Berlin Welcome Card Travel Guide

What is a Berlin Welcome Card?

The Berlin Welcome Card is the official tourist pass issued by the Berlin tourism office. It covers unlimited travel on the entire BVG network — U-Bahn, S-Bahn, trams, and buses — for the duration you select, from 48 hours up to six days. Partner discounts run between 25% and 50% off, covering museums, guided tours, river cruises, hop-on-hop-off buses, and some restaurants.

The card activates on first validation. Physical cards must be stamped at the small yellow or red validators on station platforms. Digital versions bought through the Berlin WelcomeCard app activate automatically on purchase. Inspectors check frequently, and failing to validate a paper ticket brings a 60 EUR on-the-spot fine.

Two transport zones are available. Zone AB covers all central Berlin — every major landmark from the Reichstag to the East Side Gallery sits inside zone AB. Zone ABC adds the outer ring, the S-Bahn to Potsdam, and the express link to Berlin Brandenburg Airport (BER). If you fly into BER and want airport-to-city transport included, choose ABC from the start; the upgrade is only 5 to 6 EUR more per card.

The Berlin Welcome Card Variants in Detail

Four main variants exist in 2026. The standard Welcome Card is the baseline: transport plus partner discounts, available for 48 h, 72 h, 4 days, 5 days, or 6 days in AB or ABC. Buy yours here if you know your itinerary leans toward tours, cruises, and independent museums rather than the big state collections.

The Museum Island variant costs 62 EUR (AB, 72 h) or 67 EUR (ABC, 72 h). It adds free entry to all five museums on Museum Island — Pergamon, Neues Museum, Altes Museum, Bode Museum, and Alte Nationalgalerie. For context, a single-museum ticket at the Pergamon runs around 14 EUR, so two museum visits already bring you close to the premium paid over the standard card. Free timed-entry reservations are still required for some exhibitions, including the Neues Museum; book these online before your visit.

The All Inclusive variant is the most expensive option. It covers entry to over 30 top attractions without any extra charge at the ticket desk — the Legoland Discovery Centre, the TV Tower, Madame Tussauds, and hop-on-hop-off buses, among others. Prices start at 99 EUR for no-transport and climb to 179 EUR for the 6-day ABC version. It pays off only if you plan to hit multiple paid attractions every single day.

The no-transport "Basic" variant is the hidden value play. A 72-hour Basic card costs around 10 EUR and a 6-day Basic costs 15 EUR. You get all the partner discounts but no transit passes. If you are staying in central Mitte or Prenzlauer Berg and plan to walk between sites, the Basic pays for itself after just two or three museum discounts.

Berlin Tourist Pass Price Comparison

Comparing passes head-to-head is the fastest way to find your best value. The Easy City Pass and the City Tour Card are typically 5 to 10 EUR cheaper than the Welcome Card for the same duration and zone. The tradeoff is a slightly narrower partner list — the Welcome Card has the widest museum and cultural attraction coverage, while the Easy City Pass skews toward lifestyle, dining, and nightlife venues.

• Easy City Pass / City Tour Card AB: 24 EUR (48 h) / 36 EUR (72 h) / 52 EUR (6 days)
• Easy City Pass / City Tour Card ABC: 28 EUR (48 h) / 42 EUR (72 h) / 60 EUR (6 days)
• Berlin Welcome Card AB: 29 EUR (48 h) / 40 EUR (72 h) / 59 EUR (6 days)
• Berlin Welcome Card ABC: 35 EUR (48 h) / 46 EUR (72 h) / 64 EUR (6 days)
• Welcome Card + Museum Island AB: 62 EUR (72 h only)
• Welcome Card + Museum Island ABC: 67 EUR (72 h only)
• Welcome Card All Inclusive ABC: 119 EUR (72 h) / 179 EUR (6 days)

For the math to work with a standard Welcome Card, a day ticket for zones AB costs 11.20 EUR (ABC is 12.90 EUR). A 48-hour AB Welcome Card at 29 EUR already costs less than two single day tickets combined. You need just 6 to 8 EUR in attraction discounts over two days to come out ahead — one museum entry is usually enough to clear that bar.

The no-transport Basic passes are sold online only, directly through the official Berlin Welcome Card website and the Easy City Pass site. They do not appear at BVG ticket machines or at the airport.

Discounts the Card Actually Delivers — and Where It Falls Short

The best savings with a standard Welcome Card come from activities, not state museums. Guided walking tours, Spree river cruises, bike tours, hop-on-hop-off bus tours, and boat trips typically carry 25 to 37% discounts. Concert and theatre tickets can yield the largest single cash discount, though these often require same-day or two-day-advance purchase only.

One critical detail that most guides do not flag: the large Staatliche Museen zu Berlin (SMB) collections — the Gemäldegalerie, Hamburger Bahnhof, and Neue Nationalgalerie — no longer offer standard Welcome Card discounts. The Pergamon Museum, once the flagship discount site, is also partially closed for long-term renovation until at least mid-2027. With a standard card you are paying full price at those institutions. Only the Museum Island and All Inclusive variants grant free entry there. If your Berlin itinerary centers on the SMB collections, a 3-day Berlin Museum Pass (around 29 EUR) may outperform a standard Welcome Card on museum value alone.

