Dusseldorf to Wuppertal and the Schwebebahn

[Teapot42]

I'm off to Dusseldoft shortly and was planning on popping over to Wuppertal to ride on the Monorail. I'm struggling a bit to work out ticket types and prices.

The DB website is quoting something daft like nearly 40 euro for a single betweel Dusseldorf and Wuppertal, which can't be right for a ride which takes about 20 minutes.

VRR seems to be what I need, but their journey planner only offers random starting points in Dusseldorf then says no trips possible.

I've read I can get a 24 hour ticket which would cover both the train and the monorail, but I'm struggling to work out how many zones I need to include and how much it costs. Any advice would be appreciated, including where I can buy one! If I can pick one up at the airport that would be ideal as I'm only in Dusseldorf for just under 24 hours - assuming it covers the airport line and is actually 24 hours not just one day.

Thanks in advance!

 

[rvdborgt]

The DB website and app currently seem to have a problem with showing regional fares, such as VRR, so it's now showing a SchönerTagTicket or a Deutschlandticket...
vrr.de doesn't find any trains, so there's also something wrong there.
I think you need Preisstufe C to cover both Düsseldorf Airport and Wuppertal-Oberbarmen, so that would be €36.50 for a 24-hour ticket, which is valid in the entire VRR area.
Depending on when exactly you're going, a Deutschlandticket for a partial month (via the HVV Switch app) could be cheaper.

 

[nwales58]

As above, you'd need Preisstufe C which gives you the whole VRR area from Arnhem/Nijmegen to Unna and south as far as Langenfeld (it has replaced D, the old Cs which would have been cheaper have gone). If you're paying for that you'd want to make the most of it for the day. You could do all 3 monorails, for instance.

You can buy from machines at the airport. Note that if you're catching the airport monorail to Düsseldorf Flughagen (as against the S-Bahn Terminal station under the airport) you must already have a ticket, it's part of the VRR tariff.

If you already have a DB account, you can buy from there. If the app is not offering the correct ticket from the journey planner you can pick what you want directly.
Start from the main booking page
scroll down to 'Tickets & offers'
scroll through these to 'Transport association tickets'
scroll down to D for VRR - Düsseldorf, Dortmund etc
go to ticket selection
scroll down to 24 Stunden Ticket 1 person or however many you are
pick the start time you need
fare category C
point of departure can be anywhere for C as it covers the whole area

It does cover you getting back to the airport by any route using bus, H-bahn, S-bahn, R, RE (only IC, ICE, Flix and the like are excluded)

 

[DeverseSam]

I'm off to Dusseldoft shortly and was planning on popping over to Wuppertal to ride on the Monorail. I'm struggling a bit to work out ticket types and prices.

Some hotels have a VRR transport ticket included by the way

 

[Teapot42]

Thanks all. I can't see any mention of a ticket with my hotel (Tribe, booked via hotels.com)

It sounds like the day ticket is the best option, thanks.

(3 monorails? I only know of two, the one in Wuppertal and the Dusseldorf Dangletrain)

 

[nwales58]

Few hotels do KombiTicket now, InterCity and a few small ones I think but there is no longer a list on vrr.de. Most KombiTicket are only valid to and from football, theatre and other events included in the price.

Monorails: there are two H-Bahn systems: Düsseldorf airport and at TU Dortmund (where the research unit who developed the system are). TU Dortmund has two overlapping routes usually running Eichlinghofen-Technologiezentrum and Campus Süd-Campus Nord, all accessible from Dortmund Universität S-Bahn station. All appear in journey planners, DB as well as VRR.

Incidentally, instead of booking Tribe via hotels.com I would book directly. They are part of Accor (Ibis, Novotel etc etc) and you usually get lower rates and a wider range of cancellation terms versus price directly.

 

[duesselmartin]

Thanks all. I can't see any mention of a ticket with my hotel (Tribe, booked via hotels.com)

It sounds like the day ticket is the best option, thanks.

