Travel Information

Getting to the conference venue

If you arrive in Karlsruhe by train, you’ll most likely enter the city via Karlsruhe main station (Hauptbahnhof). The fastest and easiest way to get to the conference venue (Karlsruhe Kongresszentrum) is the tram. The next tram station is right in front of Karlsruhe main station (Bahnhofsvorplatz, north exit) and the following lines will take you directly to the Kongresszentrum:

  • S1/S11 towards Neureut/Hochstetten
  • S4 towards Bretten
  • S5 towards Knielingen/Wörth
  • Line 6 towards Hirtenweg
  • Line 2 towards Wolfartsweier

Travelling to Karlsruhe

By plane

Baden-Airpark is the nearest local airport, about 40km from the city. The airport is now served by low-cost carrier Ryanair, which offers cheap flights to several European destinations. There is a cheap airport shuttle bus (Baden-Airport-Express ) (leaving 8 times a day on weekdays, 3 times a day on saturdays, synchronized with the flight schedule) to Karlsruhe Main Station. One-way-tickets can be bought from the driver (9 EUR, cash only, accepted currency: euro); alternatively, you can take a train or a tram-train to Rastatt or Baden-Baden and take a connecting bus to Baden-Airport. Through-ticketing is available, for current prices and schedules see (Karlsruher Verkehrsverbund (Karlsruhe Area Mass Transit Authority) )

Frankfurt Airport is Germany’s biggest airport and is served by all major carriers that operate in Germany. It has a direct ICE high speed train connection to Karlsruhe (1 hour).

Stuttgart Airport is reachable by train in one and a half hour.

Frankfurt Hahn Airport - is about 200km from the city and reachable by car or a combination of train and bus. The airport is served by Ryanair and other low-cost carriers. To get to the airport with public transport you need to take a train to Heidelberg, Mainz or Frankfurt – there you can catch a bus to the airport.

By train

The train station (Karlsruhe Hauptbahnhof) is located south of the city centre, with roughly 5-10 minutes by tram to the central market square, and direct tram links to other parts of the city. Karlsruhe is well linked to other larger cities by ICE (Inter City Express) high speed trains. The schedules for the inter-city connections can be found on the site of the Deutsche Bahn  (German Railways).

The Deutsche Bahn together with the KMK Karlsruhe offer special conditions for travelling by train to ICRA 2013 in Karlsruhe within Germany. Additional details can be found here.

By car

From the north-west:

  • Take highway A61 until you reach the A5.
  • See below (north) for more information.

From the north:

  • Take highway A5, direction Karlsruhe, Basel.
  • Leave the A5 at exit ‘Karlsruhe-Durlach’, make sure to drive to ‘Karlsruhe’ (first exit).
  • Follow the main road and the signs to drive to the campus.

From the east:

  • Take highway A8, direction Karlsruhe, until you reach the A5.
  • Take A5 in direction ‘Frankfurt’, leave it at exit ‘Karlsruhe-Durlach’, make sure to drive to ‘Karlsruhe’ (second exit).
  • Follow the main road and the signs to drive to the campus.

From the south/south-west:

  • Take A5 in direction ‘Frankfurt’, leave it at exit ‘Karlsruhe-Durlach’, make sure to drive to ‘Karlsruhe’ (second exit).
  • Follow the main road and the signs to drive to the campus.

By bus

The bus station is located at the south entrance of the train station. You can buy tickets for international destinations inside the train station.

Moving around in Karlsruhe

Public transportation is handled by the KVV (Karlsruher Verkehrsverbund). The best way to get around the city is to use the tram trains. During working hours the tram trains travel every 10 minutes, in the evening every 20 minutes. A time table containing all trains that pass the conference venue can be found here: Timetable Kongresszentrum. Train fares are displayed here (the inner city is covered by 2 zones).