapped on 1 January 2026, and VBB says the 7-day card went with it, while a basic Berlin single rose to €4.00. The Airport Express (FEX) now reaches Hauptbahnhof in 23 minutes, and older advice may still name trains the airport no longer lists. Prices below were checked in October 2026.

Disclosure: Ciceru earns a commission if you book luggage storage through its Radical Storage link, and you get 10% off. It does not change what is recommended.

Once the bag is dropped, Berlin Through the Ages is a self-guided walk in the Ciceru app, with a story and a quiz question at each stop and a free 500 MB global eSIM. It costs €7, covers 4 km and takes about 2 hours.

• Airport to centre: FEX to Hauptbahnhof in about 23 minutes, or S9 and S85 every 20 minutes, all on the €5.00 ABC single
• Normal rides: €4.00 for a single inside zones A and B, valid 2 hours in one direction. Short trip €2.80
• Best ticket: the 24-hour card (€11.20 AB, €12.90 ABC) from the fourth ride in a day, otherwise the 4-trip card at €12.40
• Deutschlandticket: €63 a month, only worth it for a week or more of heavy use
• Luggage: Hauptbahnhof lockers cost €4 or €6 for 24 hours, coins only. Radical Storage fills the gaps

• 💶 4-trip card, €12.40 AB (€16.80 ABC): works out at €3.10 a ride, or €4.20 on ABC. Best if you take three rides or fewer in a day
• 💶 24-hour card, €11.20 AB, €12.90 ABC: runs for 24 hours from validation. Three singles already cost €12.00, so it wins from the third ride, and beats the 4-trip card from the fourth
• 💶 Small group card, €35.30 AB, €37.70 ABC: up to five people on one ticket
• 💶 Berlin WelcomeCard 48h, €28.50 AB, €34.50 ABC: includes up to 50% off at more than 170 partners. Two 24-hour AB cards cost €22.40, so you pay €6.10 more for the discounts. Only worth it if you will use them
• 💶 Deutschlandticket, €63 a month: unlimited local and regional trains across Germany, BER included. BVG says it pays off from about four journeys a week. It is a monthly subscription that you can cancel at the end of a month, so it makes no sense for a weekend

The arrival-day trick: the airport ride on ABC is €5.00, so a 24-hour ABC card at €12.90 beats an airport single plus two more rides in the city (€13.00).

The 7-day card is gone. VBB says it stopped selling 7-day cards and 10-hour cards from 2026, and its 2027 fare list has no 7-day ticket. BVG's tourist page still mentions one, so check in the app, but plan around a 24-hour card and the Deutschlandticket for a week.

Fares rise again on 1 January 2027: ABC single to €5.20, 24-hour AB card to €11.50, 4-trip AB to €13.20. The AB single stays at €4.00. More on costs in Berlin on a budget.

• Paper tickets must be stamped at the yellow or red validators on the platform or in the vehicle before you ride. A 4-trip card has two sections and each must be stamped separately
• Digital tickets must be activated in the app before you start, not on the platform with the train arriving
• No ticket, or an unstamped one, costs €60. On the spot you can pay only by card, not cash. Inspectors check tickets with smartphones
• An AB ticket does not cover BER. Using one to the airport is the classic way to a €60 fine
• Old tickets: pre-2026 tickets could be used or exchanged only until 30 June 2026, so one from a drawer is no good now
• Bikes need their own ticket: €1.90 for a short trip, €5.90 for 24 hours in AB.

Berlin has no single centre, so plan by area rather than by distance. The sights around Unter den Linden and the Brandenburg Gate sit close enough to walk in one go, and a 4 km route covers them in about 2 hours. Between districts, ride the U-Bahn or S-Bahn, with a €2.80 short trip for a few stops. For how the districts fit together, read Berlin Explained.

Station lockers first. Deutsche Bahn publishes sizes and prices per station. All of them are coins only, so bring change.

• 🚉 Hauptbahnhof: Europaplatz 1. Small (24 x 42 x 76 cm) €4 for 24 hours or €2 for 2 hours. Large (44 x 61 x 93 cm) €6 for 24 hours or €3 for 2 hours. Berlin.de places them on the second basement level near the car park link and on the first floor near the escalators to platforms 13 and 14
• 🚉 Ostbahnhof: Koppenstrasse 3. Small €3, large €5, 24 hours maximum
• 🚉 Zoologischer Garten: small €4, medium €6, large (47 x 96 x 93 cm) €7.50, 24 hours. No trains run on tracks 1 to 4 until 12 December 2026
• 🚉 Südkreuz: General-Pape-Strasse 1. Small €3, large €5, only 87 lockers in total

The station pages publish no opening hours, so check before a late pick-up.

BER airport: berlin.de says luggage storage is in the Terminal 1 and 2 railway station area on level U1, by the hour or day. The airport's own pages do not list a price, so check the rate and hours before you go.

Where Radical Storage wins: Radical Storage lists 235 verified spots across Berlin from €1.90 a bag a day, with no size or weight limit and a €10,000 guarantee. Use it when you have no coins, when a case is too big for a large locker, or when you need more than 24 hours, the limit at the station lockers. Ten per cent off with Ciceru's link.

Licensed taxis wait at two ranks at Terminal 1, level E0, north and south. The airport warns against vehicles outside the marked ranks.

The taxi industry's tariff page lists no fixed airport fare. It lists a base fare of €4.30, then from BER €2.60 a km for the first 5 km and €2.00 after, with a €1.50 surcharge at some airport pick-up points. For a ride of about 25 km, an estimate of the distance to the centre, that is roughly €55 to €60 on the meter. Card payment costs nothing extra, but a large-capacity taxi adds €6. The page shows rates valid since December 2022, so ask the driver to run the meter and expect differences.

Against €5.00 and 23 minutes on FEX, a taxi earns its fare with several bags or a hotel far from a station.

Ride apps quote a price when you book. The airport's website describes only taxi ranks and carsharing at car park P4, so check the pick-up point in the app.

1. Buy a 24-hour ABC card in the app if you will ride at least twice more that day, otherwise a €5.00 ABC single. Activate it before you board.
2. Take FEX to Hauptbahnhof, about 23 minutes.
3. Too early to check in? Use a locker (large €6) if you have a handful of coins, or book a Radical Storage spot.
4. Walk.

How much is a ticket from BER airport to the centre in 2026?

€5.00 for an ABC single, valid for 2 hours in one direction. The BC fare was abolished on 1 January 2026, and an AB ticket will not cover the airport.

Do I need to validate my ticket in Berlin?

Paper tickets must be stamped at a yellow or red validator before you ride. Digital tickets must be activated in the app before you start. Travel without a valid ticket costs €60.

Where can I leave my luggage in Berlin?

Hauptbahnhof lockers cost €4 or €6 for 24 hours and take coins only. Ostbahnhof and Südkreuz are €3 or €5. Radical Storage has 235 spots from €1.90 a bag a day.

Buy ABC for the airport and AB for the city, activate or stamp before you ride, and carry coins for the lockers. For the bigger picture, start with Berlin Explained. Once your bag is stored, the €7 Ciceru walk along Unter den Linden is an easy first look, and the Berlin destination page has more of the city.