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Wikimedia Conference 2011/Practical information

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General Information

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Arrival and Departure

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Airport Schönefeld (SXF)

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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.

Getting to the city:

Getting to the Airport:

or

Airport Tegel (TXL)

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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.

Getting to the City:

Getting to the Airport:

Zentraler Omnibusbahnhof (ZOB)

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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

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  • 230V at 50 Hz. People from the US, UK, Australia, etc: bring an adapter!
  • "Schuko" plugs type F (CEE 7/4), see wikipedia: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.

Getting around

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Public Transport

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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

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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