The Best Berlin Apps for Tourists in 2026: Transport, City Guides & What's On

Berlin runs on a handful of free apps, and no single one does everything. The short list for 2026: BVG Fahrinfo for public transport, Jelbi for bikes and e-scooters, ABOUT BERLIN or berlinHistory for the city's history, Going Local Berlin for district tips, the Berlin WelcomeCard app if you buy the discount pass — and Berlin ArtWalk for what's on today, self-guided audio walks and street art. Here's what each is best at.

Getting around: BVG Fahrinfo and Jelbi

BVG Fahrinfo is the transit authority's own app: route planning, real-time departures and ticket purchase for bus, U-Bahn, S-Bahn and tram — the one app every visitor needs on day one. Jelbi, also from the BVG, folds shared mobility into the same trip: public transport combined with carsharing, rental bikes and e-scooters in one booking.

History on location: ABOUT BERLIN and berlinHistory

ABOUT BERLIN, visitBerlin's free digital city guide, tells the history of the city's landmarks with multimedia stories and lets you assemble your own tours. berlinHistory takes a different angle: an interactive map of historical photographs with before-and-after comparisons, including a camera module that finds the exact spot an old photo was taken. Both are excellent, both free.

Local tips and discounts: Going Local Berlin and WelcomeCard

Going Local Berlin, also from visitBerlin, covers all 12 districts with tips beyond the tourist trail. The Berlin WelcomeCard app is the digital companion to the city's discount pass: your ticket on the phone plus the full list of attraction discounts. And for residents rather than visitors, ServiceApp Berlin brings the city's administrative services to the phone.

What's on, audio walks and street art: Berlin ArtWalk

What none of the above answer is 'what's happening in Berlin today?' — that's the gap Berlin ArtWalk fills. It's a free city guide built for walking: a daily-updated what's-on feed with 350+ live events, 215+ galleries and museums with current exhibitions refreshed nightly, narrated audio guides at 100 landmarks with 8 self-guided walking tours — and the city's biggest street-art map, 450+ works, which is where the app started.

Which Berlin apps should you install?

• Public transport and tickets → BVG Fahrinfo.
• Bikes, e-scooters, carsharing → Jelbi.
• History at the landmarks → ABOUT BERLIN or berlinHistory.
• Neighbourhood tips off the tourist path → Going Local Berlin.
• Sightseeing discounts → Berlin WelcomeCard (if you buy the card).
• What's on today, exhibitions, audio walking tours, street art → Berlin ArtWalk.

All of them are free, so the honest advice is: take the transport app, then pick by interest. If your Berlin is events, galleries and exploring on foot, start with Berlin ArtWalk — free on the App Store and Google Play — and see our guide to what's on today and this weekend.