Reader Simone’s reference, in a recent post, to taking Spock, her Cavalier, on Berlin’s subway and buses reminded me that Dog Jaunt has a collection of posts about public transit pet policies, and Berlin needs to be on it.

Berlin’s public transit menu includes rapid transit and commuter trains (U-Bahn and S-Bahn), regional trains (Deutsche Bahn’s Regionalbahn and Regional-Express), trams, buses, and ferries.

The BVG (Berliner Verkehrsbetriebe) operates the U-Bahn, the city’s trams and buses, and much of the ferry system. Small dogs in carriers travel free of charge; larger dogs are free with a Day Ticket (and please note that you can travel with more than one dog, for the price of a reduced fare ticket). Here’s the link to BVG’s Travelling with Dogs page (translated into English), so you can see the exact language.

Here’s Spock on public transit in Berlin — it looks like the carrier rule isn’t strictly enforced

That leaves the regional trains, operated by Deutsche Bahn, and the S-Bahn, operated by a Deutsche Bahn subsidiary. On the regional trains, again, small dogs in carriers travel for free, while larger dogs will cost half fare. Please note that dogs not contained in a carrier will have to be muzzled. Pet dogs are allowed in overnight compartments, but only if you book the entire compartment (there is a 30 € pet fee). Here is the link to Deutsche Bahn’s “Hinweise für die Mitnahme von Hunden” page, with the details. The rules for the S-Bahn look identical to those for the U-Bahn — here’s the link (I used Google Translate to work my way through — strangely, I could not find a pet policy page in the English version of the site).

Please note that there are a number of small ferries in Berlin that are not under the BVG umbrella, and they’ll have rules of their own. The ferry to Die Pfaueninsel is one example — pet dogs are not allowed on the island, so that’s a ride you won’t be taking together.

For other posts about traveling with dogs on public transit, take a look at Dog Jaunt’s handy guide!