So is it a worthwhile investment for budget-conscious travelers? To answer this question, let’s break down the costs by looking at a few examples.

Related:
•Cheap hotels in Berlin under $100 per night
•15 Free and affordable museums in Berlin under €10
•Berlin: Tips for saving on shopping

Details of the Berlin WelcomeCard All Inclusive

Cost

Although the benefits sound great, the card is a bit on the pricey side. The Berlin WelcomeCard All Inclusive costs:

• 2 days: €95 (€49 for children 3-14 years old)
• 3 days: €109 (€54 for children)
• 4 days: €129 (€59 for children)

(See all prices for the All Inclusive card)

Comparatively, the regular old Berlin WelcomeCard is much cheaper. A 2-day WelcomeCard is €19.90 and a 3-day is €27.90. A three-day WelcomeCard with entry to Museum Island museums is €44. (See all options.) Remember, however, that the normal WelcomeCard only covers transportation and discounts of up to 50% at attractions.

Sightseeing and tours included

The Berlin WelcomeCard All Inclusive includes dozens of perks not included in their other “WelcomeCard”. We’ve chosen a few sightseeing offers to help you break down the costs:

Berlin on Bike

You can choose either a 3.5-hour guided bike tour that includes a bike rental or a 48-hour bike rental.

Regular full price: €21 for tour, €10 for 24 hours per adult, prices for children depends on age and transportation needed (bike, bike seat, trailer bikes, etc.)

City Circle Sightseeing

(BBS, BEROLINA, BVB, BEX): Includes a Yellow ticket for the hop-on-hop-off bus tour.

Regular full price: €22 for a day ticket or €26 for a 2-day ticket per adult, €11 for a day ticket or €13 for a 2-day ticket per child ages 7 to 14

Original Berlin Walks Tour

Discover Berlin is a 3.5-hour walking tour in English.

Regular full price: €14 per adult or €12 for people 26 and under

Stern und Kreisschiffahrt Boat Tours

River Spree city tour (1 hour) or Havel World Heritage Tour (2 hours).

Regular full price: Between €11-14

Museums and attractions included

The Berlin WelcomeCard All Inclusive also grants you free admission to 19 different museums, including museums on Museum Island, like the Pergamon Museum, art museums like the Gemäldegalerie, and museums of history, such as the German Historical Museum.

Without the card, ticket prices for most of these museums range between €12/€6 (Pergamon Museum), €10/€5 (Gemäldegalerie) and €8/€4 (German Historical Museum). For most state museums, admission for children 18 and under is free of charge.

Several attractions are also included in the card, such a trip up to the top of the Berlin TV Tower (regular price €13 for adults, €8.50 for children age 4 and up), free entry to Olympiastadion Berlin (regular price, €7/€4) and a trip to the Berlin’s Madame Tussaud’s (regular price to €16 to €20, depending on when you book).

Theater ticket discounts and more

The Berlin WelcomeCard All Inclusive also provides 25-30% discounts off tickets for theaters such as Friedrich-Stadt Palast and Wintergarten Varieté, various restaurants and shops.

Notably, it also includes the price of a day ticket for regular public transportation (€7/€4.70 within Berlin, group discounts available).

Is it a good deal?

So is the Berlin WelcomeCard All Inclusive worth the dough? The answer really depends on what type of tourist you are. If your goal is to hit as many museums and sights as possible, take walking or bus tours, and maybe even check out a Vegas-style show, this card will most likely help you save.

If, however, you’re really just looking for a card that will cover public transportation plus admission to the top museums on Museum Island, we’d forget the “All Inclusive” ticket and consider the WelcomeCard “Museum Island” ticket, good for three days at the five museums located on the island.

Meanwhile, there are cheaper (and in our opinion, sometimes better) ways to save than just falling in line with every other tourist. Here are some cheapo alternatives:

Biking

If you’d rather just rent a bike and explore on your own (instead of a bike tour), you can find bike rentals lower than the €10 per day that Berlin on Bike charges. Check out our guide to cheap bike rentals in Berlin.

Transportation

Since they follow more or less the same route as Berlin’s Bus 100 line, in our opinion, the hop-on-hop-off buses are are not worth the added price. A trip across one of Berlin’s many rivers is admittedly a delightful experience, but to save, you can also take a ride on one of the regular public ferries that travel from Wannsee to several locations. These public ferries are included in the price of a regular public transportation ticket.

Museums and entertainment

As for museums, most offer nicely priced tickets to begin with, as well as free admission for children 18 and under. As mentioned above, the Berlin WelcomeCard “Museum Island” ticket covers admission to those five museums and is much cheaper.

The ticket price for shows at variety, music and cabaret shows will still be on the pricey side even with the discount the card offers, and the restaurants listed are mainly overpriced tourist traps.

Last but not least, in our opinion, there’s absolutely no reason to go to Madame Tussaud’s in Berlin — unless the kids insist.

Final thoughts

So, in a nutshell, if you’re a really ambitious tourist, go ahead and spring for the Berlin WelcomeCard All Inclusive — the 4-day card offers the best deal and will allow you to pack in tons of sights and activities. We’d be much more likely to buy the WelcomeCard “Museum Island” ticket — and use it for discounts at museums and attractions not covered by the card.

And if you’re more of a relaxed tourist who would like to pick and choose your activities or find alternative ways to explore Berlin, then hold onto your wallet, as this card is probably not for you.

For a full list of all the benefits and discounts the Berlin WelcomeCard all inclusive offers, click here.

The post The Berlin WelcomeCard All Inclusive: Is it a good deal? appeared first on EuroCheapo's Budget Travel Blog.