Where the Welcome Card still shines: the DDR Museum (25% off), German Spy Museum (25% off), Deutschlandmuseum (25% off), Checkpoint Charlie Museum (25% off), Madame Tussauds (bundled free in All Inclusive), and a generous 37% discount at Museum Barberini in Potsdam. River cruise operators on the Spree and Havel regularly give 25% to 30% off to Welcome Card holders, and that saving on a 1- to 2-hour cruise easily justifies the few extra euros over the City Tour Card.

Quick Comparison: Which Berlin Pass Is Best?

The right card depends on how you actually sightsee. Use these profiles to match your trip style to the correct variant.

• Arriving at BER Airport or visiting Potsdam: choose Welcome Card ABC — the airport express is covered and the Potsdam Museum Barberini discount becomes more useful.
• Museum-focused stay, 3 days: choose Welcome Card + Museum Island (AB or ABC) — five Museum Island entries are included and the math works after just two visits.
• Intensive first-timer covering many paid attractions daily: consider Welcome Card All Inclusive — no surprise charges at major ticket desks.
• Mainly wanting cheap transport with a few bonuses: Easy City Pass AB is usually 5 EUR cheaper than the Welcome Card and covers the same central zones.
• Central neighborhood, planning to walk: the no-transport Basic card at 10 EUR for 72 hours gives all the partner discounts at minimal cost.

The Berlin Welcome Card is the safest default for most first-time visitors because it has the widest partner coverage and is the pass that Berlin Tourist Information Centers staff are most familiar with. If you have a specific list of paid attractions in mind, add up their entry fees before buying — the numbers will confirm or rule out the All Inclusive variant quickly.

Families Save Even More

The family benefit on Berlin tourist passes is one of the most generous in any European capital. With every adult transport pass, up to three children aged 6 to 14 travel completely free. Children under 6 always travel free on Berlin public transport regardless of the pass. This structure means a family of two adults and three children only needs to buy two adult passes to cover all transit costs.

Children also receive discounts at many partner attractions when accompanying a card-holding adult. The Berlin Zoo, Legoland Discovery Centre, and the Natural History Museum all participate. One dog per paying adult can also ride free on public transport, which matters for longer stays. Note that no dedicated children's, student, or pensioner discount versions of the Welcome Card exist — the child benefit only applies to the transport component of adult cards.

Families traveling for four or more days usually find the most value with the 5- or 6-day AB card combined with a separate Berlin Museum Pass, rather than the All Inclusive. The Museum Pass covers three consecutive days at all SMB state museums and costs around 29 EUR per adult. Pairing it with a 5-day Welcome Card for transport keeps the daily cost lower than the All Inclusive while still covering the main cultural institutions.

Where to Buy the Berlin Welcome Card

The Welcome Card is available in more places than most passes. You can buy it online directly at berlin-welcomecard.de for delivery as a digital QR code, at BVG and S-Bahn ticket offices and vending machines across the city, at Berlin Tourist Information Centers (the main branch is at the Brandenburg Gate on Pariser Platz), at DB railway ticket counters in major stations, and at Berlin Brandenburg Airport (BER) on arrival.

One practical warning: multi-day versions above 72 hours are not always stocked at BVG vending machines or sold by bus drivers. If you want a 5- or 6-day card, buy online before you travel or go directly to a staffed BVG or tourist office window. The digital version through the app is the most reliable option since it is always available and avoids validation queues.

Berlin Tourist Information Centers are useful beyond just selling passes. Staff at these offices can suggest custom itineraries, tell you which museum time slots are still available that day, and activate physical cards if yours is not working. The main center is open daily and is a five-minute walk from the Reichstag — worth knowing if you land and immediately need help planning your first 48 hours.

Are the Berlin Tourist Passes Worth It?

For most visitors spending three or more days in Berlin, yes. The getting around Berlin public transport guide shows how quickly individual tickets add up. Four to five transit trips per day is common when moving between Mitte, Kreuzberg, Prenzlauer Berg, and Charlottenburg. At 3.50 EUR per single trip, that is 14 to 17.50 EUR in daily transit spend — the 72-hour AB card at 40 EUR already saves money on transport alone over three days.

The calculation changes if your Berlin itinerary leans on free attractions. The East Side Gallery, the Holocaust Memorial, the Topography of Terror, the Stasi Museum, and most war memorials cost nothing to enter. If those sites fill your days, a standard BVG day ticket at 11.20 EUR may be cheaper than any tourist pass. Do a quick sanity check: list your paid attractions, total their entry fees, and see how much you save at 25–50% off before committing to a pass.

Convenience counts for more than most travelers admit. A single card eliminates ticket machine queues, zone confusion, and the mental overhead of counting trips. For first-timers navigating an unfamiliar city, that simplicity has real value even when the strict financial math is borderline. For repeat visitors who know the BVG system well and prefer walking, the Basic no-transport card is the smarter buy. Check your how many days in Berlin itinerary against the pass durations to avoid paying for days you will not use.