(3 monorails? I only know of two, the one in Wuppertal and the Dusseldorf Dangletrain)

I believe the Tribe is the former intercity hotel near the station?
A rough area. Pay attention and ignore people asking for help.. They are organised bandits.

 

[Teapot42]

Monorails: there are two H-Bahn systems: Düsseldorf airport and at TU Dortmund

Incidentally, instead of booking Tribe via hotels.com I would book directly. They are part of Accor (Ibis, Novotel etc etc) and you usually get lower rates and a wider range of cancellation terms versus price directly.

Thanks, time to start researching!

I'm Gold on hotels.com and there was a good cashback offer on via my employer, so that worked out cheapest. Hope the area isn't as bad as reported, seemed ok on the review sites...

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 3 Apr 2025 ==

As above, you'd need Preisstufe C which gives you the whole VRR area from Arnhem/Nijmegen to Unna and south as far as Langenfeld (it has replaced D, the old Cs which would have been cheaper have gone). If you're paying for that you'd want to make the most of it for the day. You could do all 3 monorails, for instance.

Thanks for this, you may just have saved me around £30... I was going to buy a through ticket from Dusseldorf to Rotterdam that went via Arnhem. A slight tweak of my plans means I can get to Arnhem on the 24 hour ticket.

Only question is, what happens if the train is delayed? Is the 24 hours based on timetabled arrival time?

I did notice a lot of trains at the airport delayed, most operated by National Express... Didn't they lose all their UK franchises for poor performance?

The only plan I can make to do both though only gives me about 2 hours at each. Is that enough?

 

[blackfive460]

(3 monorails? I only know of two, the one in Wuppertal and the Dusseldorf Dangletrain)

Make that 4. Don't forget the Dresden Schwebebahn!

Dresden Suspension Railway - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

[dutchflyer]

For germans this SCHWEBEbahn in Wuppertail is not really a monorail-it hangs down the ´track´. It is also by far the longest compared to the others quoted and both ends are besides or very close by a DB-S-bahnstation with a direct service also to Düsseldorf.
Re tickets: VRR has simplified and raised its fares very recent. This price is for a 24-hr ticket-no need to do that all advance-just buy a proper ticket from a machine that will also accept foreign bankcards. I have never seen any remark on how this would apply if your train was delayed/cancelled as last trip just before it expires, but its Germany where they do like to have rules for each and every possible mishap.
There is also in the same price level ´NRW-Schoener Tag´, which is the Landesdayticket as all german Laender or provinces have, for a calender day,mo-fr only from 9.00 on, but its now 34,80 and valid in all of NRW, so would also include major cities like Kóln/Cologna or Bielefeld. So for the same money you could get way more in validity. Much cheaper per person in small groups.
Both VRR and NRW are also valid till Arnhem here in Nederland-only on the hourly RE19 -which indeed gets quite often cancelled, or also on the RE13 to Venlo by eurobahn, which now only runs every 2 hrs due to serious staffshortages.
Additional sidenote: if your trip was planned for the last days of a month, the Deutschlandticket-the monthly for 58€/month, could be had from HVV on a pro-day base of les as 2€, but it seems this is now no more. It would require online advance booking and also cancellation, even before the startdate of your first month using it!
IF you travel on your german ticket to Arnhem and want the NS-train onward to AMSterdam, then simply use your bank/creditcard-tap in at the yellow=NS pole also on each platform there and use it to get out of the gates at final destination. That saves 1,50 for a chipped cardboard NS-ticket.
Again depending on what day and how long advance and if you are prepared to use only that booked train, a saver=Supersparpreis, via bahn.de, on the 2-hourly ICE train from Duisburg/Düsseldorf to AMSterdam might even be cheaper -lowest price is 19,90.

