Dusseldorf Transportation

Getting There

Air

The Dusseldorf International Airport is one of Germany's major airports. It consists of three terminals (A, B, C) each possessing ample shopping opportunities (including duty free), numerous restaurants, info booths, currency exchange centers, and ATMs. Abundant short-term parking is located outside each terminal.

Dusseldorf International Airport (DUS) +49 211 4216 5220 http://www.duesseldorf-international.de/

Airlines include:

Air Berlin (+01805 37 800 / http://www.airberlin.com/) Air France (+1 800 237 2747 / http://www.airfrance.com/) British Airways (+1800 626 747 / http://www.ba.com/) Condor (+01803 0 02 90 / http://www.condor.com/) Fly Me ( +46 770 790 790 / http://www.flyme.com/) German Express (+01805 737 100 / http://www.gxx.ge/) German Wings (+01 865 0125 / http://www.germanwings.com/) Hapag Lloyd Express (+0818 210018 / http://www.hlx.com/eg) LTU (+0211 94 18 08 / http://www.ltu.de/) Lufthansa (+01 844 5544 / http://www.lufthansa.com/) Spanair (+0034 902 131415 / http://www.spanair.com/en) United Airlines (+069 500 703 87 / http://www.usairlines.com/)

From the Airport

Rental Cars: Rental car stations are readily available in both the domestic and international arrival halls. Companies include:

Avis (+1 800 230 4898 / http://www.avis.com/) Europcar (+39 06 6501 0879 / http://www.europcar.com/) Hertz (+1 800 654 3131 / http://www.hertz.com/) Budget Car Rental (+01 844 5150 / http://www.budget.de/) National Alamo (+49 211 421 77755 / http://www.alamo.de/) Sixt (01 844 4199 / http://wwwirishcarrentals.com/)

Taxi: Taxis are always ready and waiting for you in front of the central arrivals. Companies include:

Taxi Düsseldorf (+49 211 33333) Rhein Taxi (+49 211 212121)

Bus: The bus station is located in front of the central arrivals. The Route 760 from/to Ratingen Ost via Düsseldorf-Unterrath and Lichtenbroich stops at the central arrivals in front of the terminal. For exhibitions and fairs in Düsseldorf and Essen, specially chartered buses transport passengers directly to each particular exhibition or fair. Passengers board these buses directly in front of central arrivals. The following bus routes drive via "Airport Administration", approximately 3 min. footway to the terminal: Route SB51 from/to Kaarst-Rathaus via Düsseldorf-Nordfriedhof, Meerbusch Route SB52 from/to Meerbusch-Haus Meer via Meerbusch and Messe Düsseldorf Route 721 from/to Tannenhof/Gothaer Weg via main rail station Airport-Aixpress from/to Aachen bus station Another bus station is located at the Düsseldorf Airport rail station (see airport map). The following regional buses stop at the airport rail station: Route 729 from/to Theodor-Heuss-Brücke (Düsseldorf-Golzheim) Route 759 from/to Ratingen Ost Route 776 from/to Mercedesstraße (Düsseldorf-Derendorf)

Train

Dusseldorf offers train services to and from Bonn, Frankfurt, Berlin, Munich and more. If your visit to Dusseldorf is part of a larger trip, it may be cheaper to buy a rail pass than point-to-point tickets. For non-European citizens, there are a range of passes available, depending on whether you are visiting Germany only or other countries in Europe as well. Information about the different passes and train travel in Europe can be found at http://www.europrail.net/. Europeans can buy an Interrail pass instead - it is cheaper to buy one in your own country, so call your local train station for more information.

Bus

Eurolines (+49 8 89 89 513 / http://www.eurolines.com/) is a popular international bus service that has a stop in Dusseldorf.

Car

Dusseldorf is encircled by the following highways: A44 Aachen-Velbert and A52 Essen-Düsseldorf in the north, A46 Heinsberg-Hagen and A59 in the south, the A52 Düsseldorf-Roemond and the A57 Köln-Nimwegen in the west, as well as the A3 Frankfurt am Main-Oberhausen in the east.

Getting Around

Public Transport

The public transport network (KRR) (http://www.vrr.de/) is the most convenient way to get around via bus or tram. Daily or 3-day passes are worthwhile if you plan on traveling much throughout the city. To explore Dusseldorf's surroundings the convenient S-Bahn (urban railway).

Planning a Trip

Getting There

By Plane -- Düsseldorf International Airport, 6km (4 miles) north of the city, has regularly scheduled connections to 14 German, 47 European, and 132 international airports. You can fly from Frankfurt to Düsseldorf in just 45 minutes or from Munich or Berlin in an hour. For flight information, call tel. 0211/4210.

The airport is linked to the GermanRail network. Transfer to the Düsseldorf main rail station is via S-Bahn 7, offering service daily 4:03am to 12:30am, with trains every 20 minutes (trip time: 12 min.). One-way fare is 2.10€ ($3.35). For information, call tel. 01805/996633. Regular airport buses also connect the airport with Bonn and Cologne. A taxi ride to central Düsseldorf takes about 20 to 30 minutes and costs from 25€ ($40), depending on traffic.

By Train -- The main train station, the Düsseldorf Hauptbahnhof, on Konrad-Adenauer-Platz in the southeastern sector, offers frequent connections to all major cities. The trip time to Frankfurt is about 2 1/2 hours; to Munich, about 7 hours. For information, call tel. 01805/996633. Düsseldorf also has extensive regional rail links; for information on regional trains or trams, call tel. 0211/58228. Luggage-storage facilities are available at the Hauptbahnhof.

By Bus -- Access to Düsseldorf is a lot easier by rail than by bus. The region's largest carrier is Adorf GmbH (tel. 0211/418970), most of whose buses service small towns within the Rhineland that don't necessarily have railway stations of their own. Buses usually pull into Düsseldorf at the northern edge of the Bahnhofplatz.

By Car -- Access to Düsseldorf is by the A3 Autobahn north and south or the A46 east and west.

Visitor Information

For information, go to the Tourist Office, Immermannstrasse 65B (tel. 0211/17202844; www.duesseldorf-tourismus.de), opposite the railway station. It's open Monday to Saturday 9:30am to 7pm and Sunday and national holidays 4 to 8pm. The office also has a hotel reservations service, which charges a one-time booking fee of 5€ ($8), along with a deposit that equals the price of the first night's accommodations. For the tourist office's room reservation services, call tel. 0211/1720224, Monday to Saturday 9:30am to 6:30pm.

Getting Around

Düsseldorf is a big, sprawling city, so you'll probably want to rely on public transportation. The city and environs are served by a network of S-Bahn railways that fan out to the suburbs, along with buses, Strassenbahn (trams), and a U-Bahn system. Ask at the tourist office (tel. 0211/17202844) about purchasing a Düsseldorf WelcomeCard, offering free use of public transportation as well as free entrance to city museums, reductions on city tours, boat rides, and opera and ballet tickets. Valid for 24 hours, the welcome card costs 9€ ($14) for an adult or 18€ ($29) for a group/family card (2 adults plus 2 children up to age 14 or 3 adults). A welcome card valid for 48 hours goes for 14€ ($22) for an adult or 28€ ($45) for a group/family card. A 72-hour card is available for 19€ ($30) for individuals and 38€ ($61) for groups/families.

Taxi meters begin at 3€ ($4.80), after which you'll be billed between 1.28€ to 1.50€ ($2.10-$2.40) per kilometer, depending on the time of day. To call for a taxi in Düsseldorf, dial tel. 0211/33333.