Bus, City Railways, Taxi / Planning Routes

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HVV (Public Transportation)

In Hamburg we have for public transportation the „HVV“ (Hamburger VerkehrsVerbund).

  • City railways
    • „S-Bahn“ (green signs)
    • „U-Bahn“ (blue signs)
    • „A / AKN“ (orange signs)
  • Busses (round red signs)
  • Express busses (edged red signs). +2,20 Euro

City railways and busses have a line number, followed by the direction they drive to.

Buying a ticket

You can buy a ticket in any bus.
If you start by S-Bahn, you have to use a ticket machine.
You may also use the HVV App to buy tickets: iOS or Android.

  • Before 9am:
    • Buy a daily ticket „Ganztageskarte“ for the area „Hamburg AB„. It costs. €8.10.
  • After 9am:
    • Buy a daily ticket „9-Uhr-Tageskarte“ for the area „Hamburg AB„. It costs €6.70.
    • For 2-5 persons you can save money and buy a daily group ticket „9-Uhr-Gruppenkarte“ instead. It costs €12.70.

You can use these tickets all day long (until 6am of the next day), as often you want. They are for busses, railways, and even HVV harbor ferries, too! 🙂 

  • One way ticket:
    • If you arrive in the evening, and don’t want to use city railways / busses the same day again, you can buy a single trip ticket „Einzelkarte„. It costs €3.40. You can use it for one direct route (including switching trains/busses on that route).

Planning routes

  • I use the Google Maps App on my smartphone which is very convenient and helpful. Google Maps knows public transportation and also navigates during the walking parts of a route. For moving in a foreign environment it is a great tool. My advise is to get well used to it before vacation.
  • You may also use the HVV App, iOS or Android (I still recommend Google Maps).

Google and HVV are not always perfect. Seldom they are wrong, but sometimes they make routes more complicated than necessary. Switching trains / busses may seem faster, but is sometimes not because you loose time by waiting for the connection Bus / S-Bahn. Also they are sometimes not exactly in time the app assumes.

Routes depend on day time. At night many connections drive less often, or not at all (use a 6xx night bus then). Also the HVV changes frequency by season. In summer they drive more often.

Keep in mind that routes on my tipps-pages are calculated for the moment you open them. If you look at it in the evening, it will be very likely not the same what’s possible in the day. To plan a route for the next day(s), set the desired day and time.

While the apps usually work just fine, do not depend 100% on them. If in doubt, read the time tables at the stations additionally. Or ask a bus driver, they are 99% kind and helpful, unlike in Berlin. 😉

Moja (Shared Taxi)

Moja is a fleet of Shared E-Taxis. Prices vary, but it costs roughly about 25% of a common Taxi (i.e. only 8-13 Euro to the harbor). There is a Moja station just before the door. Download the Moja app to use it.

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