Berlin's main station: Location map
Berlin Hauptbahnhof (Berlin Hbf) is the German capital's very modern main station, located in the heart of Berlin just 10 minutes walk from the Reichstag and 15 minutes walk from the Brandenburg Gate. The impressive glass-and-steel station was formally opened in 2006, finally giving Berlin a single main railway terminal, You can read more about Berlin Hbf and its construction at en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Berlin_Hauptbahnhof.
Berlin Hbf, seen from the south as you walk towards it from central Berlin. This is level 0.
Station layout & finding your train
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The main entrance to
Berlin Hbf is on the south side. You walk through the main
entrance at ground level (level 0) and immediately face a choice of going up or down the
escalators or lifts...
Up to level +1 with shops, ticket office & left luggage office, then further up to east-west platforms 11-16 on level +2.
Or down to level -1 with shops then further down to level -2 where you'll find north-south platforms 1-8.
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Platforms 1-8 are below ground level in a vast open basement. These are the north-south platforms handling trains to and from Hamburg to the north and Leipzig, Dresden, Prague, Vienna & Budapest to the south. Platforms 1-8 are known as Berlin Hbf (tief), as tief is German for deep.
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Platforms 11-16 are above ground on a viaduct running east-west across Berlin. These are the east-west platforms handing trains to Amsterdam to the west and to Warsaw & Krakow in the east. Some ICE trains to Switzerland also leave from here.
Platforms 11 & 12 handle eastbound trains (for example, to Warsaw & Krakow), platforms 13 & 14 handle westbound trains (for example to Amsterdam or Switzerland), platforms 15 & 16 are only used by S-Bahn (suburban) trains which are useful for transferring to Berlin Zoolgarten, Berlin Friedrichstrasse, Berlin Ostbahnhof or Lichtenberg.
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Domestic ICE trains to Frankfurt or Cologne can leave from either platforms 1-8 (tief) or platforms 11-16, you can check which platform you need either by using the station departure screens or online using the journey planner at int.bahn.de and clicking for details against your train, then clicking the train number.
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Tip: There's a train composition poster (Wagenstandsanzeiger) on each platform which tells you where to stand so you're in the right place for your car when the train comes in. This saves you running up & down the platform like a headless chicken.
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For an excellent 3D plan of the station go to www.bahnhof.de and search for Berlin Hbf.
Main entrance
Just inside the main entrance on level 0, with the information desk on the left. You can see the steps & escalator up to level +1 and up again to platforms 11-16 on level +2. And the escalators down to level -1 and onwards to platforms 1-8 on level -2 = Berlin Hbf (tief).
The photo above left shows all the levels, with upper platforms (11-16) visible at upper right on level +2, the people are standing on level +1, the McDonalds 'm' is on level 0 (street level), level -1 is visible below that and you can just see level -2 with one of the lower platforms (1-8) in the lower part of the photo.
The photo above right is taken from level +1, it shows what you see when you arrive and look out through the glass facade. The Reichstag (indicated by the arrow) is only a few minutes walk away.
Taken from entrance level (level 0) showing lifts & escalators down to platforms 1-8 on level -2.
Platforms 1-8 below ground
Platforms 11-16 above ground
Domestic & international ticket offices
There is a large ticket office selling national & international tickets, located on level +1, one floor up from ground level beneath platforms 11-16. The entrance is marked Reisezentrum (travel centre), see the photo below.
Left luggage lockers, ATMs & WiFi
Left luggage lockers and a staffed left luggage office are available if you need to leave your bags, signed Gepäck Center, see the luggage lockers page for prices & opening hours. The Gepäck Center is on level +1, one floor up from ground level, one floor below platforms 11-16.
The station has WiFi, but only the first 30 minutes are free. The network to select is Telekom. There are ATMs in various places around the station.
First class lounge
DB Lounge: In the unlikely event that you have an expensive 1st class Flexpreis ticket for an IC, ICE, EC or Railjet train you can use the DB first class lounge with complimentary tea, coffee, beer and snacks plus free WiFi. It's located on the southeast corner of level +1 at the end of a balcony, go one floor up from the main station entrance and turn right. You cannot use the lounge with 1st class advance-purchase Sparpreis or Super Sparpreis tickets or Interrail or Eurail passes, or with tickets for Nightjet sleeper trains or regional trains.
Steigenberger Hotel bar: My favourite VIP waiting room if I've time to kill between trains or an evening wait before catching a sleeper is the bar at the excellent Steigenberger Hotel across the forecourt, walk out of the main station exit and turn right, see walking map. It's an oasis with friendly staff away from the hustle and bustle of the station where you can enjoy a beer or wine, see the photo below. They also serve food.
Ibis hotel lounge: Alternatively, the Ibis Hotel Berlin Hbf is just across the road and to the right from the station's main north-side exit, see walking map. It has a trendy modern lounge with coffee machine, drinks & snacks available. For the price of a drink or two you can use it as a waiting lounge or workspace with power sockets & free WiFi. Also a better bet than hanging around in the station!
