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Travel
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By air:
British Airways, British Midland, and Lufthansa fly from London Heathrow (LHR) (28 miles from Reading) to Düsseldorf Airport (DUS). Flight times are about 90 minutes.
The journey from Reading to Heathrow is about one hour by RailAir coach (run by First Great Western Trains) from Reading station, and coaches run every 20-30 minutes. The journey from Düsseldorf airport to the city centre is less than 15 minutes by train. Allowing for check-in times and other delays, a typical journey time is likely to be about 6 hours.
Easyjet and Flybe.com fly from London Gatwick (LGW) (Reading 58 miles) to Düsseldorf (DUS). The flight time is about 80 minutes. There are hourly direct trains from Reading to Gatwick Airport taking about 80 minutes.
Air Berlin fly from London Stansted (Reading 85 miles) to Düsseldorf. Ryanair fly from London Stansted to Düsseldorf (Niederrhein) (NRN) (Düsseldorf 49 miles). Some flights are very cheap but the travel to airports may make the journey difficult. The journey from Reading to Stansted by train takes about 2hr 15m.
By train:
You can travel by train from Reading to Düsseldorf changing at London Paddington, London St Pancras International, Brussels and Cologne (Köln), typically taking 5 to 7 hours from station to station. For details, consult the Deutsche Bahn website. You can book from Reading to Köln on the Eurostar website or from London to Düsseldorf on RailEurope. The advice at Seat61 also looks useful.
By coach:
Eurolines (with National Express) operate daily coach services from London (Victoria Coach Station) to Düsseldorf. These may involve a change at Brussels or travel direct, and the Channel crossing may be by tunnel or ferry. You can connect to these services by coach from Calcot (or go to Victoria by train, which may be quicker). Overall travel time is about 13 to 18 hours and some journeys are overnight.
By car:
The quickest route is probably via Eurotunnel. The distance from Reading to Folkestone is about 112 miles, the journey in Le Shuttle should take about 35 minutes (not including loading, customs, immigration and other delays), and the distance from Calais to Düsseldorf is about 255 miles.
If you prefer the ferry to the tunnel, then you can drive to Dover (120 miles) and take the ferry (see ferrysavers.com, ferries.co.uk or P&O Stena Line Ferries) to Calais (75 minutes), so this route will take around an hour longer.
If you prefer to minimise the driving distance and take a longer break half way, you can drive to Harwich (125 miles), take the ferry to Hoek van Holland (3 hours 40 minutes) and then drive to Düsseldorf (165 miles).
Overall travel times will depend on your driving speed, how often you take rest breaks, and whether you prefer the ferry or the tunnel.
Local transport in Düsseldorf
All the buses, trams and trains in Düsseldorf are co-ordinated by VRR which is the local transport authority. The VRR travel planner will suggest the best routes using all means of transport.
You can buy one ticket for a whole journey and use different forms of transport in any combination. A ticket for one person for a short trip of three or four stops (Kurzstrecke) costs €1.30, and for a single journey anywhere within Düsseldorf (price level A) is €2.30. But it is much cheaper to buy a ticket for four journeys (one person travelling four times, or four people on one trip, or other combinations) at €4.70 for short trips or €8.00 for the whole of Düsseldorf, or a day ticket for €5.30.
In 2010, special tickets are available for the whole of the Ruhr European Capital of Culture.
Whatever you do, remember to cancel the ticket (once per traveller) when you get on the first bus or tram or reach the first station platform of your journey.
Trams and buses are run by Rheinbahn AG. The trams run to most parts of the city, and to neighbouring places such as Neuss, Krefeld, Duisburg and Ratingen. In the city centre they go underground as the U-Bahn, principally between the main railway station (Hauptbahnhof) and Heinrich-Heine-Allee for the Altstadt. Trams with a U prefix all use this section, as do a few others. Buses mainly fill in the gaps in the suburbs.
The local train services known as the S-Bahn offer quick transport for longer distances, to the outlying suburbs and neighbouring cities. They are run by Deutsche Bahn. There are also long-distance trains from the Hauptbahnhof to destinations throughout Germany and elsewhere in Europe.
About Us - News - Programme - Past Activities - How it Began - The Early Years - Reading - Düsseldorf - Travel - Organisations - Joining - Contacts - Web Links - Site Map
© Reading-Düsseldorf Association 2010
12 March 2010