Berlin pilot scheme may offer free bikes to tourists who arrive by train

Berlin is to pilot a new scheme started in Copenhagen, which rewards tourists who use sustainable transport to travel to the city with reduced attraction tickets and free rental bikes.

Berlin to pilot DestinationPay

In 2025, Copenhagen adopted the “DestinationPay” system, a global tourism scheme offering tourists discounts if they travel to the Danish capital using a sustainable mode of transport, such as the train or bus, or take part in community projects, such as litter-picking, while they are in Copenhagen.

Now, Wonderful Copenhagen, the organisation that created DestinationPay, has announced that other European cities, including Berlin, are to follow suit.

If BerlinPay is closely modelled on “CopenPay”, tourists who arrive in the German capital with a sustainable mode of transport will be able to claim free entrance to popular attractions and rent bikes for free during their stay.

VisitBerlin in preparation stage

For now, it is unclear when Berlin will adopt the new scheme, but a pilot project could launch as soon as the summer of 2026.

In a press release from Wonderful Copenhagen, VisitBerlin boss Sabine Wendt said the city is in the preparation phase. “Alongside various partners in the tourism industry we are currently assessing and developing a similar concept adjusted to our city,” Wendt said.

Berlin already has a booming tourism industry - around 12,7 million people had 30,6 million overnight stays in 2024 - and it is only set to get bigger. According to the UN, the world could see 1,8 billion tourists by 2030. 

“DestinationPay represents a shift away from the consumer economy of travel to an economy of experiences, in which the worth of travel isn’t only based on expenditure, but also on contribution,” the organisation said in its press release.