Last Updated on January 31, 2026 by George Pavlopoulos
The public transport network of Berlin is extended, and so is the range of passes and tickets. Before visiting Berlin, you’ll likely dive into the maze of the Berlin Welcome Card vs CityTourCard, and plain (or day) tickets. Choosing the right one for your trip to Germany’s capital can really feel overwhelming, especially if budget matters to you.
Therefore, in this article, I will compare the three most common options and share real examples to help you make a quick choice. In addition, I will share some traveler types and create scenarios you are most likely to fit into to help you make a quick choice. Finding the right pass should be fast and smooth, so it’s better to spend your time planning what you’ll see and do in Berlin.
Let’s start.
Berlin Welcome Card vs CityTourCard vs Day Tickets: How to choose
Since I promised to help you make your decision quickly and smoothly, I will reply quickly with my recommendation for which pass to choose for your trip to Berlin. Afterward, I will analyze everything and share examples by traveler type.
To help you keep things simple, here’s how I’d choose the pass:
- For 1 day in Berlin, I’d pick a 24-hour AB ticket.
- For 2-3 days in Berlin, I’d go for the Welcome Card if you plan to visit several paid attractions and museums (at least 2 per day). In case you just want to see one museum or attraction during your stay in town, I’d go with the CityTourCard.
That’s my quickest suggestion. Before jumping to the full analysis, let’s expand this suggestion a bit.
Buy the Berlin Welcome Card (48-72 hours or more) if you:
- Want to make the most of your stay and plan to use public transport a lot.
- Visit at least 2 paid sights per day. This doesn’t mean only museums, but also the TV Tower top, going on boat tours, etc. The card offers up to 50% discounts to more than 170 partners and attractions.
Go for the Berlin CityTourCard (48-72 hours or more) if you:
- Want unlimited public transport during your stay, and you are okay with significantly less discounts in partners (something like 40 of them participate in the pass).
- You are okay to pay full price for most museum visits.
Stay with simple BVG tickets (either 24 hours or single ones) if you:
- You visit Berlin to walk and enjoy its life.
- You are okay with paying full ticket prices at a museum or two.
So, this pretty much clears the landscape around the Berlin passes, and I believe it’s the best way of deciding which one to pick.
The Berlin Zones: AB or ABC?
Now, before moving on to some examples, let’s quickly clarify what Berlin’s zones are.
The Berlin Welcome Card, the CityTourCard, and the tickets all have a mark: AB or ABC. These are Berlin’s zones.
The Berlin AB refers to the city center, while Berlin ABC contains the outskirts. Unless you choose a hotel or a room outside the city center on purpose, I would say that 99,99% of the time you will stay in the AB zone.
To give you an idea, Berlin AB is where the Zoo, Alexanderplatz, Kreuzberg, Neukölln, the TV Tower, Kurfürstendamm, Prenzlauerberg, the Brandenburg Gate, and the Hauptbahnhof are located. That being said, everything that makes you want to visit Berlin is in the AB zone.
You might rightly wonder: why do I have to consider ABC, then?
Well, zone ABC makes sense only if you want to include your commute to and from the BER airport in your pass, or if you have a daily excursion to Potsdam, the Sachsenhausen Concentration Camp, or anything else outside AB. This will depend, of course, on your interests, but if you want the option to include any of these in the pass, then ABC should be your choice.
My honest opinion and what I’d do
If you want to include the ticket to and from BER and never think about tickets in Berlin, go for the ABC.
However, keep this in mind. A 48-hour ticket starts from the time you validate it (or, from the time you indicate you want it to start when you buy it online). Therefore, a 48-hour ticket also makes sense if you are in Berlin for 4 days. And here’s how.
If you arrive late in the afternoon or early in the evening, you’re likely to use the pass little for attractions that day -or not at all. The same goes if you leave on the last day in the morning or early in the afternoon. That said, a four-day journey to Berlin can easily translate into two full days in the city.
If that’s the case (and the same goes for any number of days), it makes more sense to go with a 48-hour Welcome Card or CityTourCard and purchase airport transfer tickets separately. As of 2026, they cost 5 euros for a single journey. Otherwise, you’ll have to buy a 4-day ABC ticket, which you probably won’t use on the first and last days.
