© visitBerlin, Foto: Andi Weiland
Tips and information on accessibility and services for Berlin tourists with visual or auditory impairments or physical disabilities.
Berlin has many attractive offers for tourists with visual or auditory impairments and people with disabilities. From accessible sights and guided tours to themed museums and public transportation, here are our tips for Berlin visitors with disabilities:
A large number of Berlin's sights and attractions, including many of the city's top sights are for people with limited mobility and wheelchair users. Many of them also offer special services and guided tours for people with visual or auditory disabilities. Here is a comprehensive list of Berlin's accessible sights:
Blind and visually impaired people can experience, hear and feel the city and its attractions. The association Berlin für Blinde (Berlin for the Blind) offers a list of the city's top sights with audio descriptions and illustrative graphics for visually impaired people.
Many Berlin museums, such as the Jewish Museum, the Bauhaus Archive and Charlottenburg Palace, offer special guided tours for visitors with visual impairments. The Reichstag and the Berlin Zoo also have special offers for blind visitors. The Museum Otto Weidt documents the story of Otto Weidt, who was blind himself and saved numerous Jews from deportation through his former workshop in World War II. All exhibits are written in Braille.
The General Association for the Blind and Visually Impaired Berlin (ABSV) offers a variety of ressources for visitors and Berliners. The association also provides a monthly calendar of culture and leisure activities suitable for blind and partially sighted people.
For deaf visitors and people with hearing impairments, Berlin offers special events as well as guided tours in sign language. Many Berlin museums as well as sights and attractions such as the Reichstag and the Berlin Zoo offer guided tours tailored to the needs of hearing-impaired visitors.
Berlin's public transportation offers a number of aids and services for a comfortable and barrier-free journey to your destination.
Many Berlin train stations and means of transportation are barrier-free. The Berlin Transportation Company (BVG) and the S-Bahn provide information on their websites about the accessibility of the individual stations and means of transportation. In order to plan your route without obstabcles, the BVG provides a special journey planner that allows you to search for accessible transport connections. In addition, the website BrokenLifts offers information on elevators in Berlin stations that are currently out of order.
The Berlin-Brandenburg Transport Association (VBB) offers a guide service for people with physical disabilities or special needs. VBB staff accompany people from the door of their home all the way to their destination. The service is free of charge and available Monday through Sunday from 7 AM to 10 PM.
The city of Berlin offers a special transport service (SFD) for people with disabilites. The service can be used for a small co-payment and is intended exclusively for private trips. Its goal is to provide people with disabilities with more mobility for their leisure activities.
© visitBerlin, Foto: Andi Weiland
Barrier-free sights in Berlin accessible for wheelchair users, visually impaired and blind people as well as deaf and hearing impaired people. more