 

[Teapot42]

Thanks for the tip, at the moment I have options of 1626 to Arnhem which gives me less than 10 minutes validity on the ticket, it 1648 to Venlo which leaves about 25 minutes.

So far the Venlo option seems on time, but I'll keep checking.

 

[rvdborgt]

Additional sidenote: if your trip was planned for the last days of a month, the Deutschlandticket-the monthly for 58€/month, could be had from HVV on a pro-day base of les as 2€, but it seems this is now no more. It would require online advance booking and also cancellation, even before the startdate of your first month using it!

You can currently choose a start date max. 1 day in advance but still pay a partial month. So you can still order a D-ticket on the 10th with start date the 11th and cancel it immediately. Price for April should then be 2/3rd of €58, so that's not interesting for just one day.

 

[Teapot42]

You can currently choose a start date max. 1 day in advance but still pay a partial month. So you can still order a D-ticket on the 10th with start date the 11th and cancel it immediately. Price for April should then be 2/3rd of €58, so that's not interesting for just one day.

That's useful to know for future. Does it mean though that towards the end of the month you are better getting a d ticket and cancelling it than getting a 24 hour ticket? Pro rata it would cost less.

In this case the decision to come was so short notice I didn't have the chance to plan well. The slight extra I'd have paid would have helped as I could have stayed longer in Dusseldorf before needing to move on. An extra hour or two would have been nice, but not essential.

Thanks again to all who gave advice, I managed the three local monorails and am now just about to cross the border in to the Netherlands.

 

[rvdborgt]

That's useful to know for future. Does it mean though that towards the end of the month you are better getting a d ticket and cancelling it than getting a 24 hour ticket? Pro rata it would cost less.

Until recently, you could choose the start date a few weeks in advance, so that at the beginning of the month, you could choose the 31st of that month as a start date (extreme case) and then cancel no later than the 10th, and only pay the partial month. I've done this a few times (although never for just 1 day). Now you can only choose the start date 1 day in advance, so the shortest partial month you can get (without the following month) is from the 11th until the end of the month.

Thanks again to all who gave advice, I managed the three local monorails and am now just about to cross the border in to the Netherlands.

Nice trip, I've enjoyed all 3 of them, although never on 1 day.

 

[Terry Tibbs]

If the person who asked the original question is staying in Düsseldorf and is planning a day trip to Wuppertal in the 24hrs there then I would recommend an ‘EinzelTicket’. I’m not certain of the translation but effectively it’s an ‘A to B’ or single ticket. There are 3 fare zones with, for example, Dusseldorf being Zone A, Wuppertal Zone B and as far as Weeze in Zone C. If you are staying in Düsseldorf and wish to travel to Wuppertal then find the nearest tram or bus stop. If there’s a ticket machine then simply buy a Zone B EinzelTicket (cost €7.40 full adult fare) and that will get you on your tram or bus to Düsseldorf HBf and on the RE trains (very frequent) to Wuppertal HBf. If there’s no ticket machine then ask the driver when you get on (bus) or find the ticket machine (tram). Don’t forget to frank your ticket after boarding to validate it. The Schwebebahn is right next to Wuppertal HBf and the ticketing is almost identical to Dusseldorf. Buy an EinzelTicket (about €3) on the platform and frank it before boarding. There’s no ticket machines on these trains as far as I could see. We travelled to the end of the line and walked back via a bar or two. We worked out it was cheaper for us to buy two adult Zone B tickets to get to Wuppertal from Dusseldorf return and two adult singles on the monorail than buy 2 x 24hr pass. The most useful app for us was the ‘VRR‘ one; you can plan your journey, check ticket prices etc for all the forms of transport within the three zones. It even gives real times so you can see what’s delayed. The monorail is so unique and I hope you enjoy it like we did.

 

[DeverseSam]

We worked out it was cheaper for us to buy two adult Zone B tickets to get to Wuppertal from Dusseldorf return and two adult singles on the monorail than buy 2 x 24hr pass.

