Euro 2024 By Train: Hamburg

For those who will be attending a Euro 2024 game in Hamburg, taking the train will make the going easier.
There isn't any parking at Volksparkstadion and central Hamburg is blessed with three stations used by long-distance trains - Hamburg-Altona and Hamburg-Dammtor and the city's main station Hamburg Hbf.

Most of the express, ICE and IC trains, to and from Hamburg call at all three of these stations, so you can target accommodation by any of them - and all three stations have local trains which head to and from the stations in the suburbs, which are closest to the stadium.
Though the IC and ICE trains which travel between Hamburg and multiple cities including Cologne, Dortmund, Dusseldorf, Frankfurt, Munich and Stuttgart also call at a station in the southern suburbs named Hamburg-Harburg.
There are local trains from Hamburg-Harburg to a station named Stellingen, which is within walking distance of the Volksparkstadion.

Unlike all of the other stadiums being used for Euro 2024, the Volksparkstadion in Hamburg doesn't have a dedicated public transport stop.
Hence there is more than one option for accessing the stadium from the city centre, which ensure that match attendees can see the games, despite there being no dedicated car parking at the Volksparkstadion.

Taking the S-Bahn trains to Stellingen station

Hamburg has an extensive rail network with multiple U-Bahn (metro) lines and multiple S-Bahn lines of local trains which stop at every station on their routes which thread through the city.
However, the U-Bahn doesn't serve the area of the city in which the stadium is located, so the closest stations are the S-Bahn stations, Stellingen and Eidelstedt - both of which are a 15-20 min walk to/from the Volksparkstadion.
Stellingen is the closest station to the city centre, so it makes sense to leave the train there when heading to the matches from central Hamburg.
Though as Eidelstedt is one stop further away down the line, it can be easier to head there to board the the trains post-game.

Both stations are served by the S-Bahn lines S3 and S5 and for those who would rather not walk there are shuttle buses which link Stellingen station with the stadium, the buses are available from around two hours prior to each game.
Line S3 operates every 10 mins, while line S5 has trains every 20 mins and both lines connect Stellingen and Eidelstedt with the trains to and from the city at Hamburg-Altona and the city's main station Hamburg Hbf.

To the stadium from Hamburg-Harburg station

Both the S3 and S5 lines also call at a station named Hamburg-Harburg, which is to the south of the city - it is also a stop for most of the express IC and ICE trains which head to Hamburg from Cologne, Dortmund, Dusseldorf, Frankfurt, Munich and Stuttgart.
So if you will be travelling direct to the Volksparkstadion from these other Euro 2024 host cities, making the connection at Hamburg-Harburg can be easier than remaining on the train until it arrives at Hamburg Hbf.
Particularly as the line S3 departs from a different part of Hamburg Hbf to that which is used by the S5 trains - so as the S3 is service is more frequent, it makes sense to commit to taking this service when heading to the stadium from Hamburg Hbf.

From the city centre to Stellingen station

When heading to the stadium the trains line S3 will be heading to Pinneburg and the line S5 trains will be heading to Elbgaustraße.
Between Hamburg Hbf and Hamburg Altona the two lines diverge and take different routes:

• the S3 trains call at multiple city stations including Landungsbrücken and Reeperbahn
• the S5 trains call at Hamburg-Dammtor.

The alternative route

Othmarschen station is farther from the stadium, but it has shuttle buses to and from the Volksparkstadion, which are available from around three hours prior to the kick-off times.
Othmarschen station is on line S1 and it's trains also operate every 10mins - the trains from the city centre are heading to Hamburg-Blankenese or Wedel(Holst)
It shares the route between Hamburg Hbf and Hamburg-Altona with line S3, but it also calls at the main station on the eastern edge of Hamburg city centre, Berliner Tor.
Half of the trains on line S1 commence their journeys in a station at Hamburg Airport/Flughafen and the journey time to Othmarschen from the airport is only 40 mins.

Those with match tickets are able to access a special type of ticket, the DB Ticket Euro 2024 for travel by ICE and IC train to the host city of the corresponding game - the train conductor will ask to see the rail ticket and the match ticket.
Though the tickets have limited availability per departure, so for the widest possible choice of trains, it will be best to book as far in advance as possible.
The key plus of these tickets is that they have a flat rate price for a one-way trip of €29.90 in 2nd class and €39.90 in 1st class; so when the cheapest prices of both types of Sparpreis tickets have sold out, these Euro 2024 tickets obviously become the cheapest option.

If when looking up a journey on DB there are tickets available at a cheaper price than €29.90 in 2nd class and €39.90 in 1st class, they will be offered as an alternative.
Though during the tournament the prices for the longer journeys from and to Hamburg will otherwise likely be more than €100 - so these DB Ticket Euro 2024's will likely be significant money savers.

