My family - 2 adults and 4 teenagers - will be in Berlin for just less than 3 days in July. We are staying very close to the Brandenburg Gate and having been before, think it is pretty easy to walk to many of the "big" sights to see... question is whether or not the 132 Euro for the Welcome Card for zones A, B and C is worth it. Or do we just pay the single fare from the arrival airport - Tegel - and departure airport - Schonefield - and pay as we go? We are most likely going to visit the obvious places - Reichstag (already booked online, thanks for tips!), Checkpoint Charlie, Jewish Museum etc - than "do" Museum Island and all the museums there (remember... teenagers with us!) Or is there a MUST do Museum. So not sure if the discounts with the Welcome Card (around 25%) will be worth it? Any advice? thanks.
Berlin - is the Welcome card good value?
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You can easily walk to any of the museums you mentioned. Even the Jewish Museum is not that far from Gendarmenmarkt, the central square in the old Mitte district.
So the benefits of free transportation may be negligable.
Also the discounts for musicals, shopping, restaurants are not worth the money - at least IMO.
Instead of the Welcome Card, the free admission of the Museum Pass may be more suitable.
You can find a comparison here:
http://visitberlin.de/en/book/tourist-tickets?tid=1911
If your kids are school/uni students, they will get the pass for half price. In that case the total would be €19 x2 plus €9.50 x4 = €76.
Checkpoint Charlie museum seems not to be included, though.
P.S.
Please check your flight itinerary: Already JUNE 3rd, 2012 Berlin-Tegel and -Schönefeld airports will both shut down, and be replaced by the new Berlin-Brandenburg International airport. Located close to the old Schönefeld airport premises.
So your flight on July 3rd will not land in Tegel (TXL), and later you will not depart from Schönefeld (SXF) but both will use BER, the code for the new Berlin-Brandenburg airport.
great tips ,thanks so much. Hadn't realised about the new airport, so makes things much easier.
Hi,
I've been to Berlin many times and get a little frustrated by the Welcome card. Next time I'm going to just get a transport card as this is all I used. I much prefer the city cards where you get free entry instead of a 10% reduction or something. It ends up being complicated and not easy to get your money's worth. Now Stockholm and Copenhagen, they have good city cards...
Still you'll enjoy your trip I'm sure. I'm looking forward to using the new airport too...
Best regards,
Andy
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