Hamburg City Guide - Getting Around

HVV (tel: (040) 19449; website: www.hvv.de) runs an excellent integrated system combining rapid transit rail, regional rail, buses and harbour ferries. You will spend most time on the U-Bahn (Unterbahn, underground railway) and S-Bahn (Schnellbahn, rapid transit light railway) interlinked network. Each line (there are four main U-lines and four main S-lines) is designated by a colour and number. On both the trains and buses clear signposting, indicator boards and on-board announcements make sure you know in which direction you are moving and what the next stop is. You must buy tickets for the U-Bahn, S-Bahn and all regional trains in advance. There are no ticket barriers, but if you are caught by an inspector without a ticket you will be fined heavily.

You can buy individual tickets per journey but if you are around for a day or more it is worth investing in an All Day ticket, which offers unlimited travel for one adult and three children under the age of 15. The 9AM Day Card offers the same but is only valid after 0900. There is also a three-day ticket valid for unlimited travel by one person throughout the Greater Hamburg Area.

The Hamburg Card, which you can buy at the tourist office, gives unlimited travel first class on all public transport in the Greater Hamburg area and also grants free or reduced-price admission to many top attractions and excursions. You can buy all travel-only tickets from automated ticket machines at the stations or from bus drivers.

The following are reputable companies: Das Taxi (tel: 221 122), Hansa Taxi (tel: 211 211) and Taxiruf Hamburg (tel: 441 011).

Driving into Hamburg has all the drawbacks of driving and parking in any other major city and is not recommended. Note that if you do drive you can leave your car free-of-charge at one of the HVV park-and-ride facilities (see www.hvv.de for more information) at rapid transit and regional rail stations which avoids the hassle of finding an inner-city driving and parking.

Car hire operators at the airport include Avis (tel: (040) 5075 2314; website: www.avis.com), Budget (tel: (040) 5075 3811; website: www.budget.com), Europcar (tel: (040) 500 2170; website: www.europcar.com), Hertz (tel: (040) 5935 1367; website: www.hertz.com), National/Alamo (tel: (040) 5075 2301; website: www.nationalcar.com or www.alamo.com) and Sixt (tel: 01805 262 525; website: www.e-sixt.com).