Getting to Marburg

By train

Marburg lies on the Main-Weser railway between Frankfurt, Gießen and Kassel. Long-distance ICE trains and regional express trains stop at Marburg (Lahn) Hauptbahnhof, north of the old town; local trains also call at Marburg Süd.

Marburg (Lahn) Main Station

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Marburg’s main station on the Main-Weser railway, with ICE and regional services to Frankfurt (fastest about 58 minutes), Gießen and Kassel, and branch lines to the upper Lahn and Burgwald.

Lines serving the station:

• ICE 26 every 4 hours (Bremen / Hannover – Kassel-Wilhelmshöhe – Marburg – Frankfurt – Karlsruhe) and one ICE 24 train pair (Westerland / Hamburg – Kassel – Marburg – Frankfurt)
• RE 30 Main-Weser-Express: Frankfurt – Gießen – Marburg – Kassel
• RB 41 Mittelhessen-Express: Treysa – Marburg – Frankfurt
• RE 98 Main-Sieg-Express: Kassel – Marburg – Frankfurt
• RB 94 up the Lahn valley: Marburg – Erndtebrück
• RE / RB 97 Burgwald railway towards Frankenberg and Brilon

A tourist information office with a ticket shop is on Bahnhofstraße, a few steps from the station.

Timetables and tickets: Deutsche Bahn (bahn.de)

By plane

The nearest airport is Frankfurt Airport (FRA), 97 km south of Marburg. Marburg itself only has a small airfield without scheduled flights. From the airport, the fastest train connection takes 1 h 22 with one change.

By car from the airport: A3 / B43 to the Frankfurter Kreuz, the A5 towards Kassel, then the A45 and the A485 / A480 towards Gießen, and finally the B3 to Marburg.

Find flights to Marburg (Expedia) →

By car

Marburg has no motorway junction of its own. The B3, largely four-lane from Gießen, links the town with Gießen to the south and Kassel to the north.

• From the south (Frankfurt): A5 – Gambacher Kreuz – A45 – Gießener Südkreuz – A485 – Gießener Nordkreuz – B3 to Marburg.
• From the north (Kassel): A49 to Borken, then the B3 to Marburg.

In the town, the Oberstadt car park on Pilgrimstein has a free public lift up to the old town.

Rent a car in Marburg (Expedia) →

By bus

City buses are run by the Marburger Verkehrsgesellschaft, a subsidiary of Stadtwerke Marburg. The city lines belong to the RMV (Rhein-Main-Verkehrsverbund), so RMV tickets and timetables apply.

• About 20 city bus lines with some 86 vehicles.
• AST (Anruf-Sammel-Taxi): on-demand shared taxis that complete the bus network.
• Long-distance coaches (e.g. Flixbus) stop at the bus station near the main station.

Lifts to the Oberstadt

The Oberstadt, the old upper town with the market square and the castle above it, sits on a steep hillside above the Lahn. Instead of the stairs, you can take the free public lifts from the Pilgrimstein in the lower town.

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Upper Town Lifts (Oberstadt-Aufzüge)

Two free public lifts at the Pilgrimstein link the lower town with the Oberstadt: one from Rudolphsplatz up to Rittergasse, the other from the Oberstadt car park to Wettergasse.

• Rudolphsplatz lift — up to Rittergasse; closed between 01:30 and 06:30 (as reported in 2022).
• Oberstadt car park lift — from the car park on Pilgrimstein up to Wettergasse.

Together the two installations have four cabins, and each covers part of the climb. The local press has reported repeated breakdowns (2022, 2024), so allow time for the stairs.

The Oberstadt: sights and history →