Tegel Airport (Berlin): how to get to the city center | Elena Kazantseva's blog 2btraveler.ru

The annual flow of passengers at Berlin-Tegel Airport is 20 million people. This is one of the most saturated air transport hubs in Europe. In the article I will share my impressions of this airport, and also tell you how to get to the city center or to your hotel.

 

Tegel Airport (Berlin)

Official site https://www.berlin-airport.de/en/travellers-txl/index.php

This Berlin airport is named after the great engineer Otto Lilienthal. Carriage of passengers by air began in 1960.

Tegel includes 5 terminals (A, B, C, D, E) and a control station. The main passenger flow is received by the first terminal – A. It is a hexagonal building, each face of which faces the take-off field.

Scheme of Berlin Tegel Airport

Berlin airport tegel scheme

We flew a / c S7, its planes arrive and depart from terminal C. Check-in for the flight must be done there. From the main terminal A to C you can easily walk, the journey will take 3-5 minutes. “Victory” on Vnukovo flew 5 minutes earlier than us, from the same terminal.

A little bit of my impressions about the airport. Firstly, the airport does not attract the title of “metropolitan” in any way: rather small, cramped, and ill-conceived. Check-in for our flight began only 2 hours before departure, although all passengers arrived at the airport 3 hours in advance and were ready to check in. After we stood in the queue for registration (1 hour waiting for the start of registration and probably another hour when the registration began, one or a maximum of two racks worked), we were waiting for another queue for passport control. Here everything was so unorganized there, and the window was only 3 (and at the same time departing flights, too 3), which made me nervous. In general, at the time when the plane was supposed to fly out, we had not even reached the passport control window. Departure was delayed by about an hour. It’s good that without us they didn’t fly away, thanks for that!

As for duty free. There is a duty-free shop both in terminal A and terminal C. I can’t say anything about terminal A, but in duty free, it’s quite modest. Yes, there you can buy some standard products (drinks), but do not expect anything special. Duty free in Terminal C is ONE BEFORE passport control (I managed to quickly run into it), SECOND AFTER passport control before boarding. What is sold in the second one and it is just as bad or not – I don’t know, between passport control and boarding the plane, 5-10 minutes passed, no more.

There are several restaurants in Terminal A. Opening hours: from 5:00 to 22:30. There are also some establishments in terminal C.

Tegel has a luggage storage room. It is located in the Service Center (between terminals A and B). It is open daily from 5 a.m. to 10:30 p.m. The service will cost € 3.7 per day.

Passengers have the opportunity to apply for tax free.

First you need to contact the customs control officers, they are located in terminal A (look for Tax Free or Tax Refund signs). You need to show your passport, ticket (you can print a printed itinerary receipt or pdf file on your phone), checks with a tax-free form. Purchases are usually not inspected, but, according to the rules, they should be with you. Tax free in Germany is issued for purchases starting from 25 euros, which means that you can even refund part of the tax on not very expensive purchases.

So, the customs officers put a stamp on your tax-free form and you can receive money. The return cash desk (Global Blue) is nearby. If there were no special queues for customs officers, then I stood at the cash register for about 20 minutes. They give out cash in euros, but minus an additional commission (about 3 euros, if I remember correctly). It seems that you can ask for payment on the card, but the money will be returned only after a few weeks.

Global Blue operating hours in Terminal A: from 6:00 to 20:00.

dachshund fries at tegel airport

Judging by the information on the airport website, there is also a terminal in the C Global Blue terminal, the operating time is tied to the aircraft schedule.

How to get from Tegel Airport to Berlin

The distance from Tegel Airport to the center of Berlin is 8 km. You can overcome it by three modes of transport – bus, taxi, transfer. Near the airport there is no metro and railway coverage.

 

See also “TOP-46 sights of Berlin”

 

Bus from Tegel Airport to Berlin

Bus stops are located 10 meters from the exits from Terminals A and B. Passenger transportation is provided by the local transport company BVG https://www.bvg.de/en/

I show the location of the stop on the map

You can get to the center of Berlin directly from Tegel Airport with one bus – the TXL route . It runs every 10 minutes. The first flight enters the line at 5:00, the last – at 24:00.

Tegel airport how to get

It reaches the Alexanderplatz square (it passes through the Hauptbahnhof Central Station, Invalidenpark, Brandenburg Gate: you can change if necessary). Next to it is a railway station and a metro line. The whole journey will take about 40-45 minutes. We traveled to Invalidenpark for about 20 minutes, to get to our hotel we used a tram then.

Fare: 2.80 euros one way, or immediately buy a pass (a 7-day pass for AB zones – 30 euros, it paid off for 6 days).

You can buy a ticket at the tourist office in Terminal A, at the vending machine at the bus stop, at the representative of the transport company at the bus stop (you can only buy a single ticket from the representative).