So, check your arrival and departure times, and pick a pass for only the full days you’ll be in town.
Berlin Welcome Card vs CityTourCard vs Day Tickets: All Your options explained
So, let’s dive deep into what you’ll get with every Berlin pass out there. Since the prices are changing quite often, please navigate with the links to see the up-to-date prices. However, the pricing logic has remained the same for several years and won’t change anytime soon.
The Berlin Welcome Card – The All-rounder Pass
That’s the oldest tourist pass in Berlin, bought more than 15 million times to this day. This is a typical all-rounder card that offers unlimited access to the public transport in zones AB (S-bahn, U-bahn, tram, and bus) and discounts to more than 170 partners. For an extra fee, you can include the ABC zones.
The Berlin Welcome Card comes in three variants: Classic, +Museum Island, and All Inclusive.
For the advice I described earlier, I referred to the Classic. The other two variations offer more, and that, of course, comes at a price.
Which Berlin Welcome Card to choose?
Again, I’ll try to avoid confusion and offer a straight reply.
Get the Berlin Welcome Card Classic (starting at 26,90 euros) if you want unlimited public transport and appreciate discounts.
Buy the Berlin Welcome Card +Museum Islands, if visiting the Museum Island (five world-class museums) is a must. These are included for free, and the perks of the Classic pass are included as well.
Get the Berlin Welcome Card All Inclusive if you plan to do extensive sightseeing. 25 free admissions are included (including Museum Island), free rides on the city’s hop-on-hop-off bus, a boat tour, and zones ABC (so travel to and from BER airport and Potsdam). That’s the priciest option, but it will save you money if you visit at least 2-3 attractions per day.
The Berlin CityTourCard – A Slightly Cheaper Option with Fewer Perks
You can imagine the Berlin CityTourCard as a more compact version of the Welcome card. While the price difference is not significant, especially in the shorter-term plans, the CityTourCard is a better option for budget-oriented travelers.
Instead of the 170+ discounted attractions of the Berlin Welcome Card, the CityTourCard offers discounts on about 30 attractions. There are no free entry tickets or variants of the pass, so think of it as an unlimited public transport pass (AB or ABC) with occasional discounts.
If you want a Berlin pass, the CityTourCard is a good option if you are interested in sights like the TV Tower or Madame Tussauds. They are on discount as no attraction is free with this pass, but if the offers tick your boxes, it’s a good option for sure.
Simple BVG tickets (single or day tickets)
If sightseeing is not your thing and you don’t want to cope with discounts or extensive sightseeing, the public transport tickets are the ones for you.
One thing to keep in mind is that, starting in 2026, BVG tickets will be even more expensive. This is not new: every January (with or without inflation), public transport tickets in Berlin see significant increases. A 6% raise is expected, and I believe it will likely push pass prices even higher.
At the time of writing, a single ticket costs 4 €, while a 24-hour ticket sells at 11.20 €. Doing the simple maths, it means that if you use your 24-hour ticket at least three times during a day, you break even, and from then on, everything is a free ride.
That being said, purchasing day tickets during your stay is a good idea if a) you are on a very short trip or b) you are on a very slow trip. For example, if you are visiting Berlin for a day, the 24-hour pass will take you to plenty of outdoor attractions like the Brandenburg Gate and the East Side Gallery, and it’s cheaper than any pass if you only want to see the free sights. Of course, you should be prepared to pay the full price of admission to a museum if you decide to visit.
On the other hand, if you’d like to do some sightseeing at paid attractions, you should consider one of the passes to save at least some money.
Overall, day tickets (or even single tickets) are good if you don’t plan to visit any paid attractions during your stay. For up-to-date prices, please visit the official BVG website.
Read World Scenarios in Berlin AB: What makes sense
Since I said I’d like to dive into an exhaustive explanation of the passes, I’ll write a few real-world scenarios here. While this might sound a bit generic, the information below is designed to cover some common traveler types, so you can identify yourself. Also, you will probably read some extra info about the tickets and passes that didn’t fit in the previous lines.
In all the following scenarios, the prices considered are those from early 2026. While prices might change in the future, the difference won’t be significant and will likely apply to everything (passes and tickets).