The info on our general Euro2024 guide has step-by-step instructions on how to book these tickets.

seat reservations

The 1st class tickets include a seat reservation, which otherwise costs €5.90, but seat reservations are not included when booking the 2nd class DB Ticket Euro 2024 tickets - and a 2nd class seat reservation has an additional charge of €4;90.
If you don't reserve it will be possible to board a train with a 2nd class DB Ticket Euro 2024 ticket to find that no seats are available.
Note that once you factor in the reservation, the additional cost of a 1st class DB Ticket Euro 2024 ticket is only €5-6 - for longer journeys this extra cost will be worth every cent!

core terms and conditions

These Euro 2024 tickets cannot be exchanged or refunded - so book your accommodation before you arrange the rail travel.
U[p to four children aged 6 to 14 can travel with for free of charge with someone aged 15 and over who has purchased a Euro 2024 ticket.

book to travel on to the stadiums

To make the journeys to the stations / public transport stops by the stadiums easier to book, a dedicated journey look up service has been created.
It shows the names of the stations / stops closest to the stadiums in each of the Euro 2024 cities.
That's because the the DB Ticket Euro 2024 ticket can include the transfer on to the stops by the stadiums.
Though something to look out for, is that to book the DB Ticket Euro 2024 ticket, you need to

• copy the name of the stop
• scroll up the page and click on the red 'Jetzt Ticket buchen' button
• then follow its booking path - see the instructions below.
  If you click on the name of the stadium stop it will be included as the destination on DB's standard booking path, but if you proceed to book you seemingly won't see the DB Ticket Euro 2024 offer.

If you won't have match tickets for games in the cities that you will be travelling to, the key things worth knowing about the usual tickets to travel on trains in Germany are:

• Tickets for the ICE and IC trains can be booked online and are already available for travel during the tournament.
• Tickets for the Regio and S-Bahn trains can be purchased at the station on the day of travel, but if you don't specify that you want to travel by ICE or IC train, you won't be able to travel by those other train services - so you can't just hop on the next train to depart.
• Because tickets booked last minute at the station for travel by the IC and ICE trains will be more expensive than those which can be used on the Regio and S-Bahn trains.
• Discounted tickets, branded 'Sparpreis' and the cheaper 'Super Sparpreis', are made available for travel on the ICE and IC trains - the further in advance of the travel date that they are booked, the cheaper they will be.
• Up to four children aged 6 to 14 can travel with for free of charge with someone aged 15 and over who has purchased either type of Sparpreis ticket
• Those aged 15 and older pay the adult rate and there is no charge for those aged 5 and under.
• Those aged 65 and over can travel at a discounted rate.

The majority of German long-distance rail routes are north ↔ south and most of those have Hamburg as their most northern destination. Hence eight of the other Euro 2024 host cities have direct trains to and from Hamburg.
Most of those trains begin or end their journeys at Hamburg-Altona, which is the closest station to the Volksparkstadion that is used by the long-distance express trains.
So if you will be heading directly to another city post-game, it can make sense to head to Hamburg-Altona to board an ICE train.
However, when heading to the matches, the local S-Bahn trains will be busy by the time they reach Hamburg-Altona, because they will will have already crossed the city centre.

All of the trains which travel to and from Hamburg-Altona, along with additional trains which go to and from Kiel, also call at Hamburg-Hbf and Hamburg-Dammtor.

The teams playing in Hamburg will also be playing matches in the cities listed below:

Attending the daytime matches in Berlin as a day trip from Hamburg is entirely possible.

typical journey time = around 1hr 45 mins
usual daytime frequency = 1 or 2 x direct trains per hour

Despite the lack of a high speed line between the two cities Hamburg ↔ Berlin is one of the most frequent long-distance rail routes in Germany as the journey time is usually under two hours.
It's a popular year round route for tourists, so the full details can be found on the journey guides; Hamburg to Berlin and from Berlin to Hamburg.

The DB Ticket Euro 2024 will be available for travel on this route - the general Euro 2024 guide explains how to book them.

All of the express trains from Hamburg call at Berlin-Spandau before they arrive in the city centre, so if you will be travelling direct to the Olympiastadion leave the train at Berlin-Spandau train and connect into a local S-Bahn train.

During Euro 2024 there will be additional late night train in both directions;

• to Berlin from Hamburg-Altona at 22:36 and 23:26; from Hamburg Hbf at 22:52 and 23:42
• to Hamburg from Berlin Hbf at 23:28 and from Berlin-Spandau at 23:47.

typical journey time = around 3hr 30 mins
usual daytime frequency = 1 x direct train per hour

There is typically 1 x ICE train per hour on the Hamburg ↔ Düsseldorf Hbf route and the journey time is around 3hr 30mins.
Though there are some faster ICE 'Sprinter' services with a journey time of around 3hr 5mins, they depart Hamburg Hbf at 06:11 (Mon-Thurs) and 18:08 daily; and from Dusseldorf at 06:54, 10:43 and 16:29.

