Oldenburg

Oldenburg is a city in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is a pleasant town with an old center full of restaurants, cafes, and pedestrian streets, between Bremen and the Netherlands.

By plane
The closest airports are Bremen, Hamburg   and Amsterdam Schiphol.
 * Bremen Airport : Take tram 6 to Bremen Hauptbahnhof, then change to an Oldenburg Hauptbahnhof train. The trip will take around 1h and cost about €12.
 * Hamburg Airport : Take train S1 to Hamburg Hauptbahnhof, then change to a Bremen Hauptbahnhof train, then change to an Oldenburg Hauptbahnhof train. The trip will take around 2 hr 10 min, and cost about €36. A direct bus to Oldenburg is available from Hamburg Hauptbahnhof, see details below.
 * Amsterdam Schiphol Airport: The train trip has been complicated by the damaged Friesen bridge that will not be replaced until 2024. It is possible to use a train-bus-train option (around 4 hr 20 min), or to take a train to Sloterdijk (24 minutes) and then a FlixBus to Oldenburg Hauptbahnhof (4 hr 30 min). A direct bus to Oldenburg is available from Amsterdam Sloterdijk, see details below.

By train
Regional services connect to surrounding towns.
 * Bremen: Transport to other German cities will generally require a transfer in Bremen. There are two direct trains an hour between Bremen and Oldenburg, with travel times of 30-40 minutes.
 * Hamburg: There are three trains an hour from Hamburg to Bremen, with a transfer required to Oldenburg. Total travel times are 1 hr 40 min-2 hr 15 min.
 * Amsterdam: There are four trains an hour from Amsterdam, but the trip has been complicated by the damaged Friesen bridge that will not be replaced until 2024. The train and bus combinations will take 4 hr 16 min-5 hr 30 min, and can be booked through Deutsche Bahn.
 * Groningen: Travel to/from Groningen (generally requires a transfer in Leer (D) and from there on to Oldenburg. Be aware of the border crossing after Nieuweschans. You can't use a Dutch ticket to go to Germany.

By car
You can reach Oldenburg from the A1, A7, A27 and E22 highway.

By bus
FlixBus operate direct buses from the north side of the (ZOB) Advance booking through the FlixBus website is recommended, because it is cheaper and the buses do fill up.
 * Hamburg: 7 buses per day (2 hr 25 min-2 hr 35 min, €9-20)
 * Amsterdam Sloterdijk: 4 buses per day (4 hr 35 min-5 hr 10 min, €17-20).

Get around
By bicycle Oldenburg prides itself on cycling, and has extensive bicycle paths within the town and to adjacent towns. Bicycle rentals are available downtown from Vosgerau Am Damm (€6.50/day), Fahrradzentrum Oldenburg (€10/day), Swapfiets (€17.5/month). The Fahhradselbsthilfewerkstatt (bicycle repair shop) at Carl von Ossietzky Universität Oldenburg also rents out bikes at around €20/month.

By bus

Frequent local buses are operated by VWG, with route and timetable information also available in Google Maps Navigation. You can buy tickets on the bus (2€45), but is slightly cheaper to buy a set of 4 rides (€20), a day pass (€7) or a multi-day pass.

Do

 * Bremen is very close, see the "by train" section.
 * Bremen is very close, see the "by train" section.
 * Bremen is very close, see the "by train" section.

Work
Carl von Ossietzky University (founded 1973) is an important regional university.

Budget

 * There are a host of eateries in the city center, including a variety of doener stands, Chinese Food, a McDonalds and a Burger King.
 * On weekdays the Pferdemarkt ("horse market") hosts a market at which you can buy fresh baked breads, vegetables, meats, but no horses.
 * The largest supermarkets are Real Stubbenweg, and the Famila XXL Wechloy. Smaller supermarkets include Lidl, Aldi, Penny, Rewe and Aktiv-Irma.

Go next

 * Bremen
 * Delmenhorst
 * Groningen — twin city of Oldenburg, across the border in the Netherlands