I am going to Berlin in August... question?

Question

Would it be a good idea to rely on Berlin's metro system to get around? Or would it be a better idea to rent a car? I want to factor in all variables... fuel cost, traffic, parking costs etc....

Answer 1

There is NO WAY you should even consider renting a car. That would be utterly crazy! Once you get the hang of the S- and U-Bahns, they're a breeze. You can buy an unlimited travel ticket that lasts 7 days for €27. With this ticket you just hop on and off as often as you like.

Answer 2

just have to agree with everyone else, definetly use the subway ( U Bahn or S Bahn ) you will get everywhere you need to, its cheap, and driving cars there suck, you dont find parking, and parking houses cost a lot, just like US cities

Answer 3

Lived and worked in Berlin for 7 years, and sold my car after 1 year. Does that answer your question? Berlin's public transport system (not only the metro, but also trams and busses -- they even have night busses) is excellent.

My recommendation is, once you get there, buy a "Stadtatlas" (city atlas) from one of the BVG (Berlin public transport company) sales offices. It's the best city map you can get, with all public transport lines in it, and DEFINITELY worth its money.

Answer 4

It's much better to use the metro system and the buses. I live in Berlin and I always use them. By car its more expensive and you have to park it also.

Here is a link of the company and you can find all you need:

http://www.bvg.de/index.php/en/Bvg/Start

Have nice holidays!!

Answer 5

berlin's metro sistem is absolutely GREAT and efficient. renting a car would just be a waste of money.

U and S -bahn will lead u WHEREVER u want to,trust me (been there loadsa times) and if one day u'r too tired to get the subway or such things u can always get a taxy, they're very cheap and u can find one in almost every corner of the city :)

give this a look.... http://www.cirosannino.it/turismo/berlin...

Do u still think u'll need a car? ;)

enjoy ur staying in Berlin!!!

Answer 6

Definitely use the U-Bahn and S-Bahn (the subway and elevated railroad).  We did for the four days we were in Berlin, and were very pleased- easy to use, precisely on time, etc.

Answer 7

Being as you are a tourist you probably want to remain in Berlin and not going outside. Even if you take into consideration that Berlin is a really huge city you should rely on the Metro system. It runs very often, is very reliable, not very clean, though. But you can reach every point which is interesting for a visit. There is also one hint: If you take Bus 100 or 200 it takes you to all the interesting sightseeing places without the need of taking an official sightseeing trip. And you pay only the amount for the public bus. What is more important is that you buy yourself a book about Berlin places and then you take Bus 100, or 200.

If you want to rent a car, there are some local rentals like Star which are cheaper than the official ones:

http://www.starcar.de/

Another good adress is Robben & Wientjes:

http://www.robben-wientjes.de/ They also have really cheap offers but you have to book really early!

The fuel here costs about 1,45 Euro per litre which rips you off. If you want to visit the downtown area with the car you have to pay at a parking meter. Depending on how much time you wanna spend you have to pay quite some money, like if you went to a car-park. It really costs a lot of money each day. One hint also here: If you park your car outside without paying at the parking meter, you may get a fine of maximum 5 Euro. If you are lucky you get nothing which is rather not realistic. Sometimes it´s cheaper not to pay the parking meter and paying the fine of 5 Euro, especially if you stay longer. That´s what many Berliners do :-)) In the downtown areas it is also rather difficult to find a spot to park a car, and it´s much traffic, too. Enjoy your stay at Berlin!!!! In August it´s really nice although we rarely have these Australian summers ;-)))