Download GPX file for this article
51.51677.4667Full screen dynamic map

From Wikivoyage
Jump to navigation Jump to search

Alter Markt

Dortmund is a city in the North Rhine-Westphalia region in Germany.

Central station (Hauptbahnhof)

Get in

By plane

Dortmund airport (DTM IATA) is home of several low-cost airlines (easyJet, Wizzair, Air Berlin) and serves mainly national and European travellers. There is no direct train or tram connection to the airport, but there are shuttle buses between the airport and Dortmund central station or Holzwickede Station.

  • From and to Central Station: A non-stop shuttle-bus can be found opposite the main railway station. The journey lasts 25 - 30 min and costs €6.5 per passenger (6-14 children €2; younger children free). This bus service is not covered by a travelcard.
  • via Aplerbeck The 440 bus travels past Aplerbeck where passengers can change to the U-bahn U47 which will go to the Hbf via the major U-bahn hub, Stadtgarten. The journey is approximately 45min. Tickets cost 2.50 or a travelcard can be used. This service runs more frequently than the shuttle bus.
  • From Holzwickede Station: A bus service (€3/passenger), runs regularly about every 15 minutes between 5AM and 11PM Trip to the terminal building takes approx. 5 minutes.
  • By taxi: currently costs around 25 Euros to the City Centre. Drivers operate on the meter, if they don't, get a different taxi!

By train

Dortmund's central station (Dortmund Hauptbahnhof) is the junction of many railway lines in Germany.

By bus

The bus station is right next to the train station. Several times per week is a direct Eurolines bus to Neum, BiH at the Adriatic Sea. There is also a direct salinea bus from/to Tuzla

By car

Dortmund can be reached using the motorway (Autobahn) A1, A2, A40, A42, A44 and A45, as well as the (Bundesstraßen) B1, B54 and B236

Underground station Reinoldikirche

Get around

Public transport

Dortmund is part of the VRR (Verkehrsverbund Rhein-Ruhr) a cooperation of the regional transportation companies, giving easy access to public transportation in the whole Ruhr District in S-Bahn, regional trains, subways and busses.

Dortmund's central station (Dortmund Hauptbahnhof) is the junction of the national railroad system with the city subway system und the regional train system. From here you can easily get transport into the center or any suburb via subway and bus or to the neighbour cities as Bochum, Essen, Düsseldorf, Münster, Köln (Cologne), Wuppertal and the rest of Northrhine-Westphalia and Germany by different regional or national train-lines.

See

Altes Stadthaus near Berswordt-Halle
  • 1 Altes Stadthaus (Old Civic Hall). Built in 1899 Neo-Renaissance style
  • 2 Florian television tower (Florianturm).
  • H-Bahn.
  • Hohensyburg. Popular destination in the south of Dortmund, Ruins of the Syburg (year 1100) Vincke-Tower and a beautiful view over the Ruhr Valley from the Kaiser-Wilhelm Memorial (end of 19th century)
  • Reinoldikirche.
  • Marienkirche. Churches in the city of Dortmund

Parks

  • Rosarium (Deutsches Rosarium VDR), +49 231-50-26100, fax: +49 231-5026111. Westfalenpark - An der Buschmühle 3, or -26116. This rosarium has a collection of more than 3000 rose species.
Swimming tiger, Dortmund zoo
  • Zoo Dortmund, Mergelteichstr. 80, +49 231 50 28581.
  • Westfalenpark.
  • Rombergpark.
  • Fredenbaumpark.

Museums

  • Museum of Art and Cultural History (Museum für Kunst und Kulturgeschichte Dortmund), Hansastraße 3, 44137 Dortmund, +49 231 50-2 55 22, fax: +49 231 50-2 55 11. The Museum building is an old art deco-style municipal savings bank. Apparently the oldest museum of its kind in the Ruhr district and tells the story of everyday life in Dortmund and the rest of Germany for the past 300 years.
  • Museum am Ostwall, Ostwall 7, +49 231-5023247, fax: +49 231-5025244. This museum hosts art objects from the 20th & 21st centuries.
  • Museum of Natural History (Museum für Naturkunde), Münsterstraße 271, +49 231-5024856, fax: +49 231-5024852.
  • German Cookery Book Museum (Deutsches Kochbuchmuseum), An der Buschmühle, +49 231-5025741.
  • Steinwache’ Memorial and Museum (Mahn- und Gedenkstätte ‘Steinwache’), Steinstr. 50, 44147 Dortmund, +49 2 31 50-2 50 02. The former police station and Gestapo headquarters just north of the central railway station. Hosts the permanent exhibition ‘Resistance and Persecution in Dortmund 1933-45’.

