Chilly pools and price hikes await Berlin swimmers this spring

Berliner Bäder-Betriebe, the authority which runs public swimming pools in the capital, has announced incoming changes to its ticketing system.

Berlin swimming pools to be divided into categories

Trips to public swimming pools in Berlin will get more expensive this summer. Berliner Bäder-Betriebe (BBB) has announced that it will soon introduce a new, hierarchical ticketing system.

Starting May 5, indoor pools (Hallenbäder) in the city will be designated to one of three categories. BBB says that a swimming pool will be designated a category based on its quality and the services available at the site (e.g. does it have a sauna or water slides).

The lower the category and the fewer services available, the cheaper a ticket will be. Until now, a standard ticket for a swim in any pool, for any length of time, cost 5,50 euros. Under the new rules, a 90-minute swim in a category one pool will cost six euros, in a category two pool, 4,50 euros and in category three pools, four euros.

Three swimming pools will be included in category one, 13 pools in category two and 13 pools in category three.

Berlin outdoor swimming pool trip will soon cost 7 euros

Under the new pricing system, outdoor swimming pools in Berlin and Strandbäder (designated lake swimming areas) will be in three categories of their own. 

Rather than 5,50 euros, visitors to any of the city’s six category one outdoor pools, which includes Sommerbäder Kreuzberg, Neukölln, Humboldthain and Pankow, will have to pay seven euros for a swim of any duration. Swimmers at the 13 outdoor pools in category two will have to pay 6,50 euros, and at the three outdoor pools in category three, six euros.

Additionally, to save money, BBB will only continuously heat six of the 18 outdoor swimming pools in the city: Sommerbäder Pankow, Mariendorf, Staaken-West, Kreuzberg, Gropiusstadt and Seestraße.

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