Public transportation is a great way to get around a European city for cheap, and Berlin's U-Bahn is a-ok. It's not one of the best in the world, and it's far from the cleanest, but it's an easy and economical option to hop on an underground train when your feet get too tired to walk.
The U-Bahn Kochstraße is close to Checkpoint Charlie and the Checkpoint Charlie Museum, making it one of the most likely routes for tourists. Take a photo of the map on your phone so you'll know where to transfer and where you're going.
Buying a ticket is easy enough, but the different fare options are confusing. Make sure you understand the ticket you're purchasing. To avoid any confusion (and on the spot fines), we opted for an all-day ticket for around $12 U.S.
There are self-serve ticket machines in every station, and they are very tourist friendly (they even have six languages available: German, English, French, Spanish, Turkish and Polish). The ticket machines operate 24 hours a day.
We took a train in the daytime (very crowded with tourists and locals) then late at night (not so crowded with an assortment of weirdos), and the menagerie of patrons was very, very interesting. I felt safe for the most part, but I was with my burly husband. I'm not sure I'd recommend women take the train alone, especially after dark. read more