Witten

Witten is a city of 96,000 in the Ruhr area of North Rhine-Westphalia, in western Germany.

Understand
Witten is a city of 96,000 situated between Dortmund and Hagen and part of Ruhr region, on whose namesake river it lies. It consists of the districts of Mitte, Düren, Stockum, Annen and Rüdinghausen, as well as Bommern, Heven and Herbede, which lie on the Ruhr, with Herbede being near the Kemnade Lake, an artificial reservoir. The city, like the rest of the region, has to deal with issues of deindustrialisation and population loss, instead trying to draw visitors with its cultural and industrial heritage.

By plane
The closest airport is Dortmund, about away. The more useful airport to get to Witten is Düsseldorf Airport in Düsseldorf, about  away, and served by flights across the continent and overseas.

By train
Trains stop at, the only long-distance service stopping here is the InterCity line IC34 Dortmund - Witten - Iserlohn-Letmathe - Siegen - Dillenburg - Frankfurt, which can be used with regional tickets including the Deutschlandticket between Dortmund and Dillenburg. Regional services are RE4 Dortmund - Hagen - Wuppertal - Düsseldorf - Cologne - Aachen, RE16 Essen - Bochum - Hagen - Iserlohn and RB40 Hagen - Bochum - Essen, in addition to local S-Bahn S5 Dortmund - Hagen.

Long-distance trains to domestic and international destinations stop in nearby Dortmund (including daily Eurostar service to Brussels and Paris), in Bochum and in Hagen.

By car
Witten lies within the rectangle formed by Autobahns A 1, A 43, A 45, A 448 (until 2021: A 44, still referred to as such by locals). Coming from Frankfurt take A 45. A 448 crosses Witten north of the city centre going east-west, and acts as cross connection between A43 and A45.

By bike
The Ruhrtalradweg, Ruhr Valley bike path, runs past Witten along the Ruhr River from its spring all the way to Duisburg, where it joins the Rhine.

By public transport
Public transport consists of two tram lines, 309 and 310, in addition to bus routes that cover most of the city. Services are operated by BOGESTRA or VER and run roughly 05:00-23:00, starting later on weekends, very limited nightbus service is provided on weekend nights. The at Bahnhofstrasse 1, M-F 08:00-18:00 Sa 08:00-15:00, will help with fares and route information, or use the various apps like Muttis etarif, VRR or the DB Navigator.

By car
Witten is not subject to one of the many environmental protection zones (DE: Umweltzone), meaning your car does not need any specific green, yellow or red pollution sticker.

The city centre is restricted to through-traffic and parts are entirely closed off for motor vehicles, including the main shopping high street, Bahnhofstrasse. Parking spots are available on lots, in garages or on the side of the road. On many residential streets, only local residents with permits or guests of them are allowed to park, and in many cases even enter the road in the first place, see Driving in Germany.

By bike
Besides the afforementioned Ruhr Valley bike path, Bike path "Rheinischer Esel" runs on an old railway from Bochum to the south of Dortmund. Bike lanes are common but in bad quality or placed in the worst spots, so exercise caution.

By foot
The city centre is small enough to explore on foot.

See
Witten might not be a jewel of old world architecture, but it's certainly worth a stay if you're looking for a cheap and central base to explore the Ruhr area, or as stop whilst cycling through the green Ruhr Valley. The outskirts are full of green rolling hills.

Buy
The main shopping street is Bahnhofstrasse, stretching from the City Hall (Rathaus) to the Central train station.

Hammerstr. 9, (M-Sa 10:00-19:00, parking garage 10:00-20:00) is small modern shopping centre a short walk from the station, with the usual chains of clothing, electronics and the like. Here you'll find public toilets.

Farmers Markets with fresh produce are on the square in front of the City Hall (Rathausplatz) on Tuesdays, Wednesday and Saturday from 08:00-14:00, in Annen on the square between St.Joseph Church and the railway and in Herbede on the town square at Meesmannstr., both on Friday between 08:00-13:00.

Go next

 * Dortmund, home of Borussia Dortmund football club, the German football museum and a busy city centre.
 * Hattingen, medieval town centre and castle ruins.
 * Bochum, large university and nightlife.
 * Wuppertal, home of the famous Schwebebahn monorail.
 * Düsseldorf, state capital on the mighty Rhine river, rich fashion capital and home of a large Japanese community.
 * Cologne, Germany's fourth largest city, cathedral, arts, music and media, huge LGBTQ community.