If you plan to visit at least three museums (or even just two of the more expensive ones) while in Berlin, you will almost certainly be able to save money with a museum discount card. Cheapos should consider one of the following two cards in the context of their itinerary.

Museum Pass Berlin

The classic museum lover’s money-saving secret has long been the Museum Pass Berlin, which grants you free entry to nearly 50 different museums in Berlin, including all of those run by the Staatliche Museen zu Berlin (approximately 20 institutions, including everything on Museum Island). The full list of museums can be viewed here.

When you buy a museum pass, you’ll also be able to skip these ticket lines. Photo: Tom Meyers

Major museums covered:  All “Museum Island” museums (including Alte Nationalgalerie, Gemäldegalerie, Altes Museum, Bode-Museum, Neues Museum, Pergamonmuseum), Bauhaus Archive, Hamburger Bahnhof, Jewish Museum

Cost: The ticket costs €24 (for students, €12) and is valid for three consecutive calendar days only.

Cheapo tip: “Extend” the validity of your three-day ticket by having it run over a Monday—since most museums are closed that day, you can plan to visit the ones with Monday opening hours on the Monday, and thereby “gain” an extra day to visit all the other museums that are closed on Mondays.

“BASIC” annual ticket

The Staatliche Museen zu Berlin recently announced a new “BASIC” annual ticket which for the low price of €25 grants visitors free entry to all their institutions weekdays from 4 p.m. until closing, weekends entry between 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. till closing.

Major museums covered: Alte Nationalgalerie, Neue Nationalgalerie, Pergamonmuseum,

Cost: The ticket costs €25 and is valid for one year, but with limited hours.

The ticket is valid for one calendar year, and although most visitors may not receive a full year of value for their investment, they will receive the relative flexibility of dipping into any of the SMB institutions over the entire length of their stay rather than being forced to group museum visits into a three-day period.

Which pass is right for you?

Given that the two schemes are approximately the same price, it’s up to you to consider which one is more beneficial for you.

I would choose the Museum Pass Berlin if I was planning a short visit to the city and certain I would visit one or more institutions from the list that is not part of the SMB group, such as the Jewish Museum, Brücke Museum, Bauhaus Archive, or German Technology Museum.

I would choose the “BASIC” membership if I was staying in Berlin for five days or more, was primarily interested in the institutions on Museum Island or at the Kulturforum, and wanted to spread out my museum visits in a more leisurely fashion.

Berlin WelcomeCard

The discount card to avoid is the Berlin WelcomeCard, which is heavily marketed around town, but which grants you discounted rather than free admission to various museums and sites.

As a rule of thumb, city schemes such as these are rarely formulated to save tourists more money than they would spend using other discounts such as the two above, so research them carefully before buying.

Questions about the passes? Ask away in the comments section below.

The post Berlin: Which museum pass makes the most sense for your trip? appeared first on EuroCheapo's Budget Travel Blog.

For those of you who want to go off the beaten path, let me suggest four especially eclectic museums:

1. Deutsch-Russisches Museum (German-Russian Museum)
Zwieseler Straße 4
Tel.: +49 (0)30 50 15 08 52
Hours: 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. (Tuesday to Sunday)
Free entry
Web site

This historical collection on the eastern edge of the city is well worth the S-Bahn ride. Housed in a former Nazi officers’ school where the Wehrmacht officially surrendered to the Soviets, the museum offers a fascinating overview of German-Soviet relations spanning from 1917 to 1990.

You’ll see a whole lot of propaganda, odd uniforms, in-depth documentaries and even WWII Soviet tanks. Before the fall of the Wall, the museum was exclusively open to members of the Soviet Army. Today, anyone can visit, free of charge.

2. Jugend Museum (Young People’s Museum)
Hauptstraße 40-42
Tel.: +49 (0)30 90277 61 63
Hours: 3 p.m. to 6 p.m. (Wednesday and Thursday), 2 p.m. to 6 p.m. (Saturday and Sunday)
Free entry
Web site

While the Jugend Museum aims to educate young Berliners about the city’s diversity, the real treasures are found in the basement. Don’t be put off by the musky smell and charge forth past the human skeleton on display. Immerse yourself in the German tradition of Wunderkammern, or cabinets of curiosities.

Part ethnography, part zoology and part freak show, the 27 haphazardly curated cabinets feature anything and everything collected from the neighborhood—from centuries-old ceramics to a 1920’s toilet. It’s a fantastic little place to learn about Berlin’s present and past. (Full disclosure: The author used to work here.)

3. Abguss-Sammlung Antiker Plastik Berlin (The Ancient Sculpture Plaster Collection)
Schlossstraße 69 b
Tel.: +49 (0)30 33 77 83 32
Hours: 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. (Thursday to Sunday)
Free entry
Web site

Yes, it’s far from the city center; yes, it’s open only three hours a day, three days a week. But come on. It’s a roomful of plaster replicas of famous sculptures. Imagine all the hilarious photo ops. Enough said.

4. Buchstaben Museum (Museum of Letters)
Karl-Liebknecht-Str. 13
Berlin Carré, 2nd floor
Tel.: +49 (0)177 420 15 87
Hours: 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. (Thursday to Saturday)
Entry: €2.50
Web site

Dedicated to the world of typography, the Museum of Letters collects interesting store signs and stacks them from floor to ceiling. While they continue to search for a permanent space, the friendly curators (who are always up for a nice chat) open the crammed temporary showroom to public from Thursday to Saturday, two hours each day. You’re bound to discover something beautiful in the collection, even if it takes quite a bit of shuffling and restacking.

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