Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
able to get something for under €30 a day, though
watch out for hidden costs such as limited mileage.
Most rental places do good-value Friday afternoon
to Monday morning deals. If you are willing to call to
book, you may find better deals with
local
operators
- Robben & Wientjes (
T
robben-wientjes
.de), say, which offers cars from €15/day and has
branches at Prinzenstr. 90-91, Kreuzberg (
T
030 61
67 70; U-Moritzplatz) and Prenzlauer Allee 96 (
T
030
42 10 36; U-Prenzlauer Allee).
You could also zip around on a
scooter
with a
company such as Rent A Scooter, Friedrichstr. 210
(U-Kochstrasse; from €6/hr;
T
030 24 03 78 65,
W
rentascooter-berlin.de), or for a more expensive
but far more unusual experience, go for a street-
legal
go-kart
with Kart 4 You (
T
0800 750 75 10,
W
kart4you.de); three hours will cost €49-59.
by the
German bicycle club
ADFC, available from
their shop at Brunnenstr. 28 (Mon-Fri noon-8pm,
Sat 10am-4pm;
T
030 448 47 24,
W
adfc-berlin.de;
U-Rosenthaler Platz) as well as most city bookshops.
The ADFC also offers free listings of bike rental and
bike shops, with current rates and contact details.
Bike rental
Bike
rentals
are available at dozens of outlets,
including many convenience stores, around Berlin,
with rates around €15/day and €50/week. The
nearest to your accommodation will probably be
the most useful; otherwise one good company
with six branches in central Berlin is
Fahrradstation
(
W
fahrradstation.com); with branches at Auguststr.
29a (Mon-Fri 10am-7pm, Sat 10am-3pm;
T
030
22 50 80 70; U-Weinmeisterstrasse), and at
Bergmannstr. 9, Kreuzberg (Mon-Fri 10am-7pm, Sat
10am-4pm;
T
030 215 15 66; U-Gneisenaustrasse).
For a more unusual experience, try renting a
vintage bike
with Kreuzberg's Finding Berlin Tours,
Schlesische Str. 29/30 (
T
0176 99 33 39 13,
W
find
ingberlin-tours.com; U-Schlesisches Tor) or Hello
World Berlin, Pappelallee 10 (
T
01512 125 68 62,
W
helloworldberlin.com) in Prenzlauer Berg. Both
have a selection of town, road and single-speed
bikes and allow you to select your bike online, with
prices ranging from €9-35/day. Finally, if you turn
up early enough, you can snag a free day's fixie bike
rental at the Freitag shop (see p.228) in the
Spandauer Vorstadt.
In addition, the railway company Deutsche Bahn
(DB) has a
Call-a-bike
scheme that involves its own
fleet of rental bikes scattered within underground
zone A of the city, and parked on street corners and
at major points like the Brandenburg Gate and
Potsdamer Platz. These silver-and-red, full-suspension
bicycles can be rented at any time of day for €0.08/
minute (up to €15 for 24hr and €48 for a week), with
no deposit or minimum charge. To use one you first
need to register a credit card (
T
0700 05 22 55 22,
W
callabike-interaktiv.de). Registering your mobile
will mean it will automatically debit your account
when you call. Once you've registered, it's just a
matter of calling the individual number on the side
of a bike and receiving an electronic code to open
Taxis and velotaxis
Berlin's cream-coloured
taxis
are plentiful, cruising
the city day and night and congregating at useful
locations. They're always metered: for the first 7km
it's €3.20 plus €1.65/km, after which it's €1.28/km.
Fares rise slightly between 11pm and 6am and all
day Sunday. Short trips, known as
Kurzstrecke
, can
be paid on a flat rate of €4 for up to 2km or five
minutes, though this only works when you hail a
moving cab, and you must request it on getting
into the taxi. Taxi
firms
include: City Funk (
T
030 21
02 02) and Funk Taxi Berlin (
T
030 26 10 26).
Finally, if you're not in a hurry and want to go just
a short distance, you might consider hailing a
velotaxi
, a modern version of a cycle rickshaw.
Between April and October they are easy to find at
the Brandenburg Gate and other key points. They
cost €6 for the first kilometre, then €2.50 for each
subsequent kilometre. The drivers double as guides
and are usually well informed and chatty; they also
offer tours (see box, p.25).
Cycling
An extensive network of bike paths makes
cycling
around Berlin quick and convenient. You can also
take your bike on the U- and S-Bahn; useful if you
wish to explore the countryside and lakes of the
Grunewald. To take your bike on a train you'll need to
buy a
Fahrrad ticket
(see p.23) for the underground
system, available for short journeys, single journeys,
day tickets or monthly tickets. There are also a
number of cycling
tours
of the city (see p.25).
One good investment if you're going to explore
the city by bike is the
cycle route map
published
TOP 5 BIKE RIDES
The Grunewald
See p.161
The Müggelsee
See p.150
Potsdam
See p.167
Sanssouci
See
p.169
Tiergarten
See p.101
