So, you’ve decided that you’ve had enough of seeing the beautiful shots of Berlin on our Instagrams and you can almost taste all the delicious food in our SnapChat? You’re ready to create your own adventure here in the capital of Germany. That’s awesome, but as always, there are a few key nuances that are unique to Berlin only. But fear not, we are sharing a few key and extremely important differences that we discovered which you can use as tips for surviving – and enjoying – your trip to Berlin!
one / One-Way Transit Fare
Unlike most of the North American public transit systems that allow you to freely use the train or bus for (usually) an hour and a half after purchase, the rules in Berlin are a little more skewed. You are only allowed to ride continuously in one direction for your hour and half of paid-for fare. We found this out the hard way when we got slapped with €65,00 tickets for not having the correct direction of transit fare. The U-Bahn, S-Bahn, Trams and Buses here in Germany’s capital are very efficient, and definitely worth utilizing – just make sure you have the correct category of fare!
two / UBER Taxi
The ride-sharing and contactless payment company UBER has exploded in European cities, but beware of using it here in Berlin, as UBER’s bread-and-butter service of providing a fast (and usually cheaper) alternative to taxis is actually illegal here. So the workaround to the law is that your UBER app can let you hail a regular taxi (with a UBER logo on it), and then you can still use the app to pay for your taxi, but you will be charged a €1,50 fee every time. So you’re just using the app to order a regular cab, pay the regular fare and nothing else. Our advice, try using a different dedicated Berlin taxi app, like MyTaxi, which allows you to calculate fares and pay using your app without tipping.
three / Bike Baths & Sidewalks
Number one rule if wanting to bike in Berlin is to read out bike rental hack and save yourself serious dough! But say you’re not interested in biking, but just want to explore the city by foot. Beware of all the bike paths that are built straight into the sidewalk. I’ve been (stupidly) standing/idling on these paths the last few days, and the very serious Germans on their bikes who are whisking away to their next destination do not take kindly to random non-Berliners not knowing these rules! Our advice is to stay with the steady flow of pedestrians and look for bike path signs.
four / Garbage Maintenance
Germans (and probably Europeans in general) have a strange obsession with their garbage in terms of sorting, organizing and discarding it; probably very necessary for a country the size of Alberta and with a hundred times the population density. All garbage is sorted as such: paper, cardboard, plastic bottles, white glass bottles, green glass bottles, brown glass bottles, biodegradable, plastic containers, and then whatever is left is considered regular garbage. For this reason, every few blocks you will see bins like the above, for disposal of your perfectly organized glass garbage. There is also bright orange trash bins for the public on literally every block that you can’t miss, and shouldn’t miss if you have any garbage to dispose of.
five / Public Bathrooms
Again, this is probably applicable Europe-wide, but public bathrooms here aren’t just walk in and do your business. If you are out and about and need to hit the nearest washroom, you can expect to pay anywhere from €0,50 to €2,00 to unzip. The good thing is that these bathrooms are always, always clean and sanitized, with helpful attendants, and are usually run by international companies like Sanifair. These are readily available at train stations, malls and in large city squares. Be sure to hydrate yourself, but keep some loose change with you in case you have to tinkle!
So if you’re on your way to Berlin, make sure to keep the above in mind. And while you’re at it, drop us a line and tell us if you care to share any of your own tips with us!