Do

Events

  • The Christmas Market in Dortmund is one of the largest in Germany and host of the largest Christmas 'tree' in the world (in fact a collection of many smaller trees). It is open from late November.

Buy

Old houses in the pedestrian zones

The center of the city is a shopping mile with impressive stores on everything from clothing and shoes over books and media to electronics or jewellery, stretching along the Hellweg, the Rheinoldi-Church in its centre, the Thier-Gallerie is also becoming very popular now, it's Dortmund's first mall and one of the largest privately financed buildings in Europe!

Around the big shopping mile the "Hellweg" are a lot of typical "Bierhäuser" and a lot of departments like Saturn, Karstadt (3), Kaufhof and C&A.

Other big Shopping Miles are in the centre of Dortmund. So a lot of them are around the Hellweg for example in Brackel or Wambel.

Eat

If you find yourself in a traditional pub drinking beer and you need some food to accompany your beverage it is the best idea to ask the innkeeper for a "Salzkuchen mit Mett" or a "Mettente".

The "Salzkuchen" is a bagel-like, caraway spiced roll with seasoned mincemeat and onions. The "Mettente", a smoked sausage, normally comes with spicy mustard.

Also you can eat some sausages in one of the typical "Bierhäuser" or in one of the big restaurants.

  • 1 Kartoffel Lord, Gerberstraße 1. has tasty Soy-Burgers, Wraps with soy-"meat" and filled potatoes. Many vegan options as well. But beware: The sign at the entrance says "vegetarian cuisine" but the menu contains some dishes with killed sea animals. (example: "Krabben" means crabs or prawns)
  • 2 Zum alten Markt, Markt 3, +49 231 572217.
  • 3 Pfefferkorn, Hoher Wall 38, +49 231 143644.

Drink

Dortmund is home of some world famous breweries and you would therefore miss something if you haven't tasted at least some of its "liquid gold".

  • Drink a "Stösschen" in any of the old fashioned pubs. This beer specialty is served in a small glass and can be drunk in about two draughts. The portion varies from innkeeper to innkeeper. Is best relished with a "Salzkuchen mit Mett" (see Eat)

Bars

Clubs

  • Domicil (Hansastr.7-11, 44137 Dortmund). One of the best jazz clubs in Germany and repeatedly voted as one of the "100 best places to listen to jazz" by New York Down Beat Magazine.
  • FZW, Ritterstraße 20.
  • Nightrooms, Hansastraße 5-7.
  • Prisma, Deutsche Straße 6.
  • Anton's Bierkönig (Bissenkamp 11-13, Dortmund). Hilarious! Lots of beer and young people.

Sleep

  • 2 NH Dortmund, Königswall, 1, +49 231 90550. 4* hotel located in the heart of the city. The hotel offers 190 bedrooms and suites, a sauna, fitness area and the ideal location. Rooms from 63€.
  • 3 Holiday Inn Express, Moskauer Strasse 1, +49 231 176990.
  • Stadthotel Drees. 4* city hotel, friendly staff, supernice owners, reasonable prices, near to Westfalenhallen, Westfalenstadion and City
  • Pullman Dortmund (formerly Mercure Grand Hotel Dortmund An Den Westfalenhallen), Lindemannstraße 88, 44137 Dortmund, +49 231-91130. This 4 star hotel is South of the centre (about 20 minutes walk, or around 8 € in a taxi) but very handy (less than 5 minutes walk) for the Westfalenhallen exhibition centre and the football stadium.
  • Mercure Hotel Dortmund City (Kampstraße 35-37, 44137 Dortmund, (+49), +49 231-58970. This 3 star hotel is in the centre of the city, less than 5 minutes from the main station and a few minutes from the main shopping street.
  • Ibis Dortmund (Märkische Straße 73, 44141 Dortmund). This Ibis is South of the centre, around 15 minutes walk away. It is only 1km from the Westfalenhallen and the football stadium.

Cope

Dortmund Tourist and Information Office, Königswall 18a, Tel. +49 231-18999222, Fax +49 231-18999333, info@dortmund-tourismus.de

Go next

This city travel guide to Dortmund is a usable article. It has information on how to get there and on restaurants and hotels. An adventurous person could use this article, but please feel free to improve it by editing the page.