Berlin Brandenburg Airport to Berlin Hauptbahnhof / City Centre

Twenty-three minutes. That is all it takes to go from stepping off your flight at Berlin Brandenburg to standing under the great glass roof of Berlin Hauptbahnhof, and honestly it is one of the smoothest airport arrivals in Europe. No fumbling for a separate express fare, no queue for a shuttle — you buy one flat ticket, ride the sleek FEX Airport Express straight into the heart of the city, and you have arrived at Berlin's cathedral of trains, a short walk or single S-Bahn hop from the Reichstag and the government quarter. For a first-timer it feels almost too easy.

Why the FEX wins before you even sit down

The star here is the FEX Airport Express, run by DB Regio for the regional transport authority. It leaves from BER's own station on level U2, directly beneath Terminal 1 — you follow the signs down, you do not even step outside. Trains roll every 15 minutes from around 04:00 until roughly 01:00, and the run to Hauptbahnhof takes just 23 minutes, calling at Südkreuz after 15 minutes and Potsdamer Platz after 19. What genuinely delighted me is the fare: a single flat VBB ABC ticket costs €5.00 and there is no express surcharge whatsoever. The same €5.00 covers the FEX, the regional trains and the S-Bahn alike, so the fastest option is also the cheapest. That is a rare and lovely thing at an airport.

Do buy and validate your ticket before you board — Berlin runs on an honesty system with roving inspectors, and "I didn't know" is not a defence anyone accepts. Machines sit right on the platform, and the ABC zone ticket is exactly the one you want because BER sits out in zone C.

The scenic slow lane: taking the S9

If your flight lands late, or if you simply fancy watching the city unspool past the window, the S9 S-Bahn is your friend. It leaves from the same station beneath Terminal 1, runs every 20 minutes across a generous stretch of the day — roughly 03:00 to 02:00 — and trundles all-stops through Ostkreuz, Alexanderplatz and Friedrichstraße before you can hop across to Hauptbahnhof. Budget around 50 minutes; it is more than double the FEX, but it is the same €5.00 ABC ticket and it keeps running when the FEX has gone to bed. Think of it as the affordable sightseeing tour you did not plan for. For a first evening in Berlin, gliding past Alexanderplatz's TV tower lit up at dusk is not a bad introduction at all.

When you would rather be driven

Trains are the obvious hero, but there are nights — heavy bags, small children, a 2am landing — when a door-to-door ride is worth the extra euros. A licensed Berlin taxi from the official rank outside Terminal 1 arrivals runs metered, roughly €60 to €75, and takes about 45 minutes depending on traffic. Expect a starting fare near €4.30 plus around €2.80 per kilometre, with a small €1.50 BER airport surcharge; stick to the marked rank and ignore anyone touting rides in the hall.

Prefer certainty over a spinning meter? A pre-booked private transfer through the likes of Welcome Pickups or Blacklane costs a fixed €55 to €80, paid upfront by card, and your driver is there to take the bags — no scrambling for an app when you're tired and just want to be moving. It is a similar 45-minute journey, but the price is locked and the door-to-door pickup takes the guesswork out of a first night in an unfamiliar city.

Should you bother with a hire car?

For most people heading to Hauptbahnhof and a central stay, honestly, no. The car-hire desks — Sixt, Europcar, Hertz and Avis among them — sit in the rental centre at Terminal 1 and run from about €35 to €60 a day, which sounds tempting until you reckon with central Berlin parking, where a space costs a fortune and street hunting eats your evening. A car earns its keep for onward road trips into Brandenburg, not for a museum-and-cafés city break. Park the idea, ride the FEX, and save the driving for the day you actually leave town.

My verdict after doing it? Walk down to level U2, tap out €5.00, and let the FEX whisk you into the city in 23 minutes flat. It is fast, it is cheap, and it lands you exactly where Berlin begins.