city guides: berlin

Germany’s international gateway is the Frankfurt am Main Airport, with an increasing number of international flights also arriving at Düsseldorf and Munich. All of these hubs have almost hourly connecting flights to Berlin run by the national carrier Lufthansa. As an alternative, there are several high-speed train connections between Berlin and all major West German cities.

Berlin has three airports, Tegel, Schönefeld and Tempelhof, but hardly any direct flights beyond European destinations. The only two direct flights from Berlin to the U.S., for example, have just been resumed by Continental (to Newark) and Delta Air Lines (to New York’s JFK). Most domestic flights arrive and depart at Tegel.

Getting around

The city is laid out on an epic scale, as modern Berlin was comprised from more than 20 independent cities in 1920-a historic founding that has blessed the city with various charming neighborhoods and subcenters. Getting to western or eastern downtown from Tegel Airport or the central railway station Zoologischer Garten is pretty easy: A cab ride costs €15-45, and the public airport buses (X09 or 109) are much cheaper at only €2. Once in the city, the best way to move around is by cab (€2.50 base fare, €1.02 for each kilometer after seven kilometers) or the public transport system-one of the biggest and most refined in all of Europe.