Travelling in German-speaking places can be much easier when you know some basic German phrases. This blog post will help you understand public transport in German and how to use common expressions for navigating a city, asking for directions, and using public transport.

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Getting to the city centre using public transport in German

Let’s look at what you might say if asked how you are spending your day and describing what transport you might need to use. 

• Wir fahren in das Stadtzentrum. We are going to the city centre.

Use this phrase when travelling to a city’s central part. We use the accusative in das because this sentence indicates movement.

• Wir fahren nach Berlin.  We are going to Berlin.

Nach is used for going to cities and countries, meaning “to”.

Asking for directions

Knowing how to ask how best to reach a location is very useful. You want to be sure you are on the right bus or train and to ask for directions if you need them.

• Gibt es einen Bus dorthin?  Is there a bus going there?

This is helpful when asking if public transport is available to your destination. Note that the accusative case is used for the direct subject of the question, einen Bus.

• Wo genau im Stadtzentrum?  Where exactly in the city centre?

Use this to ask for more specific directions within the city centre. You can see how a compound noun is formed with Stadtzentum = Stadt + Zentrum and the gender of the compound word is decided by the last part of the compound word, in this case, neuter.

Useful words for navigating public transport in German

When you’ve asked for directions or for information about public transport, it’s important to be able to understand what you’re told. Let’s look at some expressions you may hear:

• Die Fußgängerzone  The pedestrian zone

This area is only for walking, with no cars allowed and is another example of a compound word.

• Mein Hotel ist zwischen dem Hauptbahnhof und der Fußgängerzone. My hotel is between the main train station and the pedestrian zone.

This helps describe the location of your accommodation. Hauptbahnhof is yet another compound noun. 

• Nehmen Sie den Bus zum Hauptbahnhof. Take the bus to the main train station.

You may hear this being given as instructions or directions on how best to get to the main station.

• Der Bus zum Flughafen fährt alle 15 Minuten. The bus to the airport leaves every 15 minutes.

You will hear this expression when asking about how regularly transport leaves. 

• Gehen Sie rechts / links. Go right / left.

Simple instructions for navigating. Directions such as these may follow one another to give a longer set of instructions.

Using public transport

You may see signs and notices displaying information at a bus stop or in a station. Understanding them can make using public transport much easier. There are also questions you may want to ask to check how best to reach a location.

• die Bushaltestelle  The bus stop

Important to identify where to catch a bus.

• Die Bushaltestelle ist auf der linken / rechten Seite.  The bus stop is on the left / right side. This is another compound noun. 
• der Fahrplan the timetable

This tells you the bus or train schedule. Another compound word. 

• Dort sehen Sie den Fahrplan. There you can see the timetable.

Use this when showing someone where to check schedules.

• Kann man auch mit einem Taxi fahren? Can one also take a taxi?

A good question when exploring transportation options. This is a very useful construction as nearly all forms of transport are masculine, so they follow this same pattern:

• Kann man auch mit einem Bus / Zug / Fahrrad / Auto fahren? Can one also take a bus / train / bike / car?

Travelling by tram sees a slight change as the word for tram, Straßenbahn, is feminine: Kann man auch mit einer Straßenbahn fahren? Can one also take a tram?

Talking about the trip

If you want to find out the cost of a journey by public transport or how long it may take, look at the sentences below to help you work out how to form what you’d want to say about your trip. 

• die Fahrt  The ride/journey

General term for a trip by vehicle.

• Die Fahrt dauert ungefähr zwanzig Minuten im Taxi / im Bus / in der Straßenbahn / im Zug. The ride takes about twenty minutes by taxi / bus / tram / train.

Note the difference again here with Straßenbahn as a feminine noun; it is in der Straßenbahn, not im.

• Es kostet mehr / weniger als der Bus. It costs more / less than the bus.

We are seeing the comparative used here, more than and less than. It is often formed by  adding -er to the adjective, in the case of regular adjectives: 

• wenig > weniger

You can use different adjectives to apply to different aspects of transport:

• bequem / schnell / teuer / billig – comfortable / fast / expensive / cheap. 

To form the comparative: bequemer / schneller / teurer / billiger

• Ein Taxi ist bequemer als den Bus, aber ein Taxi ist teurer. A taxi is more comfortable than the bus, but a taxi is more expensive.

You can use these adjectives to describe different ways of travelling.

• Die Fahrt dauert länger mit dem Bus,… The ride takes longer by bus, …
• …weil der Bus oft halten muss.  because the bus has to stop often.

Asking about prices

It’s important to know the price of your journey on public transport. You don’t want to overpay, and you want to know you have the right ticket for your trip.

• Wie viel kostet ein Busticket…?  How much does a bus ticket cost?

You can add your destination to the end of this question

• …ins Stadtzentrum? to the city centre?
• Ein Taxi kostet ungefähr zwanzig Euro.  A taxi costs about twenty euros.

These phrases are useful for travelling around German cities. Practise using them, and you’ll navigate public transport and ask for directions with more confidence. Gute Reise! Have a good trip!

Why not keep practising essential phrases in German for travel? Check out the blog post we prepared with more vocabulary and examples to help you feel ready for your next adventure!