Wikimedia Conference 2011/Practical information
General Information
[edit]- Wikipedia about Berlin
- Wikivoyage about Berlin
- Map layer with all important locations and directions (load it into Google Maps on your mobile device)
Arrival and Departure
[edit]Airport Schönefeld (SXF)
[edit]Most international flights will use the airport Berlin Schönefeld (IATA Code SXF) which is located south-east outside of Berlin. The airport is relatively small, for departure you should arrive about an hour before your flight leaves.
Getting to the city:
- outside the airport just follow the roofed footpath, it leads directly to the station
- S-Bahn S9 (to Pankow or Spandau), takes about 45 minutes
- regional train RE7 (to Dessau) or RB14 (to Nauen) run less frequently, but is much faster
Getting to the Airport:
- take a S-Bahn, subway or regional train to Berlin Ostkreuz (east cross)
- at the S-Bahn station Ostkreuz catch a S9 to Berlin Schönefeld
or
- take a S-Bahn, subway or regional train to Berlin Ostbahnhof (east station)
- regional train RE7 (to Wünsdorf-Waldstadt) or RB14 (to Berlin Schönefeld)
Airport Tegel (TXL)
[edit]Mainly domestic and European flights use airport Berlin Tegel (IATA Code TXL) which is located within Berlin, in the north-west of the city centre. The airport is quite small, for departure you should arrive about an hour before your flight leaves.
Getting to the City:
- right in front of the terminal building is a bus stop
- Bus TXL brings you directly to Berlin main station (20 min.) and Alexanderplatz (37 min.)
Getting to the Airport:
- take S-Bahn, subway or regional train to Berlin main station
- outside the station, right in front of the main entrace is the bus stop of line TXL located
Zentraler Omnibusbahnhof (ZOB)
[edit]Central bus terminal, long-distance coaches arrive / depart here. (Google Maps)
- Just cross the street and keep left, you will see a big green S sign leading you to the S-Bahn station Messe Nord/ICC
- take any south-bound train (lines 42 or 46)
- change at the next stop Westkreuz to any east-bound train (lines S5, S7 to Ahrensfelde, S9 to Flughafen Schönefeld, S75 to Wartenberg)
- get off at Friedrichstrasse
Electricity, Internet, etc
[edit]- 230V at 50 Hz. People from the US, UK, Australia, etc: bring an adapter!
- "Schuko" plugs type F (CEE 7/4), see wikipedia:Schuko
- Cell phone coverage is good pretty much everywhere in Berlin, including subway tunnels.
- Free Wifi is common in Cafes, you may have to ask for a code though.
Getting around
[edit]Public Transport
[edit]Berlin has excellent public transport. It's backbone consists of the Berlin S-Bahn and Berlin U-Bahn systems, aided by buses and street cars.
- overview
- You can get travel plans online at bvg.de
- The S-Bahn system is layed out in a circle with a major east-west axis and minor north-south connections in addition to the circle lines.
- minimized website for mobile devices
- night service
- At night, there is Night-Bus and Metro-Bus service.
- However, major S-Bahn and U-Bahn lines run non-stop from Friday evening until Monday.
- fees
- a "short range" ticket for 1.40 EUR covers 3 stations by U-Bahn or S-Bahn, or 6 bus stops.
- a regular ticket "AB" for 2.30 EUR gets you through all of Berlin proper. It's valid for 2 hours, with unlimited transfers and interruptions. However, you need a new ticket if you want to reverse your direction.
- tickets can be bought at ticket machines at the stations. Tickets need to be redeemed (punched) in order to activate.
- You can buy tickets from Bus drivers and inside street cars, but not inside U-Bahn or S-Bahn trains.
- You will receive public transport tickets along with your name tag for the Chapters' conference!
- taxi calculator
By Car: Environmental Zone in Berlin
[edit]On 1st January 2008 the city of Berlin established an Environmental Zone. You need to have a special sticker (costs: 5-6€) to be able to drive in the inner-city (conference, accommodation, etc is here!), which marks your car to be classified in a certain exhaust emission standard. Please keep all documents providing any information on your car with you. Get a sticker before you enter the inner-circle.
