Car hire Berlin: tour the city in style and at ease with a rental

Car hires in Berlin: practical information

Where to rent a car in Berlin

Ready for a trip to the German capital? If you've already snagged some cheap tickets to Berlin, you're only half done your travel planning. How about an economy car hire? It's the best way to get around the city and makes it easy to plan road trips. From the airport, there are endless rental solutions waiting for you at the Arrivals Hall.

Like the airport, Berlin's central train station has a host of cheap car rentals available. There are also a number of rent cars in the city centre. Competition helps keep prices down, a good thing when travelling on a budget. Pick up a car hire at Berlin's Tegel Airport just outside of Terminal A.

Driving in Berlin: parking and other tips

As far as Europe is concerned, Berlin is probably one of the best laid out cities for urbanization. It's a pleasant city and traffic seems to flow a lot easier here than it does in London. Around the city, it's probably best to leave your discount car hire at your Berlin hotel and rent a bike or use the city's public transit (which is excellent!). When planning your trip, make sure you book a hotel in Berlin with parking.

Parking prices in the city vary, as does the time permitted in each space. It can change drastically from one area to the next. Street parking is often limited to 1-2 hours at a time.

Road trips from Berlin: what to do, what to see

Grunewald

Take a trip along the Havel River and you'll first run into Grunewald, a town easily reached from the city centre of Berlin. The town is set in a lovely forest, making it a great spot for day hikes, given it's 3,000 hectares large. Don't miss a visit to Teufelsborg and the Museumsdorf Duppel, an ethnographic museum.

Wannsee

Wannsee is the perfect place in summer if you want to go for a swim, just past Grunewald on your way to Potsdam. There is a huge lake there and is a popular spot when the city heats up, as any local Berliner would know. A trip to Peacock Island is absolutely essential. Interestingly, Wannsee is the longest inland beach in Europe with a particularly popular nudist part.

Buckow

Head North-East and you won't find yourself on much of a tourist trail, it's more of a local thing. Buckow, about 60km from Berlin in Brandenburg, makes one great day trip to visit the House of Helen Weigel and Bertolt Brecht. It was here that he wrote his famous Buckow Elegies. The pretty town centre and beach make for a pleasant trip out of the city while on holidays in Berlin.