I used to live in Berlin and it can be quite intimidating, when you arrive in Berlin for the very first time.
Especially the size of the city and the amount of public transport possibilities like the Bus, the Tram, the S-Bahn and the Underground.
Here is a map of the public transport.
https://yearinberlin.files.wordpress.com/2010/11/bvgmap.jpgThese are the zones, so try to use the ring as a orientation.
https://www.bvg.de/images/content/service/Grafik-Tarifbereiche-400x225_teaser.jpgIt's important to say, that if you want to go from Westkreuz to Ostkreuz, this trip takes almost 45 minutes alone.
The Ringbahn, which is the
S-Bahn that circles Berlin in 2 directions, runs 24/7 and
one round trip is roughly 80-90 minutes if i remember correctly.
Since the convention is located at the ring-bahn in the east of Berlin, it's fairly easy to get there, if you have the time.
The AB Card is useful, if your hotel, hostel, accomodation is outside of the A area or the inner ring area.
The C area is quite far out of Berlin and i wouldn't recommend a hotel in that area,
if it is on the west side. It just takes too long to get to Sonnenallee this way.
What is very important, is that the
S41 and the S42 are the 2 ring-bahn trains that pass the
Sonnenalle station every 10-15 minutes. If your accomodation is located in the A area, you only need an A ticket, which is cheaper but i would always recommend the AB ticket for a tourist. Depending on how much time you intend to spend in the city of Berlin, i would recommend the following ticket.
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7-Day-Ticket Berlin AB which will be 30€ and it will be valid from the moment, you purchase it.
If you really stay in the C area, you should get this ticket:
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7-Day-Ticket Berlin ABC which will be 37,20€ and it will be valid from the moment, you purchase it.
You can already plan your travel time with this page and check how long it will take to get from your hotel to the convention and how much a single ticket will cost you.
http://fahrinfo.bvg.de/barrierefrei/bin/query.bin/en?noRestriction=yesYou can even create your individual time table for the duration of your stay on this page, so you have everything on your mobile, even if you have no data plan or german sim card.
http://fahrinfo.bvg.de/Fahrinfo/bin/tb/query.bin/enThis should help in general with the commuting in Berlin during normal hours.
There are some night busses which run to certain location but not evrywhere and the C area will not serviced at certain times, so you might wanna check the time tables in advance, if you intend to stay after midnight every day during EF. In the C area, they have cutoff times, so the train station will be closed in some locations for up to 4 hours.
Keep this in mind.
Other than, always be aware of the Sonnenallee area during the night time. This area is not the safest to begin with during the night, so i would advise anyone who might be easily intimidated or alone, to stay in a group when going to the S-Bahn.
Berlin is a big city and every big city has some areas you don't want to walk around alone.
Stay safe and i hope this does help a little bit.