Travel to Düsseldorf
Flying to Düsseldorf
Airlines operating regular flights from the UK to Düsseldorf Airport include British Airways, BMI Regional, easyJet, Flybe, Air Berlin, Eurowings and Germanwings. Ryanair offers cheap flights to Düsseldorf Weeze Airport, 78km (49 miles) northwest of Düsseldorf. Low-cost flights are available year-round, especially if you book well in advance. Air Berlin runs direct flights to the USA.
Flight times
From London - 1 hour 20 minutes; New York - 7 hours 40 minutes; Los Angeles - 10 hours 45 minutes; Toronto - 9 hours 30 minutes (including stopover); Sydney - 24 hours 15 minutes (including stopover).
Travel by road
An excellent motorway network connects the Netherlands and Belgium to Germany's famous autobahns. Traffic drives on the right and the minimum age for driving is 18 years.
Signs suggesting a recommended speed limit of 130kph (80mph) are posted along most autobahns; other limits are 80kph (50mph) on major roads and 50kph (30mph) in towns. You must carry a national driving licence from your country of origin. Trailers and caravans are allowed in without documentation.
A Green Card is advisable but not compulsory. Without it, drivers with motor insurance policies in their home country are granted only the minimum legal cover in Germany - the Green Card tops this up to the level of cover provided by the driver's own policy.
The main German automobile association is the Allgemeine Deutsche Automobil Club - ADAC (tel: 0800 510 1112, in Germany only; www.adac.de).
Emergency breakdown services
ADAC (tel: 0180 222 2222, in Germany).
Routes
It's easy to reach Düsseldorf by car, as it's well connected to other cities by motorway. The main routes into town are the A3, A44, A46, A52, A57, A59 and A524.
Coaches
Eurolines (tel: +44 871 781 8181, in the UK; www.eurolines.com), Flixbus (www.flixbus.de) and Deutsche Bahn (www.bahn.de/p/view/angebot/fernbus/index.shtml) run a direct coach service from London to Düsseldorf (journey time - 10 hours). The main coach station is behind Düsseldorf Hauptbahnhof (Hbf), Konrad-Adenauer-Platz.
Time to city
From London - 6 hours 30 minutes; Brussels - 2 hours; Paris - 5 hours; Berlin - 5 hours; Cologne - 45 minutes.
Travel by Rail
Services
Düsseldorf Hauptbahnhof (Hbf), Konrad-Adenauer-Platz, is the city’s main railway station, well equipped and busy with links all over Germany and the near-continent. Germany's trains are comfortable, fast and efficient.
Operators
The German rail network is operated by Deutsche Bahn (DB) (tel: 0180 699 6633, in Germany only; www.bahn.de).
Eurostar (tel: 03432 186 186, in the UK only or +44 1233 617 575; www.eurostar.com) runs from London to Brussels Midi in 2 hours. From here, there is a direct train to Düsseldorf with Thalys (tel: +32 7066 7788, in Belgium; www.thalys.com). You can plan the entire route on www.bahn.de.
Nightjet-trains (www.oebb.at/de/angebote-ermaessigungen/nightjet) connect Dusseldorf with domestic and international destinations. Motorail trains (www.oebb.at/de/leistungen-und-services/mehr-als-zug/auto-motorrad-am-zug) also call at Düsseldorf Hauptbahnhof (Hbf).
Journey times
From London - 6 hours; Brussels - 2 hours 15 minutes; Cologne - 20 to 30 minutes; Berlin - 4 hours 20 minutes.
