Coach & Minibus Hire in Germany

Your Hamburg Cruise Day, by Minibus

Hamburg has four cruise terminals along the Elbe, and they are not interchangeable. Check which one is printed on your cruise documents, and a minibus with driver can meet your family or group exactly there.

Four terminals: start with yours

Altona is the westernmost, on the city side of the river beyond the Landungsbrücken, with one berth and a rooftop terrace. Steinwerder faces it from the far bank among the southern quays, with two terminal buildings for the biggest ships. The newest, HafenCity, has been open since spring 2025 and is built into the Westfield Hamburg-Überseequartier, minutes on foot from the shops and the old centre. Baakenhöft, further east, is a temporary extra berth.

Ships do move between them, so plan around the terminal named on your own booking rather than a friend's trip from last year.

Minibus with side door open for boarding
Minibus with side door open for boarding

From the plane to the gangway

From Hamburg Airport, reckon on 13 km or so to Altona or HafenCity and 20 km to Steinwerder: 25 to 35 minutes on a quiet day. Up to eight of you can travel in a car with driver; from nine people a minibus keeps everyone, and everyone's cases, together.

Embarkation day means suitcases. Tell us how many bags you are bringing as well as how many people, because the luggage space in a minibus shrinks quickly when every seat is taken.

Where the ships berth

  • Cruise Center Baakenhöft, Baakenhöft 1, 20457 Hamburg: a temporary terminal in the eastern HafenCity with one berth, used as an extra and alternative berth for a planned total of ten years
  • Cruise Center HafenCity, Überseeboulevard 7, 20457 Hamburg: opened in spring 2025 inside the Westfield Hamburg-Überseequartier, with two berths (345 m and 230 m)
  • Cruise Center Steinwerder, Buchheisterstraße 16, 20457 Hamburg: on the south bank of the Elbe, with two separate terminal buildings for more than 8,000 passengers per call
  • Cruise Center Altona, Van-der-Smissen-Straße 5, 22767 Hamburg: one berth for ships up to 300 m long, with a glass-fronted terminal building and a roof terrace

A few hours in the city

If the ship gives you time ashore, the centre is close. The Rathausmarkt is a 4 km hop from HafenCity; from Altona it is 6 km, from Steinwerder 11. Hamburg currently has no low-emission zone, which means a loop along the harbour and through the Speicherstadt needs no sticker.

Favourites such as the Elbphilharmonie and Miniatur Wunderland have no published coach stop, so the operator agrees where your group gets out and where the driver collects you again.

Questions travellers ask

Can we walk from the HafenCity terminal into town?

Yes, it is a few minutes on foot, and the U4 stops at Überseequartier inside the district. With luggage, small children or older relatives, a minibus to the hotel is still the easier choice.

How does a driver reach Steinwerder?

From the A7 (exit Waltershof) or the A1/A255 (exit Freihafen/HafenCity), following the B62 signs. The terminal has its own bus parking.

Which terminal is ours?

Look at your cruise documents: they name it. Hamburg's terminals sit in different parts of the port, and the transfer is planned around that name, not around the ship or the cruise line.

More places your group could visit

Other vehicles with a driver