Berlin Museum Pass and Welcome Card

Not sure what the Museum Pass does, but the Welcome Card only gets you like 25% off on certain museums. We didn't bother with it. A day pass for transit costs €6,10, and our hostel rented them out for €4 a day. We also did a lot of walking in Berlin, so a couple of days, all we needed to do was buy a single fare to the other side of the city (€2,10), explore there all day, and then buy another single fare to go back to the hostel. The only museums we went to were the Museum Island museums (€14 for all four), Jewish Museum, and the Gemäldegalerei (€8, includes three other museums in the Kultur Forum).

The Museum Pass covers all the major museums. It costs 19 EUR for 3 days, so you would have saved 3 EUR with it. The Welcome Card's discounts don't appear very usable to me, but with the 25% discount at Checkpoint Charlie, it breaks even with 3 day long transit pass. I have never read anything about hostels renting out day passes for 4 EUR. Does anyone know if Berlin hotels routinely rent out transit passes?

Do your homework before you decide to buy the Museum Pass and/or Welcome Card. My friend and I decided against the Welcome Card when we were in Berlin because you'll only get your money's worth if you visit a lot of museums. I love museums and yet only went to 2 (the Pergamon Museum and the Museum for Photography), because there are so many other things to do in Berlin and I didn't want to get "museumed out." We also bought a transportation day pass for each of the 3 full days that we were there, plus individual tickets for the half-day when we arrived and the half-day when we left. We ended up saving a good amount of money.

All of the hostels I've stayed at thus far have either sold or rented transit passes at a bit of a discount. Don't know if hotels routinely do the same. And Sarah, I know exactly what you mean, I think I've gotten museumed out! We did museum island last, and I was so tired of museums that I dont think I enjoyed the Pergamon as much as I could have!

We will be in Berlin for 5 nights, so it seems pretty easy to get value from the 3 day Museum Pass, since you only have to visit a few in order for it to pay for itself. The Welcome Card is the same price as the daily transit passes for 3 days IF you visit Checkpoint Charlie and get the 25% the discount, too. I guess I'm still not seeing any financial disadvantages in getting both cards since they cover completely different things and will allow me to at least break even in the case of The Welcome Card and save a lot of money with The Museum Pass.

I puzzled about which card to get also, but went ahead and got the 48 hour Welcome card for 16.90 and because I got it in the afternoon of the 19th, I was also able to use it today, the 21st. This worked out well for me.

I used it for the Jewish Museum and paid 3.50 € instead of 7 €, at the Dom and paid 2.50 € instead of 5 € and at the Deutsche History museum and paid 3.50 € instead of 7 €. Rode the train 2 X on the 19th, 4 X on the 20th and 2 X today. If I would have paid full price for everything it would have come to 35.80, and with the price of the welcome card, I paid a total 20.60.

There is also the Museum Island Card which if those museums interest you the most, might be worthwhile in conjuction with a day pass for the trains of 6.10 per day.

So, I felt like I saved money. I did walk alot, and if I would have gotten there earlier on the 19th, I would have gotten the 72 hour one and visited a couple more musuems.

Jo thanks for the information. It helps a lot to see the actual amounts saved. We usally walk a lot, too, but the weather may be less pleasant in December. I just wish the light show last longer! Since you were just there, any great restaurant recommendations?