Witten is in North Rhine-Westphalia.

Understand

Witten is a city of 96 000 situated between Dortmund and Hagen and part of Ruhr region, on whose namesake river it lies. It consists of the districts of Mitte, Düren, Stockum, Annen and Rüdinghausen, as well as Bommern, Heven and Herbede, which lie on the Ruhr, with Herbede being near the Kemnade Lake, an artificial reservoir. The city, like the rest of the region, has to deal with issues of deindustrialisation and population loss, instead trying to draw visitors with its cultural and industrial heritage.

Get in

By plane

The closest airport is Dortmund DTM ^IATA, about 21 km (13 mi) away. The more useful airport to get to Witten is Düsseldorf Airport DUS ^IATA in Düsseldorf, about 43 km (27 mi) away, and served by flights across the continent and overseas.

By train

Trains stop at 1 Witten Hauptbahnhof , the only long-distance service stopping here is the InterCity line IC34 Dortmund - Hagen - Siegen - Frankfurt.
Regional services are RE4 Dortmund - Hagen - Wuppertal - Düsseldorf - Cologne - Aachen, RE16 Essen - Bochum - Hagen - Iserlohn and RB40 Hagen - Bochum - Essen, in addition to local S-Bahn S5 Dortmund - Hagen.

Long-distance trains to domestic and international destinations stop in nearby Dortmund (including daily Eurostar service to Brussels and Paris), Bochum and Hagen.

By car

Witten lies within the rectangle formed by Autobahns A 1, A 43, A 45, A 448 (until 2021: A 44, still referred to as such by locals). Coming from Frankfurt take A 45. A 448 crosses Witten north of the city centre going east-west, and acts as connection between A43 and A45.

By bike

The Ruhrtalradweg, Ruhr Valley bike path, runs past Witten along the Ruhr River from its spring all the way to Duisburg, where it joins the Rhine.

Get around

By public transport

Public transport consists of two tram lines, 305 and 310, in addition to bus routes that cover most of the city. Services are operated by BOGESTRA or VER and run roughly 05:00-23:00, starting later on weekends, very limited nightbus service is provided on weekend nights. The 2 BOGESTRA information Office at Bahnhofstrasse 1, M-F 08:00-18:00 Sa 08:00-15:00, will help with fares and route information, or use the various apps like Muttis etarif, VRR or the DB Navigator.

By car

Witten is not subject to one of the many environmental protection zones (DE: Umweltzone), meaning your car does not need any specific green, yellow or red pollution sticker. All modern cars of the last two decades will confirm, and old vintage vehicles are exempt so this would't be a concern most likely anyways.

The city centre is restricted to through-traffic and parts are entirely closed off for motor vehicles, including the main shopping high street, Bahnhofstrasse. Parking spots are available on lots, in garages or on the side of the road.
On many residential streets, only local residents with permits or guests of them are allowed to park, and in many cases even enter the road in the first place, see Driving in Germany.

By bike

Besides the afforementioned Ruhr Valley bike path, Bike path "Rheinischer Esel" runs on an old railway from Bochum to the south of Dortmund. Bike lanes are common but in bad quality or placed in the worst spots, so exercise caution.

By foot

The city centre is small enough to cross on foot.

Do

• 1 Lake Kemnade (Kemnader See). Artificial reservoir, boats to ride, paddel boats to rent, long bike, jogging and inline skate paths around the lake, lawns to relax on. Busy on nice days. (updated Apr 2024)

Go next

• Dortmund, home of Borussia Dortmund football club, the german football museum and a busy city centre. 12 km (7.5 mi)
• Hattingen, medieval town centre and castle ruins. 11 km (6.8 mi)
• Bochum, large university and nightlife. 9 km (5.6 mi)
• Wuppertal, home of the famous Schwebebahn monorail. 24 km (15 mi)
• Düsseldorf, state capital on the mighty Rhine river, rich fashion capital and home of a large japanese community. 45 km (28 mi)
• Cologne, Germany's fourth largest city, cathedral, arts, music and media, huge LGBTQ community. 61 km (38 mi)