Food & drink
There are plenty of places to eat & drink in Berlin Hbf including all the usual suspects: Burger King, McDonalds, Pizza Hut, Dunkin Donuts. There is a large REWE supermarket on level -1 where you can stock up for the journey (pictured below). It's one level down from ground level and to the left (if you stand facing the way you walked in), or if you find it easier to visualise, it's on the southwest corner of level -1.
Hotels near the station
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Top choice here is the InterCity Hotel Berlin Hbf, just 200m from the station main entrance and ideal for an overnight stop. It's a favourite of mine, relatively inexpensive and gets great reviews. You can easily walk to the Reichstag and Brandenburg Gate in 10-15 minutes.
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If you've the money, the 5-star Steigenberger Hotel am Kanzerlamt is right next to the station, a guest favourite. I've eaten in the bar here, it's a classy place which won't disappoint.
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For something cheaper but still with great reviews, try the reliable Motel One Berlin-Hauptbahnhof on the north side of the station.
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Finally, if you really want to push the boat out with somewhere special, the famous Hotel Adlon Kempinski Berlin is right next to the Brandenburg Gate a 5 minute taxi ride or 17 minute walk from the station.
This is the huge pedestrianised square in front of Berlin Hbf, the camera is panned just to the left of the main station entrance. The left-hand building is the Steigenberger Hotel, the pale middle building is the Menninger Hotel. The InterCity Hotel is behind the Steigenberger. All very convenient for the station!
I've found the InterCity Hotel to be an excellent choice, spacious rooms, pleasant staff & a good breakfast.
Local transport: Walking, taxis & metro
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Walking... It's easy to walk from the station to the Reichstag (11 minutes) and Brandenburg Gate (18 minutes) then you can stroll along Unter den Linden. Walking from the station to Checkpoint Charlie for example would take just over 30 minutes.
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S-Bahn = suburban metro trains, se, www.sbahn-berlin.de. This is the easiest way to transfer between Berlin Hbf and Berlin Zoolgarten (for the Kurfürstendamm & old West Berlin), Berlin Friedrichstrasse (which was the old east-west border station), Berlin Alexanderplatz (for old east Berlin & the TV tower), Berlin Ostbahnhof or Berlin Lichtenberg. Simply buy a ticket and hop on an S-bahn train from above-ground platforms 15 & 16.
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U-bahn = underground metro trains, see www.bvg.de/en or www.sbahn-berlin.de.
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General urban transport in Berlin, see www.bvg.de/en.
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Taxis: There are plenty of taxis lined up immediately outside the main station exit. For a taxi fare calculator see www.taxifarefinder.com/main.php?city=Berlin-Germany.
More information
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You can find more station information & a 3D plan of the station at www.bahnhof.de.
Walking to the Reichstag & Brandenburg Gate...
The Reichstag building is just 11 minutes walk from the station, the famous Brandenburg Gate just 6 minutes further on. Well worth a stroll, it's incredible to think that not so many years ago the Brandenburg Gate marked the boundary between East and West Berlin. See my preferred walking route from Berlin Hbf to the Brandenburg Gate, this takes you through pleasant parks, you can safely ignore Google's warning about including restricted roads.
The Reichstag building, built between 1884 & 1894, see en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reichstag_building. To visit the dome, see www.bundestag.de/en.
The Brandenburg Gate, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brandenburg_Gate
Berlin Gesundbrunnen: Location map
Berlin Gesundbrunnen is a secondary station on the Berlin circle line 3.5 km northeast of Berlin Hbf. Normally used mainly by regional trains, in an ideal world you'd never need to go there, but occasionally long-distance trains are diverted to start/finish at Berlin Gesundbrunnen instead of Berlin Hbf due to engineering work. For example, Intercity trains to/from Amsterdam and EuroCity trains to/from Poland are occasionally diverted to Gesundbrunnen on certain dates.
The station has a cafe and supermarket. There's a shopping centre next to the station which has a large Rewe supermarket.
How to transfer from Berlin Hbf to Berlin Gesundbrunnen: Regional trains link Berlin Hbf low-level platforms & Berlin Gesundbrunnen every 5-20 minutes taking 5 minutes or less, it's just one stop, check times at int.bahn.de. If you book your mainline ticket to or from Berlin Hbf, this connection will be covered, these regional trains are also covered by an Interrail or Eurail pass, and by a Sparpreis ticket which includes city transport in Berlin. You can also travel between stations by S-Bahn (overground metro) with a change at Freidrichstrasse.
Berlin Gesundbrunnen exterior. The station sits on top of the tracks, the concourse is behind this building.
The main concourse, looking across all the tracks with steps & escalators down to each pair of platforms on the left. A decent cafe is on the right, with the ticket office beyond it, opposite the steps to platforms 5 & 6.
Berlin Gesundbrunnen platform 9 & 10. The Nightjet from Berlin to Vienna & Budapest is on platform 10, diverted to start at Gesundbrunnen on this occasion.