Luggage on Municipal Buses in Berlin

The buses on those routes are ordinary city buses with no separate luggage compartment, you'll keep your luggage with you. Make sure you keep tight hold of it.

The way you wrote your post is a bit confusing for European people - we don't usually leave out "Street" or "Square" at the end of place names.

Also, if it's the route I remember from Berlin, I would strongly recommend taking option 2. The M85 from Hauptbahnhof to Potsdamer Platz runs through an express road tunnel most of the way which shouldn't be too badly affected by traffic jams, while the X9/200 route runs through normal streets which can get congested.

Hi,

You have another option of getting to Potsdamer Platz without having to take the bus with the luggage. Buses don't have floor space to put luggage, normally. I would rely on taking the subway, U-Bahn and S-Bahn, since Potsdamer Platz is a junction point for both lines.

From Tegel (where you land ?), take the TXL bus to Berlin Hauptbahnhof (central station). At Hauptbahnhof take the U-Bahn 55 to Brandenburger Tor (Brandenburg Gate stop), where you transfer to the S-2 to Potsdamer Platz. Of course, at Hauptbahnhof you can always catch a taxi to Potsdamer Platz. Both the U and S Bahnen have more room for luggage.

I would not recommend the U-Bahn/S-Bahn over the bus from Hauptbahnhof to Potsdamer Platz. You'll still have to stand over your luggage and there's not much more space than on the bus. Also, carrying luggage up and down multiple stairs or escalators when entering the underground, changing lines, and leaving it again, is pointless when you have a direct low-floor bus available.

Thank you all for your recommendations. Yes, I did leave off "Platz" after Potsdamer, not realizing there is also a city with the same name. But you folks still understood what I was talking about anyways. We don't have that much luggage - just one medium rolling suitcase and smaller carry one for each of us. But it is good to know/prepare for many flights of stairs as we learned when taking the subway in Seoul Korea. We should be fine. Thank you again! Dee

Don't overlook the option of taking a taxi. From Tegel Airport to Potsdamer Platz shouldn't be more than about €25. That's obviously more than the bus, but much easier (door to door with no transferring, and the trunk, not you, holds the luggage).