Berlin Hackathon 2011/Practical information

General Information

 * Wikipedia about Berlin
 * Wikitravel about Berlin
 * Map layer with all important locations and directions (load it into Google Maps on your mobile device)

Airport Schönefeld (SXF)
Most international flights will use the airport Berlin Schönefeld (IATA Code SXF) which is located south-east outside of Berlin. The airport is relatively small, for departure you should arrive about an hour before your flight leaves.


 * website with current flight information
 * OpenStreetMap showing airport and city centre

Getting to the city:
 * outside the airport just follow the roofed footpath, it leads directly to the station
 * S-Bahn S9 (to Pankow or Spandau), takes about 45 minutes
 * regional train RE7 (to Dessau) or RB14 (to Nauen) run less frequently, but is much faster

Getting to the Airport: or
 * take a S-Bahn, subway or regional train to Berlin Ostkreuz (east cross)
 * at the S-Bahn station Ostkreuz catch a S9 to Berlin Schönefeld
 * take a S-Bahn, subway or regional train to Berlin Ostbahnhof (east station)
 * regional train RE7 (to Wünsdorf-Waldstadt) or RB14 (to Berlin Schönefeld)

Airport Tegel (TXL)
Mainly domestic and European flights use airport Berlin Tegel (IATA Code TXL) which is located within Berlin, in the north-west of the city centre. The airport is quite small, for departure you should arrive about an hour before your flight leaves.


 * website with current flight information
 * OpenStreetMap showing aiport and city centre

Getting to the City:
 * right in front of the terminal building is a bus stop
 * Bus TXL brings you directly to Berlin main station (20 min.) and Alexanderplatz (37 min.)

Getting to the Airport:
 * take S-Bahn, subway or regional train to Berlin main station
 * outside the station, right in front of the main entrace is the bus stop of line TXL located

Zentraler Omnibusbahnhof (ZOB)
Central bus terminal, long-distance coaches arrive / depart here. (Google Maps)


 * Just cross the street and keep left, you will see a big green S sign leading you to the S-Bahn station Messe Nord/ICC
 * take any south-bound train (lines 42 or 46)
 * change at the next stop Westkreuz to any east-bound train (lines S5, S7 to Ahrensfelde, S9 to Flughafen Schönefeld, S75 to Wartenberg)
 * get off at Friedrichstrasse

Electricity, Internet, etc

 * 230V at 50 Hz. People from the US, UK, Australia, etc: bring an adapter!
 * "Schuko" plugs type F (CEE 7/4), see Schuko
 * Cell phone coverage is good pretty much everywhere in Berlin, including subway tunnels.
 * Free Wifi is common in Cafes, you may have to ask for a code though.

Public Transport
Berlin has excellent public transport. It's backbone consists of the Berlin S-Bahn and Berlin U-Bahn systems, aided by buses and street cars.
 * overview
 * You can get travel plans online at bvg.de
 * The S-Bahn system is layed out in a circle with a major east-west axis and minor north-south connections in addition to the circle lines.
 * minimized website for mobile devices
 * night service
 * At night, there is Night-Bus and Metro-Bus service.
 * However, major S-Bahn and U-Bahn lines run non-stop from Friday evening until Monday.
 * fees
 * a "short range" ticket for 1.40 EUR covers 3 stations by U-Bahn or S-Bahn, or 6 bus stops.
 * a regular ticket "AB" for 2.30 EUR gets you through all of Berlin proper. It's valid for 2 hours, with unlimited transfers and interruptions. However, you need a new ticket if you want to reverse your direction.
 * tickets can be bought at ticket machines at the stations. Tickets need to be redeemed (punched) in order to activate.
 * You can buy tickets from Bus drivers and inside street cars, but not inside U-Bahn or S-Bahn trains.
 * You will receive public transport tickets along with your name tag for the Chapters' conference!
 * taxi calculator

By Car: Environmental Zone in Berlin
On 1st January 2008 the city of Berlin established an Environmental Zone. You need to have a special sticker (costs: 5-6€) to be able to drive in the inner-city (conference, accommodation, etc is here!), which marks your car to be classified in a certain exhaust emission standard. Please keep all documents providing any information on your car with you. Get a sticker before you enter the inner-circle.
 * Information and addresses needed to get a sticker de / en / fr / it / tr/ ru / po