Heidelberg: how to get there and around
Airports, stations, ports, where the hotels are and what the numbers say, from public data rather than a brochure.
Heidelberg is a city of 143,345 people in Germany (Baden-Wurttemberg), 115 m (377 ft) above sea level. The nearest large airport is Frankfurt Main Airport (FRA), 69 km (43 mi) from the centre. It has 8 railway stations on record, including Heidelberg Central Station.
Key facts
Open Heidelberg in Google Maps
Daylight in Heidelberg runs from about 8 h 14 min a day in late December to 16 h 20 min in late June (computed for 49.41° latitude), which matters more than the forecast when a day is built around one flight or one crossing.
Getting there
Heidelberg is served by 4 airports with scheduled flights within 100 km. The closest large one is Frankfurt Main Airport (FRA), 69 km (43 mi) from the centre, whose 13,123-ft runway is long enough for long-haul wide-body aircraft. The alternatives are Karlsruhe Baden-Baden Airport (FKB, 83 km), Stuttgart Airport (STR, 89 km), Mannheim-City Airport (MHG, 15 km).
Flights to Heidelberg: every airport, routes and times
By rail: stations on record include Heidelberg Central Station, Heidelberg-Altstadt station, Heidelberg-Kirchheim/Rohrbach station, Heidelberg-Pfaffengrund/Wieblingen, Heidelberg-Weststadt/Südstadt, Heidelberg-Schlierbach/Ziegelhausen. Trains to Heidelberg
Buses to Heidelberg · Driving and car hire
What people come for
| Sight | Visitors a year | Year |
|---|---|---|
| Heidelberg University Library | 2,645,917 | 2016 |
| Heidelberg Tun | 500,000 | — |
The busiest is Heidelberg University Library at 2,645,917 visitors in 2016. At that volume, anything with a gate is worth a timed ticket or an early start.
Tours, tickets and day trips from Heidelberg
Nearby cities, and how to get between them
- Munich, 254 km — flights · trains · tours
- Köln, 210 km — tours
- Brussels, 349 km (Belgium)
- Frankfurt am Main, 79 km — trains · buses · car rental · tours
- Düsseldorf, 243 km — tours
- Stuttgart, 78 km — trains · buses · car rental · tours
- Essen, 257 km — tours
- Dortmund, 250 km
- Antwerp, 365 km (Belgium)
- Nuremberg, 173 km — trains · buses · car rental
Twin towns and sister cities: Mostar, Cambridge, Montpellier, Rehovot, Simferopol, Bautzen, Kumamoto, Palo Alto, Hangzhou, Jelenia Góra, Odesa.
Common questions
Which airport serves Heidelberg?
Frankfurt Main Airport (FRA), 69 km (43 mi) from the centre, plus 3 other airports with scheduled flights within 100 km.
How big is Heidelberg?
About 143,345 people live in Heidelberg, across 109 km² (GeoNames and Wikidata).
What time zone is Heidelberg in?
Europe/Berlin, currently UTC+2.
What currency is used in Heidelberg?
The Euro (EUR). Traffic drives on the right.
Which cities are near Heidelberg?
Munich (254 km), Köln (210 km), Brussels (349 km), Frankfurt am Main (79 km), Düsseldorf (243 km).
Where these facts come from
- GeoNames (CC BY 4.0): population, elevation, time zone, postal codes
- Wikidata (CC0): area, sister cities, visitor numbers, heritage listings, stations and ports
- OurAirports (public domain): airports, runways
- Natural Earth (public domain): map outlines
Data compiled 14 September 2026. Hotel and hostel figures are from our booking partner’s catalogue on that date. Journey times on this page are estimates from distance, not timetables; check the operator before you rely on one.