29–31 Mar 2023
Europe/Paris timezone

Getting to Göttingen

The city of Göttingen is a historic, university town with a population of approximately 120 000.  It is known for a strong scientific tradition through its university (Georg-August-University of Göttingen) that was established in 1737.

Göttingen is situated more or less in the geographical centre of Germany, and is connected via the high speed rail of the German rail network. There is also a German Autobahn (A7) which connects the city for those coming with private transportation options.

 

 

Special  notes for weekend travel:

Try to avoid travelling to Göttingen on Saturday, March 25. They will be defusing an old bomb from WWII, and much of the city (including the train station) will have to be evacuated.  More information in German available here.

Note also for those travelling by southbound train on Saturday, April 1 or later (i.e. from Göttingen towards Frankfurt), that the train travel will take 1 hour longer, due to construction/work on the high-speed rails between Kassel and Fulda.  More information in German available here  (construction will last from April 1 until 2nd half of 2023).

 

 

The most convenient airports to fly into to reach Göttingen are:

Frankfurt, Hannover, and to a lesser extent, Hamburg.  Berlin and Duesseldorf airports are also possibilities, although further away. Train travel from Geneva takes approximately 7.5-8 hours (station to station), so flying from there is slightly faster (although less comfortable).

See this map for further details: Google Maps link

 

From those airports, there are frequent, convenient connections to the Goettingen train station. Tickets can be bought on the Deutsche Bahn website.

 

If you have a Rail & Fly ticket, please check with the airline agent, where you should pick up your luggage.  I don't have experience with this myself, I usually just by my flight ticket and train ticket separately.