This "ticket" is the DB ticket I printed on my home printer on 8 1/2 inch by 11 inch paper. Do I just go to the stamp machine and have it time stamp any part of that piece of paper?

I think so. Google Maps says it's an 8 minute walk. I called the hotel and was told it was a 15 minute walk.

No. The tickets that need time stamping are the ones you buy for travel in Berlin. The S-Bahn stations have machines for this. They look slightly different than the ones that are vended out of BVG machines, but they are the same things. ALL need to be time stamped.

The DB ticket you printed online is for your long-distance journeys. I take it you bought advance saver tickets that are for specific dates and trains? They will have the dates of your travel printed on them. So if you take the S-Bahn to/from the Hauptbahnhof in connection with these journeys, you just show that online ticket to a plainsclothed "spot checker" just in case there is an inspection on your S-Bahn train. No need to stamp anything.

I don't know where you're staying. But the stations before and after the ZG station are Tiergarten and Savigny Platz. You might be closer to one of those.

It is not French, it is German. "des" is the possessive form.

Yes, it's an advanced saver ticket. So then I don't need to time stamp the paper I printed at home. Thanks.

Your advice has helped me to decide which BVG tickets to buy while I'm in Berlin. Thank you! I will buy 3 day passes that cost 6.50€ each.

I do have two questions about the day passes. Can I buy the 3 day passes at the same time (when I arrive from FRA) at the BVG machine at Berlin HBF? If I can, will I be able to validate the day pass at the Ubahn if it is the first public transportation I take that day?

Not that it matters, but there are slight fare increases going into effect August 1st, see here (€6.70 for AB day tickets).

You can purchase all three at the BVG machine at once and validate them individually each day. All S- and U-Bahn platforms have ticket validation machines on them.

Thank you for letting me know. The price increase seems small. I didn't see price increases for the Welcome Card options. It wouldn't matter anyway for me.

I see two listings I don't understand. I see a new option called "4-Fahrten-Karte Kurzstrecke" for 5.60€ and I see "4-Fahrten-Karte Einzelfahrausweis" for 8.80€. Google Translate didn't help me understand. What is the difference between these two options as they seem like a card for 4 single tickets (one way) but one card is more expensive than the other.

Great. Thanks.

Just curious, when I arrive at the Frankfurt HBF after my trip to Berlin, will I be able to get a free ride on the S-Bahn from the Frankfurt HBF to my hotel as I can in Berlin? Or is that option only available in Berlin?

The "4-Fahrten-Karten" are basically dispensed as 4 individual tickets, numbered 1,2,3,&4. They offer a slight discount than if you bought 4 one-way tickets one-by-one. But they are basically the same things. And it appears that they went up in price a little. A "Kurzstrecke" is basically a short journey. They are good for an S-Bahn or U-Bahn journey no more than 3 stations away from your originating station. So that would be Zoologischer Garten to the Hauptbahnhof, for example, which is 3 stations away. Or a bus or tram ride, no more than 6 stops away from your original stop of embarquement.

As for Frankfurt. Yes you can use the ticket on the S-Bahn. But where is your hotel? Is it in the city proper? It has to be within the city zone. So the airport is beyond that zone, for example. And another note. When you buy a transport ticket in Frankfurt, it becomes valid right away. No time stamping. And I think they are good for no more than 90 minutes.

Thanks for the clarification.

As for Frankfurt, I'm not flying there from Berlin but rather taking the DB into Frankfurt HBF. Of all of the times I've flown in and out of Frankfurt, I've never spent time in the city so I made some time to visit Frankfurt on my last full day in Germany.

Prepare to be underwhelmed

What do you mean? A visit to the observation deck and a walk around the Altstadt could easily take an hour, maybe even an hour and a half.

Thankfully I missed that childish behavior when I was there.

Though kitschy I kinda liked the Checkpoint Charlie museum. My recollection of the New National Gallery was a little underwhelming though, compared to its grand name. The Jewish museum definitely worth a look.

You're obviously into the arts and history, so you can only scratch the surface of Berlin in a couple of days. I spent a full week there in a visit and had no time to be bored.

Frankfurt has enough for a weekend -- for a start, it has good museums--can easily spend a full day at the museums on/near the river. I took a walking tour of 3.5 hours that begins in front of the tourist office (but the tour itself is a private affair) -- excellent, and was about 14 euros. There is a lot of history to Frankfurt over the centuries.

I haven't seen much of the Bauhaus so I might take a look.

Indeed I am and am aware that I can only see so much in 3 full days. I don't want to rush around and thereby exhaust myself. I will have to pick and choose. I always advise NYC tourists not to rush to see everything because they'll end up not really seeing anything. So I'll follow my advice.

I want to walk around the old city. I'll check out the walking tour. I was advised to find a restaurant for dinner in the Sachsenhausen south of the river.

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