I think the airport is in the Duisburg tariff zone, and Wuppertal has two tariff zones so B isn’t enough for Wuppertal Ost

 

[Terry Tibbs]

That sounds reasonable. We were staying in Düsseldorf and did this as a day trip. It just so happened that the fare calculated by the machine at the tram stop gave us the Zone B ticket as we were travelling no further than Wuppertal HBf. I think that VRR app is useful as it works out this stuff for you so you know what to ask for at the ticket machine or from the bus driver.

 

[nwales58]

I think the airport is in the Duisburg tariff zone, and Wuppertal has two tariff zones so B isn’t enough for Wuppertal Ost

Correct on Wuppertal. Düsseldorf airport is in Düsseldorf Mitte/Nord. To Oberbarmen is Pst. C so 18.90 single. Eezy.nrw will be cheaper but complicated.

I could rabbit on with a full desription of VRR since March this year but it would bore the forum silly.

Incidentally, since Jan SchönertagNRW is 24 hour, not day, and no 0900 M-F restriction any longer.

Edit addition: the new VRR structure means that if you are travelling through 4-6 zones it is cheaper to buy a Preisstufe B plus an A or B rather than a C as @rvdborgt and I suggested (the previous ABCD structure avoided the big step). You probably need the full fares booklet with the 60 or so diagrams of Preisstufe B Geltungsbereiche to find the right combination.

Using Eezy.nrw may be easier once you have set it up as you get distanced-based charging with daily and monthly capping.

 

[DeverseSam]

I could rabbit on with a full desription of VRR since March this year but it would bore the forum silly.

Maybe but it would be useful!

 

[Teapot42]

It does seem an odd side effect of the D ticket that it's only about 10 euro more for a month than a day in this case.

It did get me thinking that a tap on tap off system with automatic capping would be so much easier all around, but I guess also it's not too much to expect that locals have better ticketing options that tourists.

For the travelling I did, the £30 I paid for the 24 hour ticket seemed pretty good.

I'm assuming it was valid for all I did, as the only ticket check was right at the end of my travels, just before crossing the border in to the Netherlands with only about half an hour of validity left!

 

[nwales58]

It did get me thinking that a tap on tap off system with automatic capping would be so much easier all around

NRW have gone for location-based (as have quite a few other places). EMV tap in/out is more convenient for most passengers as they do not need a specific app on a mobile device. But for families and small groups app-based charging is more convenient.

Anyone have an idea of the relative implmentation and running costs of the two approaches? There are now 3rd-party providers for location-based charging too.

 

[DelW]

I was interested to read this thread having made a similar trip a few years ago, mainly to ride on the schwebebahn. We missed out on the Dortmund version as we were there at a weekend and it only ran M-F.

We did also sample Düsseldorf's altbier (dark "old" beer served in 200ml glasses), as well as other beers in Wuppertal and Dortmund.

I'm Gold on hotels.com and there was a good cashback offer on via my employer, so that worked out cheapest. Hope the area isn't as bad as reported, seemed ok on the review sites...

I was surprised at the suggestion up-thread that the area around HbF is unsafe. I've rarely if ever felt that in a German city centre, as long as one avoids obvious potential flashpoints such as football or political rallies. Google maps' views don't particularly suggest a dodgy area, though of course local knowledge is key. What did it feel like during you stay?

 

[Teapot42]

I was surprised at the suggestion up-thread that the area around HbF is unsafe. I've rarely if ever felt that in a German city centre, as long as one avoids obvious potential flashpoints such as football or political rallies. Google maps' views don't particularly suggest a dodgy area, though of course local knowledge is key. What did it feel like during you stay?

I don't know if I was being overly cautious due to the comment, but it felt slightly less nice than the rest of the city I saw, but on the other hand not at all unsafe.

