Coach & Minibus Hire in Germany

Arriving at Kiel? A Minibus Plan for Your Group

Kiel's cruise quays serve the whole Hamburg region, and many passengers come up from Hamburg by road or rail. A minibus with driver links the quay, the station, Hamburg and the old Hanseatic towns at your group's own pace.

Know your quay

Ostseekai (berths 27 and 28) sits right in town, 1.6 km or a 10 to 15 minute stroll from Kiel Hauptbahnhof. Norwegenkai is just as central: cross the Hörnbrücke footbridge from the station and you are there. The Ostuferhafen is the odd one out, across the Förde on its eastern shore and roughly 8 km out of the centre.

If your cruise leaves from the Ostuferhafen, a booked transfer is worth it. Buses 11 and X60 do run from the main station to the Grenzstraße stop, but with suitcases and a family in tow it is a slow way to start a holiday.

Sprinter minibus cabin
Sprinter minibus cabin

Coming up from Hamburg

Hamburg Airport is 91 km from Ostseekai, close to an hour when the motorway is clear, and the drive from Hamburg's Rathausmarkt is 99 km or so, an hour and a quarter. Plenty of families fly into Hamburg, spend a night in the city and travel up on embarkation morning, and a minibus does that in one go with all the bags aboard.

Travelling light? Regional trains RE7 and RE70 run direct from Hamburg Hauptbahnhof to Kiel.

Where the ships berth

  • Schwedenkai, Kaistraße, 24103 Kiel: a ferry terminal in the city centre
  • Norwegenkai, Zur Fähre, 24143 Kiel: berths 21 and 22 in the city centre, opposite the main station across the Hörnbrücke footbridge, for up to 2,500 passengers
  • Ostuferhafen, Grenzstraße, 24149 Kiel: berth 1 (395 m quay) on the east bank of the Kieler Förde, about 8 km from the city centre, for up to 6,000 passengers
  • Ostseekai, Ostseekai 1, 24105 Kiel: berths 27 and 28 (355 m and 285 m quays) in the city centre, for up to 6,500 and 4,500 passengers

While you are out sightseeing

Kiel publishes no coach parking at its terminals. The city's tourism site points bus companies to a lorry and coach park in Edisonstraße, part of the Wellsee estate in the south of Kiel, 9 km or so from Ostseekai. Your driver plans the pickup around that.

Lübeck, 81 km from Ostseekai and a little over an hour by road, makes a comfortable half day for the Holstentor and the old town. Berlin, at about 357 km, is nearly four hours each way by car and longer by bus, which makes it a very long day on a port call.

Questions travellers ask

Can we walk from Ostseekai to the station?

Yes, in 10 to 15 minutes. If legs are tired, city buses 41, 42, 61 and 62 call at Seegarten Ostseekai.

Car or minibus for a party of seven?

Up to eight passengers can travel in a car with driver. Nine or more need a minibus, which counts as a bus in Germany and has a driver with a bus licence.

How does the driver find the right terminal?

On the roads into Kiel, signs marked ‘Fähre’ lead to the terminals. Send us the quay name from your documents and the approach is planned from that.

More places your group could visit

Other vehicles with a driver