Lübeck Transportation

ABOVE: Quandt-Linie is one of several companies that offer harbor and canal excursions in and around Lübeck.

Arriving and departing

By train. On average, 40 trains a day run between Lübeck and Hamburg's Hauptbahnhof. The journey takes about 40 minutes. You can search train connections in English by visiting www.bahn.com.

By air. Lübeck-Blankensee Airport (LBC) is 8 km or 5 miles from the city center. (To reach the city from the airport, take the no. 6 bus, which runs at 20-minute intervals and takes 30 minutes to reach Lübeck's main railroad station.)

By ferry. Lübeck and its neighboring beach resort of Travemünde are served by TT-Line (from Trelleborg, Sweden), Nordö Link (Malmö), Finnlines (Helsinki and Malmö), and Stena Line (Liepāja, Latvia). Other possibilities include ferries to Kiel and Rostock, which have good connections to Lübeck by train or highway.

By car. From Hamburg, take the A1 Autobahn northeast toward Lübeck. Of the city's three motorway exits, Lübeck-Zentral (exit 22) is the closest to the center of town.

Local transportation

Bus. Most of Lübeck's tourist attractions are in the historic Altstadt, which is easily navigated on foot. You might need a taxi to reach your hotel if it's a good distance from the railroad station, but otherwise you probably won't need to worry about local transportation unless you head for the beach in Travemünde, which is easy to reach by Stadtverkehr Lübeck city bus.

Boat. Lübeck boat companies offer a variety of harbor tours and canal excursions. information, visit the Web sites of Maak-Linie, Quandt Linie, Stühff Fahrgastschiffahrt (vintage excursion boats), Wakenitz Schiffahrt Quandt, and Schiffahrt Ratzeburger See.

If you're interested in reaching Travemünde by boat, Könemann Schiffahrt will transport you there from April through mid-October. I'd suggest taking the morning boat and returning late in the afternoon, or--better yet--spending the night in Travemünde and coming back to Lübeck the next day.

Car parking

Lübeck has more than a dozen parking facilities (including garages) around or within the Innenstadt. Look for blue "P" signs as you approach the inner city.