Post by Alexis Kasperavičius on Jul 28, 2013 3:17:28 GMT -8
Been living in Berlin for a few weeks now and discovered that BVG (Transportation agency here) offers a tunnel tour of the system at night. Here's a review I posted on Yelp that describes it along with a few shots:
www.yelp.com/biz/u-bahn-cabrio-tour-berlin
You must buy tickets in advance which will be mailed to you. It's not really designed for visitors and only offered in German - but can be done if you try!
It's a little pricey at EUR 40 per person - but consider they have two motorcars, drivers at each end and at least 10 staff running around monitoring things. We're also on a special route that switches us between running subway lines, so I'm sure it's a bit of challenge for control as well.
BVG put this tour together with three custom built convertible ("Cabrio") subway cars. The tour is held on Friday nights at 10:00 PM and lasts for 2 hours. Starting at Alexanderplatz, we travel North up the U8, cross to U9, U6, U9 again, U7, and finally back to the U8 again. (See map I uploaded for route)
There's a 10 minute stop halfway at Seestraße (U6) where you can get off, but you must bring snacks as everything is closed. Even on a hot summer day there were parts that were a little cold, so a light jacket is also a good idea.
If you like trains and find this stuff interesting, you will enjoy it. There are some interesting views at various points and the double-take reaction of passengers on trains and waiting at the stations as we fly by is hilarious.
It is ONLY IN GERMAN. There is a BVG employee who gives a running dialog of facts and figures on a little radio set that is provided as part of the tour. Again, only in German. If you read the Wikipedia page on the U-Bahn before you go, you'll know all you need.
When the train switches lines, there are times when it can be sitting on a side track for up to five minutes waiting for another train to pass. Because the train switches directions often, if you face the wall when boarding at Alexanderplatz, you will be facing the station platforms for much of the route - but both sides provide good views.
Overall quite fun and very unique. Never heard of anything like this anywhere.
www.yelp.com/biz/u-bahn-cabrio-tour-berlin
You must buy tickets in advance which will be mailed to you. It's not really designed for visitors and only offered in German - but can be done if you try!
It's a little pricey at EUR 40 per person - but consider they have two motorcars, drivers at each end and at least 10 staff running around monitoring things. We're also on a special route that switches us between running subway lines, so I'm sure it's a bit of challenge for control as well.
BVG put this tour together with three custom built convertible ("Cabrio") subway cars. The tour is held on Friday nights at 10:00 PM and lasts for 2 hours. Starting at Alexanderplatz, we travel North up the U8, cross to U9, U6, U9 again, U7, and finally back to the U8 again. (See map I uploaded for route)
There's a 10 minute stop halfway at Seestraße (U6) where you can get off, but you must bring snacks as everything is closed. Even on a hot summer day there were parts that were a little cold, so a light jacket is also a good idea.
If you like trains and find this stuff interesting, you will enjoy it. There are some interesting views at various points and the double-take reaction of passengers on trains and waiting at the stations as we fly by is hilarious.
It is ONLY IN GERMAN. There is a BVG employee who gives a running dialog of facts and figures on a little radio set that is provided as part of the tour. Again, only in German. If you read the Wikipedia page on the U-Bahn before you go, you'll know all you need.
When the train switches lines, there are times when it can be sitting on a side track for up to five minutes waiting for another train to pass. Because the train switches directions often, if you face the wall when boarding at Alexanderplatz, you will be facing the station platforms for much of the route - but both sides provide good views.
Overall quite fun and very unique. Never heard of anything like this anywhere.