Recommended
FRAFrankfurt Airport
Germany's busiest international hub. The AirLiner express bus runs straight to Darmstadt, or take a train from the airport's long-distance station via Frankfurt.
- AirLiner bus
- ≈ 30 min
- Distance
- ≈ 25 km
Travel
Getting to Darmstadt
Darmstadt sits at the southern edge of the Frankfurt Rhine-Main region, one of Europe's busiest transport hubs. Frankfurt Airport and Frankfurt's main station are both about 20 minutes away, ICE and IC trains call at Darmstadt Hauptbahnhof, and the A5 and A67 autobahns frame the city, so most arrivals are quick whether you come by air, rail or road.
ICE direct from 5 major cities
By car · over 3 autobahns
ICE direct from 5 major cities
| Origin | By train | By car |
|---|---|---|
| Frankfurt | 20 min | 40 min |
| Cologne | 2 h 05 m | 2 h 30 m |
| Stuttgart | 1 h 20 m | 1 h 50 m |
| Munich | 3 h 10 m | 3 h 30 m |
| Berlin | 4 h 00 m | 5 h 30 m |
Times are approximate door-to-door from each city's central station.
Darmstadt Hauptbahnhof - on the Frankfurt rail axis
Darmstadt Hauptbahnhof is served by ICE, IC and EC trains and sits on the Main-Neckar line, with frequent regional connections to Frankfurt, Mannheim, Wiesbaden, Aschaffenburg and Heidelberg. From the platforms, tram 2 (towards TU-Lichtwiese) and tram 3 reach the Schloss stop in the centre in a few minutes, and the campus and Karolinenplatz are a short walk away.
Arriving via Frankfurt Hauptbahnhof? Regional trains RE60 and RB68 run to Darmstadt in 20 to 30 minutes.
Frankfurt on the doorstep
For international arrivals, Frankfurt (FRA) is the natural choice, one of Europe's largest hubs, just north of the city.
From the south
STRStuttgart Airport
A handy gateway from the south. Frequent trains via Stuttgart and Mannheim reach Darmstadt in about 1 h 20 m.
- By train
- ≈ 1 h 20 m
- Distance
- ≈ 150 km
Budget carriers
HHNFrankfurt-Hahn
Served by budget carriers. A shuttle bus connects to Frankfurt or Mainz, where regional trains continue to Darmstadt.
- Bus + rail
- ≈ 2 h 30 m
- Distance
- ≈ 110 km
Cologne/Bonn (CGN), Düsseldorf (DUS) and Munich (MUC) also work, each reaching Darmstadt by ICE to Frankfurt and a short regional hop.
The A5 and A67 meet at Darmstadt
From the Darmstadt interchange (Autobahnkreuz Darmstadt), follow signs for Darmstadt / Stadtmitte along Rheinstraße (B26) into the City-Ring tunnel, then head for the Schlossgarage / Karolinenplatz multi-storey car park beside the venue.
Drive times to Darmstadt are listed alongside train times in the journey-times table above. Public charging points around the city are mapped at chargefinder.com.