How do I get to Berlin?

Berlin Brandenburg Willy Brandt (BER) sits 18 km southeast of the Brandenburger Tor and handles every commercial flight into the city. Tegel closed in November 2020. Terminal 1 covers Lufthansa, United, and most full-service carriers. Terminal 2, a 5-minute indoor walkway from Terminal 1, is easyJet and Ryanair territory. The building opened in October 2020 after 9 years of delays and a final bill above €6 billion. The floors still carry that new-build polish, and a faint chemical smell of sealant hangs in the Terminal 1 arrivals corridor. BER's wide glass walls let in the grey Berlin light even on overcast mornings. Bilingual German-English signage makes it hard to get lost, even at 6 AM with jet lag. BER's underground train station sits directly below the arrivals hall. Download the BVG app in baggage claim, and you'll have a transit ticket on your phone for €4 before your suitcase hits the belt.

From New York JFK, United flies nonstop to BER in about 9 hours for $550-950 round-trip. Delta runs seasonal summer nonstops from JFK. From the US West Coast, expect a connection through Frankfurt or Munich on Lufthansa, 12-14 hours total, at $650-1,100. London takes 1 hour 50 minutes on easyJet from Gatwick or British Airways from Heathrow at £60-200 round-trip. Ryanair connects Dublin, Edinburgh, and Manchester for €30-80 one-way when booked 6-8 weeks ahead. Air France and easyJet both cover Paris to BER in 1 hour 45 minutes at €50-180. Low season for Berlin fares runs January through March. Mid-February is the exception. The Berlinale film festival pushes prices from London and Paris up roughly 40% for 10 days. July and August bring the highest transatlantic fares, with JFK-BER round-trips reaching $1,100. May and September offer fares 20-30% below summer peak, with Berlin daytime temperatures still around 15-22°C.

Berlin Hauptbahnhof, the glass-roofed central station that opened in May 2006, sits between the Reichstag and the Spree river. ICE high-speed trains from Munich take 4 hours at €30-90 on Deutsche Bahn Sparpreis fares. Hamburg is 1 hour 45 minutes for €15-50. Amsterdam is 6 hours 20 minutes for €40-80. The Prague connection on RegioJet or České dráhy runs 4 hours 30 minutes for €15-40. FlixBus is cheaper, with Hamburg from €5 and Munich from €15, but the 6-hour Munich bus involves thin seats and WiFi that drops every 20 minutes. If you're already in continental Europe, the train is the better call. It drops you at Hauptbahnhof, 2 S-Bahn stops from Friedrichstraße. You step onto the platform and the clatter of suitcase wheels echoes under the glass-and-steel roof. Warm Brezeln from the Ditsch stand on Level 1 will be the first thing you smell.

Trains leave BER's underground platform roughly every 15 minutes. The FEX airport express, RE7, and RB14 all reach Hauptbahnhof in about 30 minutes for €4 on an ABC-zone ticket from the yellow BVG machines on the platform. The S9 S-Bahn is slower at 45 minutes but stops at Ostkreuz and Alexanderplatz, closer if you're staying in Friedrichshain or Mitte. Taxis to Mitte cost €40-50 and take 30-45 minutes depending on A113 traffic. Uber runs at roughly the same price in Berlin. For first-time visitors, the FEX or RE7 is the right answer. A tenth of the taxi fare, predictable to the minute, and the ride through flat Brandenburg countryside gives you 25 quiet minutes before you step out at Hauptbahnhof, a 10-minute walk from the Reichstag.