First Visit to Berlin for 2 days and lots of sightseeing
That’s for the traveler coming to Berlin for the first time and wants to see as much as possible in two days. In two days, one should plan approximately 6 rides on public transport and at least two major attractions (a museum and a river cruise on one day, another museum and the TV Tower the next day).
For transportation only, here’s what you’d pay with every option we explained earlier.
2 days of 24-hour AB tickets: 2 × 11.20 € = 22.40 €
Berlin WelcomeCard AB 48h: 28.50 €
CityTourCard AB 48h: 23.80 €
That being said, transportation is cheaper (and will always be) with the BVG tickets. However, adding any one attraction will make the day ticket the most expensive option.
3 days in Berlin with moderate sightseeing
If you are in Berlin for three days, you can take it a bit easier. This translates to 4-5 rides per day and entry tickets to two paid attractions and a smaller one (like two museums and a river tour).
In terms of public transport, here’s the cost associated with each option:
3 x 24-hour AB tickets: 3 × 11.20 € = 33.60 €
CityTourCard for 72h in Berlin AB: 35.60 €
WelcomeCard 72h in Berlin AB: 39.50 €
As I shared in the previous example, the 24-hour ticket is still the cheapest option. However, with three days of attractions, the costs will rise quickly. The two other passes are better options, and you will notice a difference.
As a rule of thumb, any stay longer than three full days justifies, in my opinion, one of the passes.
Families with kids visiting Berlin
In this case, a pass is a must-do. And that’s because every adult who purchases a pass can take up to 3 children for free on public transport. In this case, single-day tickets are no longer the cheapest option.
For example, a family with two kids visiting Berlin needs practically two passes (a Berlin Welcome Card or a CityTourCard), and that’s it. The kids (up to 14) travel for free, and the savings start to add up.
This is a no-brainer for families with kids traveling to Berlin, even if they don’t plan to visit any paid attractions.
Where to buy the passes and tickets
All passes and tickets are available for purchase at BVG vending machines in public transport stations. For a stress-free experience, especially if you want to include the airport in the passes, you can also buy them online. You can choose when your pass starts (date and time), and you just have to save it on your smartphone or print it and bring it with you.
You can buy the Berlin Welcome Card here and the CityTourCard here.
To purchase public transport tickets, you can download the BVG app (iOS here, Android here). You will then have to create an account and add a payment method (card or PayPal), which will be used automatically to purchase your tickets.
Quick Recommendations By Traveler Type
In the final section of this guide, which compares the Berlin Welcome Card, the CityTourCard, and BVG tickets, I will recap what I believe is the ideal Berlin pass for different types of travelers.
If you have one full day in Berlin and plan to mostly walk around the city, buy the 24-hour BVG ticket for Berlin AB or ABC.
For travelers with 2–3 days in the city planning to visit many paid attractions, get the Berlin Welcome Card for zone AB (48/72h, depending on your arrival and departure times).
If, on the other hand, you are in Berlin for 2–3 days and plan to see just one or two major sights, get the CityTourCard AB 48/72h.
If you have 5 or more days in Berlin and plan to move slowly around the city and occasionally visit paid attractions, buy one of the two passes: CityTourCard AB (5/6 days) or Welcome Card (5/6 days).
Lastly, if you are a family with kids (6–14) visiting Berlin, buy any card (WelcomeCard or CityTourCard) because you will start saving money already from day one.
Bonus: Use the interactive map below to discover the best hotels in Berlin.
Berlin passes and tickets comparison: Final Thoughts
I hope you now have a clearer idea of which pass or ticket to choose for your trip to Berlin. As you read in the previous lines, different scenarios require different choices.
As a traveler, I always keep it simple when visiting cities for the first time. If, while planning my journey, I see that I plan to visit at least one paid attraction per day, I stop comparing and buy a pass for my entire stay directly. Apart from giving me peace of mind while on the road (will the queue be long? Should I visit or keep an eye on my daily budget?), it also motivates me to visit more attractions and see more places in the city.
Berlin is one of those places where there are always new things to do and see. Choosing your card wisely means that you will save money and also see as much as possible during your stay. Let alone, of course, that you won’t have to queue for tickets or double the time of visiting an attraction.
Enjoy Berlin -and if you have any questions about the passes, feel free to leave a comment below; I will do my best to assist you.
More about Berlin: 3 days in Berlin guide, Berlin River Cruise, Berlinale guide
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