The DB Ticket Euro 2024 will be available for travel on this route - the general Euro 2024 guide explains how to book them.

When heading to Düsseldorf the final train of the day typically departs from Hamburg Hbf at 22:46, but during the Euro 2024 tournament there will be an additional later train leaving at 23:48.
Both trains commence their journeys at Hamburg-Altona - at 22:28 and 23:32.

typical journey time = around 2hr 45 mins
usual daytime frequency = 1 x direct train per hour

There is typically 1 x ICE train per hour on the Hamburg ↔ Dortmund Hbf route and the journey time is around 2hr 45mins.

The DB Ticket Euro 2024 will be available for travel on this route - the general Euro 2024 guide explains how to book them.

When heading to Dortmund the final train of the day typically departs from Hamburg Hbf at 22:46, but during the Euro 2024 tournament there will be an additional later train leaving at 23:48.
Both trains commence their journeys at Hamburg-Altona - at 22:28 and 23:32.
There will also be an additional train during the tournament which will depart Dortmund Hbf at 01:28.

If you will be travelling direct to the Volksparkstadion from Dortmund a good option can be leaving the train when it arrives in Hamburg-Harburg station and connecting there for local S-Bahn trains on lines S3 and S5 to Stellingen - shuttles buses connect Stellingen station to the stadium.

typical journey time = around 3hr 40 mins
usual daytime frequency = 1 x direct train per hour

Hamburg ↔ Frankfurt (Main) is a popular year round route for tourists, so the full details can be found on the journey guides; Hamburg to Frankfurt and from Frankfurt to Hamburg.

The DB Ticket Euro 2024 will be available for travel on this route - the general Euro 2024 guide explains how to book them.

During the tournament there will be additional late night trains to Frankfurt (Main) which will be departing Hamburg-Altona at 22:28 and Hamburg Hbf at 22:46.
There will also be an ICE train departing Hamburg-Altona at 00:29 and Hamburg Hbf at 00:45, which will arrive in Frankfurt (Main) at 05:37.

If you will be travelling direct to the Volksparkstadion from Frankfurt (Main) a good option can be leaving the train when it arrives in Hamburg-Harburg station and connecting there for local S-Bahn trains on lines S3 and S5 to Stellingen - shuttles buses connect Stellingen station to the stadium.
During the tournament there will be an additional train from Frankfurt Main Hbf to Hamburg at 00:17.

There is one daily direct ICE train which departs from Hamburg-Altona station at 07:38 and from Hamburg Hbf at 07:54 and arrives into Gelsenkirchen Hbf at 10:47 - the train will have a final destination of Köln Hbf.

If the timings of that train don't suit, there are 1 or 2 x ICE trains per hour from Hamburg Hbf which call in Munster (West) which have 20-25 mins connection into Regio trains on route RE2 - which will be heading to Dusseldorf.
The total journey time will be 3hr 30mins.
During the tournament there will be an additional train which will depart from Hamburg Altona at 23:32 and from Hamburg Hbf at 23:48 and it has a connection in Dortmund for a train on to Gelsenkirchen.

typical journey time = around 3hr 10 mins
usual daytime frequency = 1 x direct train every other hour

There is typically 1 x ICE train every other hour on the Hamburg ↔ Leipzig route and the journey time is around 3hr 10mins.
Though during the tournament there will be a later final train of the day, which will depart Hamburg-Altona at 21:34 and Hamburg Hbf at 21:51.
There will also be later final trains of the day to Hamburg, which will depart Leipzig Hbf at 22:16 and 23:42.

The DB Ticket Euro 2024 will be available for travel on this route - the general Euro 2024 guide explains how to book them.

typical journey time = 5hr 30 mins
usual daytime frequency = 1 x direct train per hour

Hamburg ↔ München / Munich is a popular year round route for tourists, so the full details can be found on the journey guides; Hamburg to Munich and from Munich to Hamburg.

The DB Ticket Euro 2024 will be available for travel on this route - the general Euro 2024 guide explains how to book them.

During the tournament there will be an additional late night train to München / Munich which will be departing Hamburg-Hbf at 22:28 - this train will commence its journey at Hamburg Hbf.

If you will be travelling direct to the Volksparkstadion from München / Munich, a good option can be leaving the train when it arrives in Hamburg-Harburg station and connecting there for local S-Bahn trains on lines S3 and S5 to Stellingen - shuttles buses connect Stellingen station to the stadium.
During the tournament there will be an additional trains from München Hbf to Hamburg at 18:56* and 19:28* and 00:21.
*= These trains take slower routes via Cologne,

There are direct trains to Hamburg from cities in multiple countries with teams participating in Euro 2024; - click the city names to access journey guides which have all the relevant info.

• from Budapest via Bratislava
• from Copenhagen / København
• from Innsbruck
• from Prague / Praha
• from Wien / Vienna
• from Zurich via Basel