©BAMBERG Tourismus Service. Foto: Sonja Krebs

Travelling to Bamberg

By air

You can travel into Bamberg via four different airports; details for each are below. Most International flights are to Frankfurt FRA or Munich, but the closest airport is Nuremberg.

Nuremberg International Airport – NUE
70km from Bamberg, Nuremberg Airport is served by carriers including Airberlin, Air France, Eurowings, KLM, Swiss, Lufthansa, Ryanair, Turkish Airlines, Wizz and Vueling. Find cheap flights at Swoodoo, Opodo or Skyscanner.

You can travel from the airport to Nuremberg Central Station (Nürnberg Hauptbahnhof) by underground/subway line U2 which runs almost every ten minutes, from 04:42 to 00:36. The journey takes around 12 minutes and the fare is currently €3. After midnight, a night bus runs once an hour, but takes a little longer, at almost 30 minutes.

There are regular trains from Nuremberg Central Station to Bamberg. Journey times vary depending on the type of train, from 32 minutes via ICE to 43 or 56 minutes via R, RE or S-Bahn. Prices vary accordingly. A single ticket with the regional trains (IRE, RE, RB and S-Bahn) costs €11.20 and there is one R-Bahn and one S-Bahn per hour. All tickets can be purchased from machines directly at the airport, at U-Bahn, S- Bahn, bus and train stations, as well as from ticket desks at train stations. Deutsche Bahn (DB) tickets purchased at the airport are valid for connecting trains to the city centre, so you won't need an additional ticket from and to the airport. See Deutsche Bahn.

You can also get a bus to Bamberg. There is a daily, direct connection from Frankfurt Airport FRA at 12:40 from Terminal 2 that costs €11 if booked online in advance. Several buses travel from Frankfurt Central Station (Hauptbahnhof) to Bamberg. They cost from €11 to €15 and take about three hours. See FlixBus.

Frankfurt International Airport – FRA
Germany’s biggest and busiest airport, 230km from Bamberg, is directly connected to the high-speed German railway network. From the airport, take the InterCity Express (ICE), which runs every 30 minutes, to Würzburg, where you can change to a regional train to Bamberg. There are several trains every hour to Bamberg. The total journey time from Frankfurt Airport to Bamberg is around three hours; tickets cost between €40 and €65. Find special offers on Deutsche Bahn.

Frankfurt Hahn Airport – HHN
Although it is named after the city of Frankfurt, Frankfurt-Hahn is five hours by bus and train from Bamberg. However, sometimes you can find very cheap Ryanair flights. From Frankfurt Hahn, it's a two-hour journey on the Flibco bus to Frankfurt Central Station (ticket currently €14). Tickets are available at the ticket desk in front of terminal B, or from the bus driver. Then follow the above instructions to get from Frankfurt Central Station to Bamberg – a minimum of another three hours. Frankfurt Hahn Airport website.

Munich Airport – MUC
Take train lines S1 or S8 to Munich Central Station (München Hauptbahnhof). From there, the ICE runs at least once per hour directly to Bamberg. Ticket prices vary between €29 and €63, depending on how early you book. See Deutsche Bahn. Cheaper train options are the slower regional lines (IRE, RE, RB-trains) from Munich Central Station to Bamberg via Nuremberg. The journey lasts around three hours and tickets are €23 Bayern ticket / Bavaria ticket, which allows up to five adults to travel together, with an additional cost of €5 per person on top of the €23. Buy tickets at machines in any station, including the airport. The S-Bahn from Munich airport to Munich Central Station is included in the Deutsche Bahn ticket price.

By train

Bamberg is connected to the InterCity Express (ICE) line Munich – Nuremberg – Leipzig – Berlin/Hamburg, which stops in Bamberg every hour. Bamberg is also connected to Würzburg and Nuremberg by regional trains, with several connections per hour. For more information, see Deutsche Bahn.

Deutsche Bahn offers saver fares (Sparpreis) for inland trips and international destinations, varying from €19 to €39 or more. Early booking recommended! For last-minute tickets and special fares, see Itur. 

Special Deutsche Bahn ticket options

Rail&Fly
If you arrive a German airport (with the exception of Frankfurt Hahn and Memmingen) and plan to take the train to Bamberg, check whether your carrier offers a Rail&Fly option, which allows you to travel from and to the airport when booking an international flight (especially if you arrive at Frankfurt International) at reduced fares. Rail&Fly is available from airlines and tour operators and therefore can only be booked with them. You cannot buy a Rail&Fly ticket after arrival at the airport. The ticket is valid the day before the flight departure, the day of the flight departure, the day of the return flight and the day after the return flight. You must carry a valid ticket, your flight schedule/itinerary and passport/ID card.

Saver fare / Sparpreis Europa
If you are struggling to find an affordable flight from within Europe, check Deutsche Bahn's Sparpreis Europa offer of train services to and from Austria, Belgium, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, France, England, Hungary, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Poland, Sweden, Switzerland, Slovakia and Slovenia. Tickets start at €39, but some connections are as low as €19, if you book early enough.

Bavaria Ticket / Bayern Ticket
Great for groups of up to five people, and the fare is determined accordingly: one person €23, two people €28, three people €33, four people €38 and five people €43. You can use all regional trains (IRE, RE, RB; second class) in Bavaria, as well as city buses, S-Bahn and U-Bahn lines. Long-distance trains with the designating letters IC, EC, ICE, and night trains, are not part of this offer. Ticket valid Monday–Friday from 09:00 to 03:00 the following day; Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays from 00:00 to 03:00 the following day. Find ticket machines at railway stations and nearly all subway (U-Bahn) and city train (S-Bahn) stations. If you buy your ticket at a service centre counter, a service fee of €2 applies. This ticket is valid only within Bavaria.

By Bus

The long-distance bus system is a cheap alternative to Deutsche Bahn. Several bus companies offer direct connections to Bamberg, at prices from €9 when you buy online in advance. It can be more expensive to buy a ticket at the bus stop or from the bus driver.

• Postbus / FlixBus offers connections from Berlin, Bremen, Dresden, Düsseldorf, Frankfurt International Airport, Hamburg, Köln and Munich as well as a number of international destinations including Amsterdam and Prague.
• Eurolines for inter-European bus trips.
• German Railways for buses (an alternative offer from the German Railways).
• Berlinlienbus for inland connections to Bamberg.

Check busradar to compare different German bus companies, and find cheap / special priced tickets. 

By car

Bamberg, in northern Bavaria, is not near any major motorways, though it is well connected to the network. The A70 from Schweinfurt (connecting to the A7) to Bayreuth (connecting to the A9) runs along the northern edge of the town. The A73 on the eastern side of town connects Bamberg to Nuremberg (connecting to the A9 and A3) and Thuringia, ending at Suhl. Find the relevant motorway exits off the A70 and of the A73 on this map.