Buses to Berlin from Tegel Airport

Do not forget to stamp the ticket on the bus or in the machine at the bus stop.

X9 bus runs on the Tegel-Zoologischer Garten route. The beginning of the movement is 4:30, the end is 00:30. Buses depart every 7-10 minutes. The whole journey lasts 40 minutes.

Flight No. 109 resembles route X9, only it makes one more stop at the U-Bahn Jakob-Kaiser-Platz metro station.

Bus number 128 takes you to the U-Bahn Osloer Straße Underground Station. The flight starts at 4:30, ends at 00:30. From the airport to the final stop – 25 minutes.

The fare is fixed for all flights – € 2.8 one way. Tickets are purchased through the machine or directly from the driver.

 

Read also my free  Berlin Guide for independent travelers

 

By bus to the bus station and train station

Berlin Central Station can be reached by direct TLX bus.

You can get to the ZOB Central Bus Station only with a change:

    • X9 bus (to the Jungfernheide stop) + S41 train to Messe Nord / ICC (Witzleben)
    • Bus 109 (to Kaiser-Friedrich-Str./Kantstraße) + bus M49 to Masurenallee / ZOB (Berlin)
  • TXL bus (to Beusselstraße) + S41 train to Messe Nord / ICC (Witzleben)

By taxi or transfer

Taxis are based in the inner ring of terminal A (outputs 6–9). The wait will take no more than 5 minutes. The trip will cost 25-30 euros. To this fare, the taxi driver has the right to take an additional fee for bulky luggage (€ 1), a large number of passengers, from 5 people (€ 1.5 per passenger). Also in Germany, taxi drivers have the right not to accept cards, cash is needed.

Another option to get from Tegel Airport to any part of Berlin is to book a transfer in advance. In order not to worry about the language barrier, the total amount of the trip, the presence of a child seat in the car or enough space for your family, it is better to book a car in advance. Then you will already know what class of car will come for you, you will be met with a sign in the arrivals hall and taken to the address that you yourself indicated on the website when booking. It’s actually very convenient: when we travel with our parents, we always order a kiwitaxi transfer . In Berlin, the transfer fee is 50 euros, this price is fixed. It is not affected by any factors – time of arrival, traffic jams, etc. My review of one of the trips can be found here .

berlin tegel transfer

How to get from Tegel Airport to Schönefeld Airport

Tegel is located in the northwestern part of Berlin. Schönefeld – in the southeast. Between them – more than 30 km.

The easiest way to overcome this distance is by taxi or transfer. The trip will be quick and comfortable. The transfer fee is from 60 euros. Book a transfer >>>

However, if for some reason this option is not suitable, you can get from one airport to another by public transport.

Leaving Tegel Airport, you need to catch the TXL bus and get to Hauptbahnhof Central Station. From there, a regional train and an electric train (lines S9 and S49) go to Schönefeld. The first runs every 20 minutes, the second – every 10. Ticket price – € 3.2.

All let with a transfer take 60-80 minutes.

 

See also “Berlin Schönefeld Airport: how to get”

 

Car hire at Tegel Airport

Car rental in Tegel is located near Terminal E (lower floor). Several proven companies work here, among which are the following:

  • Budget Notice;
  • Sixt;
  • Europcar.

Opening hours: from 7:00 to 23:00. Some firms finish serving customers at 23:30.

At the airport you can rent any type of car – from classic to sportcar. The price of the service starts from 44 € per day (if you book for a longer period, for example, a week, then the price is from 25 euros per day). Of the documents you need an international driver’s license and data on a bank card (to block the deposit), and also do not forget your passport, voucher.

I usually book not directly through the distributor, but through a reliable intermediary: it is cheaper, and additional bonuses can sometimes be obtained. In Prague, for example, I booked through rentalcars.com

If you have not booked a car before, read my articles:

Hotels Near Tegel Airport

Not far from the airport there are several good hotel complexes, namely:

Mercure Airport Hotel Berlin Tegel is a 4 star hotel with a large number of rooms. A wide range of services, airport transfers, polite staff. Tegel is 0.7 km away. Price per night starts from € 110.

Central-Hotel Tegel – hotel 2 stars. The airport is 2.4 km away. The transfer provided by the staff of the complex takes 10 minutes. Standard double room costs € 90.

ECONTEL HOTEL Berlin Charlottenburg – hotel complex 3 stars. Nearby – a large number of city attractions. Tegel Airport is 3.5 km away. The rooms are clean and spacious, with new furniture and fixtures. There is a bar, restaurant, children’s playgrounds and sports grounds on site. The day starts from € 100.

 

See also: “16 hotels in Berlin for a perfect trip”

 

That’s all, I hope the article helped you prepare for your arrival in Berlin, namely to Tegel Airport. If you have additions or questions, leave comments. Do not forget to share the article on social networks and keep yourself bookmarked for the future!

Leave A Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

 

You can also like