Duesseldorf to Dortmund - fares

[ABB125]

I need to buy a single ticket from Duesseldorf Airport to Dortmund Hbf for a journey in about a month. Late evening on a Friday.

The VRR website says EUR17.39, which seems quite expensive. DB says EUR19.80 for VRR operated trains... Is this correct? Am I missing some sort of cheaper fare that needs specific search terms to find?

Thanks very much

 

[rvdborgt]

VRR says "from 17.39". If you open the fare info, then you'll also see the regular single ticket for 19.80. And then you can also see that 17.39 is the price for eezyTicket, for which you'll need an app and turned on GPS.

 

[nwales58]

Normal Germany.

It's within VRR so they set the fare for all trains other than IC and ICE. Eur 19.80 is Preisstufe C (whole of VRR) single, includes any mixture of bus, tram, non-IC/ICE train, H-bahn for your entire journey. Note that DUS to Flughafen station on the H-bahn needs a ticket. Eur 17.39 will be eezy.nrw, app-based geolocational point-point ticketing, so a bit more if you use another bus or tram from Dortmund Hbf to where you are going.

On IC/ICE DB may offer a Sparpreis which is dramatically cheaper for their bit but 1) it's an advance ticket, 2) you're tied to a long distance train which can be dramatically late until it's 40 mins late, 3) you need a VRR ticket to get as far as the station.

Eur 38.40 gets you 24 hours Pst C, but 2 days of that and you're better off with a D-ticket with the usual provisos about avoiding a subscription.

 

[duesselmartin]

You got a VRR Zone Cticket here and a NRW day ticket here. Advantage is they are valid in all regional modes of transport. Are you travelling alone? It gets cheaper per person the more travel.

 

[ABB125]

Thanks for the advice so far.
I have a 5 day Interrail pass that I'll be using from the Saturday, but need to get from the Airport to the hotel I have booked in Dortmund (much cheaper to stay there that Düsseldorf for some reason, even with the cost of the train between the two cities)

 

[DeverseSam]

Late evening on a Friday.

If you wait until midnight, you can use your Interrail!

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 17 May 2026 ==

It’s also worth pointing out that Luton to Dortmund airfares are currently from €22!

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 17 May 2026 ==

Dortmund (much cheaper to stay there that Düsseldorf for some reason, even with the cost of the train between the two cities)

however there’s also a 7% citytax in Dortmund

 

[ABB125]

It’s also worth pointing out that Luton to Dortmund airfares are currently from €22!

(Un)Fortunately I'll be arriving from Milan as I'm there at Malpensa for other reasons beforehand. Düsseldorf was pretty much the cheapest place to fly to at about the right time.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 17 May 2026 ==

If you wait until midnight, you can use your Interrail!

I hadn't thought of that! Not sure I want to leave it that late though...

(On the other hand, who knows how long it might take to clear the new EES?!)

 

[NCT]

I wonder if there might be last-minute cheap Advance ICE fares.

 

[nwales58]

(Un)Fortunately I'll be arriving from Milan …

(On the other hand, who knows how long it might take to clear the new EES?!)

Intra-Schengen there is no EES. However, Eurowings last sector of the day often park at DUS on remote stands with bus which adds delay.

NCT’s suggestion is good, when you reach the terminal see if there is a 6.99 or 9.99 ICE AND check that he local train to get to Hbf is running. Remeber you’ll still need a 3.80 VRR Preisstufe A to get to Hbf or Flughafen station. Or to Duisburg Hbf it’s a 7.80 Pst B. If you have the DB app set up it’s pretty fast to buy all of that on the move.

 

[ABB125]

Thanks very much, some useful advice