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Tourist tickets

Here you will find all the important information about your ticket.

Discover Berlin in comfort - with the right BVG tickets, you can travel around the city flexibly, comfortably and cheaply. These tickets are particularly suitable for tourists in Berlin:

  • Single ticket: For shorter visits or spontaneous trips.

  • 4-trip ticket: Includes 4 one-way tickets at a reduced price.

  • 24-hour ticket: Any number of journeys within 24 hours.

  • 7-day ticket: Perfect for longer stays, unlimited travel for 7 days.

  • Berlin WelcomeCard: Combines a public transport ticket with discounts for sightseeing. Available for 48 hours to 6 days.

  • CityTourCard: Combines a BVG ticket for local public transport with discounts on numerous sights and attractions in Berlin. Available for 48 hours to 6 days.

Where can I buy a ticket?

Digital tickets and paper tickets cost the same.

1. You can buy a digital ticket in the following BVG-Apps if you have them installed on your smartphone.
Payment methods: PayPal, Google Pay, Apple Pay, credit card, SEPA direct debit

2. You can get paper tickets from BVG and S-Bahn ticket machines. These are usually located at the stations. A paper ticket cannot generally be subsequently displayed in a BVG app.
Payment methods: Cash (with change), credit card, debit card, BVG prepaid card 

3. You can buy tickets at points of sale such as travel markets, kiosks, shops and customer centers. You can find the nearest shop in your area under: customer centers and shops.
Payment methods (depending on the point of sale): Cash (with change), credit card, debit card, buy and load BVG prepaid card 

4. On buses you can only buy contactless and cashless single tickets, day tickets and short-distance tickets directly from the bus driver. This can be done using a BVG prepaid card. To avoid timetable delays, it is best to buy your ticket in advance in one of our apps or at a ticket machine. These tickets are already validated at the time of purchase and are valid for immediate travel.
Payment methods: debit card, major credit cards, Apple Pay, Google Pay, BVG prepaid card

5. Most trams have ticket machines where you can buy some paper tickets directly. These tickets may already be validated at the time of purchase and in most cases are valid for immediate travel.
Payment methods (depending on the ticket machine): for older ticket machines only coins, for newer ticket machines debit card, credit card, Apple Pay, Google Pay, BVG credit card

6. Unfortunately, automatic charging of your ride via your smartphone is not yet available in Berlin, but we are working on it.

What conditions of carriage apply?

Bicycles, children and persons accompanying severely disabled persons - the following conditions of carriage apply:

1. Severely disabled persons and accompanying persons: 

Free of charge: If you have a disability pass with an attached or integrated validation token from the pension office and the following entitlements result from this.

  • Severely disabled people can use public transport free of charge
  • Accompanying persons of severely disabled people
  • One dog
  • Wheelchairs and other orthopaedic aids

2. Traveling with a bicycle:

Free of charge:

  • Folding bikes that are fully folded are considered hand luggage. These may be transported on all BVG means of transport.
  • For personal tickets such as the Berlin semester ticket

Not free of charge:

  • For all bicycles except folding bicycles, you need a special bicycle ticket for the same tariff zone in which you are traveling.
  • These can be taken on all public transport except buses. However, they may be transported on the night buses N1 to N9, which replace the subway lines U1 to U9 at night - provided there is space on the bus.

3. Traveling with one dog:

Free of charge:

  • 24-hour ticket (also for small groups)
  • 7-day tickets
  • Monthly tickets
  • Deutschlandticket (Berlin and Brandenburg)

Not free of charge:

  • From the second dog onwards, you need a reduced fare ticket for the second dog. Make sure that the discounted ticket shows the same tariff zone as your ticket, e.g. Single ticket AB discounted or 4-trip ticket AB discounted.
  • Single ticket
  • 4-trip ticket

4. Traveling with electric pedal controllers:

Where and how can I validate a ticket?

In general, the ticket must be validated before your journey.

Validate a paper ticket

There are small metal boxes on the platforms and in the buses for validating paper tickets. An unvalidated ticket is considered invalid if checked. Paper tickets can be validated on the bus, Tram or ferry. On the S-Bahn and U-Bahn, paper tickets must be validated outside the means of transport.

Eine Person entwertet einen Fahrschein an einem Automaten der BVG.

Activate a digital ticket

For digital tickets, the respective ticket must be activated before the journey begins (not for subscriptions). To do this, select “Tickets” in the relevant app and activate the desired ticket.

Eine Hand hält ein Smartphone auf dem die verschiedenen Icons der BVG-App-Familie abgebildet sind. Im Hintergrund ist verschwommen eine U-Bahn zu sehen.

How long is a ticket valid for?

Basically, you can always use the S-Bahn, U-Bahn, Tram, bus and ferry with your ticket.

A ticket for one journey (Single ticket) is valid for 120 minutes after validation. This is only valid in one direction, so round trips and return trips are excluded.
Changes and interruptions are permitted.

Different conditions apply to short trip tickets (3 stops on the S-Bahn or U-Bahn or 6 stops on the bus or Tram).

You were driving without a ticket and were checked?

If you have traveled without a ticket and have been checked, you will receive a form from the ticket inspector.

Find out what you need to do with the form under Ticket control.

You can find further questions and answers in the FAQs for tourists.