Easy access through fast, direct connections
Whichever direction you are coming from, and however you are getting here, Hamburg is easily accessible by air, rail and road, and even by ferry via the Lübeck-Travemünde Baltic Sea port. Hamburg has always placed great emphasis on providing excellent transport links and continues to invest in developing regional infrastructure. The best example of this is Hamburg Airport in Hamburg-Fuhlsbüttel with a history that spans more than 100 years. The fact that Hamburg Airport was Germany’s first airport certainly reflects the pioneering spirit of Hamburg’s locals.
The place where it all began with an airship hangar for two Zeppelins in 1911 is today home to two state-of-the-art terminals with dispatch facilities for 53 aircrafts. The airport is the result of a gigantic development programme that cost around 350 million euro and was completed in 2010. The airport’s infrastructure includes 108 check-in counters, 67 restaurants, a dental surgery, separate conference rooms, as well as a 6,000 square metre events hall. VIP and limousine services are of course also available.
Arriving by plane
60 airlines fly direct from Hamburg to 120 destinations around the world. Between 6 a.m. and 11 p.m., an average of 420 aircrafts take off and land at Hamburg Airport every day, and more than 15 million passengers pass through Hamburg Airport every year. The airport is situated only 8.5 kilometres from Hamburg’s city centre and is connected to the city’s comprehensive public transport network via S-Bahn.
Arriving by car
Mobility has always played a major role in the region, and Hamburg is embedded in a close-knit network of state roads. Germany’s longest motorway, the A7, runs from north to south, while the A1 runs from the Baltic Sea to the Saarland region, and Hamburg is connected to Berlin via the A24 and to Schleswig-Holstein via the A23. In the coming years, the motorway network in the Hamburg Metropolitan Region will be further expanded to the tune of some 2.5 billion euro.
Arriving by rail
Hamburg is also easily accessible for all those arriving by train from other parts of Germany or Europe, and Berlin is less than two hours away by rail. The city alone has four long-distance train stations. Hamburg’s main rail hub is the central train station, which was opened in 1906. Anyone organising a meeting or a congress in Hamburg can benefit from Deutsche Bahn’s Veranstaltungsticket, which offers the best value for money to congress participants.
Local public transport: getting around Hamburg by bus, S-Bahn and port ferry
In Hamburg you can get around the city very easily without a car – thanks to the city’s comprehensive local public transport network that even includes water travel. Six S-Bahn lines, four underground lines and numerous bus connections ensure excellent transport links even beyond the city boundaries. In addition to local public transport, the surrounding region can also be accessed via national railway links.
The HVV KombiTicket for meetings, conventions and seminars allows participants to comfortably commute between their event location and their hotel at reasonable rates – and to include a short boat trip with one of the HADAG port ferries. Another option is the Hamburg CARD, which not only provides free travel by bus, S-Bahn and port ferry, but also reduced admission to more than 150 tourist attractions.
HVV KombiTicket for congress participants
Offered by the Hamburg Convention Bureau and the Hamburg Transport Association (HVV), the HVV KombiTicket for meetings, conventions and seminars is available for events with 250 or more participants. It offers participants free travel within Hamburg’s local public transport network and is valid in the entire area covered by HVV (tariff rings ABCDE). As part of this offer, event organisers are obliged to issue a HVV travel permission to all participants for the duration of their stay. This takes the form of a conference badge that incorporates a HVV KombiTicket stamp stating the relevant dates. To learn more, please feel free to contact us.
The Hamburg CARD for groups – simplified booking options for the Hamburg CARD
For conferences and events with a lower number of participants you can benefit from the Hamburg CARD, which is available as an online/mobile ticket. The Hamburg CARD provides free travel by bus, S-Bahn and port ferry as well as a 50% discount at more than 150 tourist attractions – from museums and guided tours to boat trips on the Elbe and the Alster. There are two commissionable booking options for groups:
1. If the event organiser wishes to include the Hamburg CARD in the event, the booking will be processed based on numbers and booking codes.
2. Alternatively, event participants can book their own Hamburg CARD via a special link.
More information can be found here.
Photos: Christian Spahrbier*, Michael Penner*, Roberto Kai Hegeler*, Christian Spahrbier* | *www.mediaserver-hamburg.de