Getting to Bremen

Bremen’s own airport, Bremen Flughafen, is just three kilometers southeast of the city, and visitors  can fly into Bremen Airport, which is about 10 minutes from downtown by tram. Bremen lies 80kms from the North Sea coast, and the harbour has moved north to Bremerhaven, where ships come in. Bremen is also easy to reach by car and train. The Deutsche Bahn provides good rail coverage all over Germany if you prefer to go by train.

By car

Eurotunnel runs shuttle trains for cars between Folkstone in Kent, with direct road access from the M20, and Calais, France, with links to the A16/A26 motorway. Once on the continent, driving distances to Germany can be as little as 2 hours, as Germany is connected to all surrounding countries by a first-class network of motorways and trunk roads. Access by car is via the A7 autobahn east and west and the A27 north and south. Autobahns A1 and A28 as well as Federal highways B6 and B75, can get you to Bremen by car.

By rail

The quickest route by train from the UK is through the Channel Tunnel, with connections from Brussels or Paris. Eurostar is a service that operates on the railways of Belgium, the UK and France, operating direct high-speed trains from London to Paris Gare du Nord and Brussels Midi/Zuid. It takes 2 hours, 40 minutes from London to Paris (via Lille) and 2 hours, 20 minutes to Brussels.

There are connections from Brussels or Paris to Munich, from where Bremen can be easily reached by Deutsche Bahn Inter City rail network. Bremen can also be reached via the Bremen–Munich Intercity Express line as well as the Hamburg–Cologne and Bremerhaven–Oldenburg–Hanover Intercity services and the Euro-Night Line from Zurich.

By bus

There are regular scheduled Eurolines coach services from London, with pick-up points across the UK on National Express coaches to most major German cities. Eurolines operates direct scheduled services from London’s Victoria Coach Station to Bremen. National Express also runs regular coach services to Germany from the UK.

By air

Bremen to London by air takes 1 hour, 15 minutes. The flight schedule of the Bremen Flughafen mainly contains holiday destinations, domestic flights and connections to the biggest European airports. One of the big advantages of a smaller airport like Bremen is that you usually don’t have to wait a long time for your luggage on arrival.

By ferry

P&O Ferries, Hoverspeed and SeaFrance offer Dover to Calais services, with coach trips inclusive of the ferry route available to various German cities including Bremen. Driving to Germany by the Stena HSS Line is both fast and convenient, with daily sailings between Harwich and the Hook of Holland, just a 3-hour drive from the German/Netherlands border.

Bremen airport

Bremen Flughafen is Bremen’s closest airport, just three kilometers southeast of the city, and the two-storey terminal building handled nearly two million passengers last year. Bremen Airport is one of the newest and most modern airports in Germany, and is manned by a staff of 2,000. It has two car parks that offer up to 4,500 parking spaces. Like any modern airport, Bremen has a service infrastructure that includes car rentals, airport transfer services, banks, post office, hairdressers, restaurants, shopping, hotel, VIP rooms and travel agencies and organisers.

Bremen airport transportation

Bremen Airport lies only three kilometers from the city centre and is within easy reach by car as well as by public transport. There is no train station at Bremen Airport itself, but connections to the city are convenient by taxi or S-Bahn (tram) number 5. Journey time is approximately 20 minutes.

Taxis are available outside the passenger terminal, and a journey to the city centre also takes about 20 minutes, depending on the traffic.