How to reach Hamburg
Hamburg is a "city-state" in Northern Germany, with a direct
connection by water (the River Elbe) to the North Sea. Here's how to reach the
city:
By
train. The Deutsche Bahn, or German Federal
Railways, operates frequent services between Hamburg and other European
cities, including high-speed ICE
(InterCity Express) trains that reach Berlin in about 1 hour 40 minutes and
Frankfurt in 3½ to 4½ hours.
You can check timetables with the DB's
English-language journey planner,
at least when the railroad's Web site is working.
Hamburg's two main stations are the
Hauptbahnhof and the suburban terminus station of
Altona.
By
air. Hamburg Airport
has been expanded in recent years, and it's conveniently located only 8 km or 5
miles from the city center. S-Bahn trains (line S1) run at 10-minute intervals
during most of the day, taking 25 minutes to get from the airport to the
Hauptbahnhof or main railroad station.
By
car. Hamburg is well-connected to other German
cities via the national Autobahn network. See
Brian's Guide to
Getting Around Germany: The Autobahn for general motoring advice, and use
ViaMichelin to get customized road
maps and directions from anywhere in Europe.
By
ship. Hamburg and its neighboring port of Cuxhaven are no longer served
by international car ferries, but an increasing number of passenger ships
(including Cunard's transatlantic liner, Queen Mary 2) use the
cruise
terminals in the Port of Hamburg.
Tip: If you're headed to
Hamburg by ship, see the
Hamburg photo diary from our
MSC Preziosa Cruise
Review: North Sea at Europe for Cruisers.
Local transportation
Trains
and buses. The
HVV, or Hamburg Transport
Authority, offers multiple ways of getting around: a
U-Bahn Metro or subway,
the similar but separate S-Bahn,
and a wide-ranging bus network.
If you plan to use the system often, you can buy a
Hamburg CARD that includes unlimited travel on public transportation.
Water
buses. HADAG
operates harbor ferries in
cooperation with HVV. On these ferry routes (identified by double-digit
numbers), you can use a standard HVV ticket or the Hamburg CARD.
Sightseeing buses
and boats.
Hamburger Stadtrundfahrt offers
"hop on, hop off" tours on red double-decker buses. The Line A circuit has 20
stops and can be combined with the company's other tours. Given a choice,
however, we'd opt for the
Maritime Circle Line,
a boat service with hop on, hop off harbor cruises to museums and tourist
locations around the harbor.
Bike
rental. The
StadtRAD bikeshare program is an easy, low-cost way to explore the city on
two wheels. Once you've registered, you can use a bicycle free for 30 minutes,
with a modest charge per minute after that. Some 70 rental stations and 700
bicycles are located around the city.
Tourist information
Hamburg
Tourism has
an information office in the Hauptbahnhof, or main railway station.