There is a tram stop right outside the hotel door, and you can see the station from the hotel as well. It's about 5 minutes walk. There aren't that many businesses open, and the cafes they are seem to attract the migrant population which may be why some feel it slightly unsafe. There are also a few sex shops in the area, but I wasn't out late enough to see anything dodgy going on. As far as hotels go it was nice enough. Nothing special, but a decent price, comfortable room and handy for station and the city.

As for the monorails, Dortmund is interesting to visit, but a long trip for a short ride. I filmed the whole journey and it's about 6 minutes. Impressive engineering and design, shows the versatility of the system. Possibly more interesting is how the university had a railway station right in the middle of campus, dedicated to the uni itself. How many UK institutions have that?

Wuppertal is of course the gem - and surprisingly busy. I was there in the early afternoon and all the trains were crowded at one point or another. The town itself seems quite run down though, and both ends did feel dodgy. A good place to connect in to Vohwinkel, especially if coming from Dortmund or Dusseldorf, but both ends are close to railway stations. Be aware there isn't a view from the front of this one, unlike the others, as it still has a driver. There is a nice view from the back however. Maybe if I'd spent more time there I'd feel different, but I saw little need to actually explore the town. I was short on time though and wanted to get back for a final look around Dusseldorf before going on to the Netherlands.

 

[Porty]

I don't know if I was being overly cautious due to the comment, but it felt slightly less nice than the rest of the city I saw, but on the other hand not at all unsafe.

There is a tram stop right outside the hotel door, and you can see the station from the hotel as well. It's about 5 minutes walk. There aren't that many businesses open, and the cafes they are seem to attract the migrant population which may be why some feel it slightly unsafe. There are also a few sex shops in the area, but I wasn't out late enough to see anything dodgy going on. As far as hotels go it was nice enough. Nothing special, but a decent price, comfortable room and handy for station and the city.

As for the monorails, Dortmund is interesting to visit, but a long trip for a short ride. I filmed the whole journey and it's about 6 minutes. Impressive engineering and design, shows the versatility of the system. Possibly more interesting is how the university had a railway station right in the middle of campus, dedicated to the uni itself. How many UK institutions have that?

Wuppertal is of course the gem - and surprisingly busy. I was there in the early afternoon and all the trains were crowded at one point or another. The town itself seems quite run down though, and both ends did feel dodgy. A good place to connect in to Vohwinkel, especially if coming from Dortmund or Dusseldorf, but both ends are close to railway stations. Be aware there isn't a view from the front of this one, unlike the others, as it still has a driver. There is a nice view from the back however. Maybe if I'd spent more time there I'd feel different, but I saw little need to actually explore the town. I was short on time though and wanted to get back for a final look around Dusseldorf before going on to the Netherlands.

Stayed in the very smart (and cheap) Premier Inn, 5 mins walk through the shopping centre in Wuppertal and which has a very large Primark! All seemed very safe to me.

 

[tony6499]

Stayed in the very smart (and cheap) Premier Inn, 5 mins walk through the shopping centre in Wuppertal and which has a very large Primark! All seemed very safe to me.

When I went a few weeks ago I thought around the station was like any other German city/town, might be a bit less safe at night but anywhere can be. When I got off for a walk around at both ends that felt alright but again at night or later in the day might be less so but I didn't have anything registering on my radar to be worried about in Wuppertal

 

[Teapot42]

When I went a few weeks ago I thought around the station was like any other German city/town, might be a bit less safe at night but anywhere can be. When I got off for a walk around at both ends that felt alright but again at night or later in the day might be less so but I didn't have anything registering on my radar to be worried about in Wuppertal

I didn't actually visit the main station area, just did runs end to end.

I definitely didn't want to hang around Oberbarmen - a feeling not helped by a heavy police presence and people being arrested on the station platform, plus several groups drinking and smoking something odd. No worse than Sheffield on the average evening, but not somewhere I felt like having a wander around.

Vohwinkel just felt run down to be honest.