Public Transportation in Dresden is quite advanced and modern. Many parts of the city are accessible by tram and bus. Dresden features a common ticketing system that is valid for all public transportation networks in the city. Public transport in the city is provided by the DVB company. There is a tourist information office located right next to Zwinger, which is located in the theater square Theaterplatz. You can get more detailed information about public transportation in the city on DVB’s website.

Dresden Airport is located approximately 9 km from the city center. There are a variety of transportation alternatives availale to get to the city center from Dresden Airport including car, tram, bus, train, and taxi. In addition to these alternatives there are also affordable shuttle services that provide door-to-door transportation operated by Dresden Airport.

The Dresden Card is a very handy card to have; it offers free trips on public transportation, free entry to various museums in the city, and discounts at several tourist attractions. The Dresden-City-Card is specially designed for tourists. The 1-day Dresden city card for a single adult is 10 euros, and 14 euros for a family (two adults and max 4 children up to the age of 14). A daily use ticket for Zone 1 costs 9 euros, 13 euros for Zone 2 and 19 euros for every other region. The Dresden Card provides free entry to 13 museums throughout the city. There are also group tickets available for a maximum of 5 people. A day ticket for every region costs 28 euros. You can get the most up-to-date information at dresden.de/tourismus or you can email inforesdeninformation.de.

Train

The train provides convenient and direct transportation to the city center from Dresden Airport, which is located 9 km away. The train runs every 37 minutes. The S2 line from Dresden Airport provides transportation to Grenzstraße in 2 minutes, Klotzsche in 5 minutes, Industriegelände in 9 minutes, Neustadt in 12 minutes, Mitte in 16 minutes, Freiberger Straße in 18 minutes and Dresden Hauptbahnhof (main station) in 20 minutes. The same train provides transportation to Strehlen in 28 minutes, Reick in 30 minutes, Dobritz in 33 minutes, Niedersedlitz in 35 minutes, Zschachwitz in 37 minutes, Heidenau in 39 minutes, Heidenau-Sud in 42 minutes, Heidenau Großsedlitz in 44 minutes, and Pirna in about 47 minutes.

There are trains that depart every 30-37 minutes from the ground floor of Dresden Airport. A single ticket for the train is 2.20 euros. You can buy public transportation tickets, which are valid on the S-Bahn, trams, and buses, at the automated ticket machines at the station.

Bus

Buses are the cheapest and most practical transportation alternative to get to the city center from Dresden Airport. Bus number 77 and bus number 80 depart directly from the airport. Bus number 77 operates between Dresden Airport and Infineon Factory. If you get off at the Infineon-Nord stop (which takes 7 minutes) and get on tram number 7, the Pennrich line, it will take you to Albertplatz and the city center. Bus number 80 operates between Dresden Airport and the ElbePark Shopping Center and continues on to Omsewitz. Another option is to take bus number 80 to the Grenzstrasse train station and transfer to the S2 train or tram line 7.

Tram

Trams are the most popular and most economical method of transportation from the airport to the city center. There are 12 tram lines in Dresden that cover a total length of 210 kilometers. There are 154 tram stops throughout the city. The tram line numbers are 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, and 13. Tram lines 2, 6, and 7 serve the southwest part of the city. Tram line 3 serves the northwest part of the city.

Tram lines 1, 9, and 13 serve the southeast part of the city. Tram line 6 starts in Niedersedlitz and continues on to Blasewitz, Albertplatz, Bahnhof Neustadt, Bahnhof Mitte, Löbtau and Wölfnitz. Tram line 7 starts in Pennrich and continues on to Gorbitz, Löbtau, Hauptbahnhof, Pirnaischer Platz, Albertplatz, Klotzsche and Weixdorf.

The first stop on tram line 8 is in Südvorstadt. Other stops along tram line 8 are Hauptbahnhof, Postplatz, Albertplatz and Hellerau. The first stop on tram line 9 is in Prohlis. Other stops along tram line 9 are Strehlen, Zoo, Hauptbahnhof, Postplatz, Mickten and Kaditz.

You can get more detailed information on the route and stops for tram lines 10, 11, and 12 on www.dvb.de. You can also save time by calling +49 351 857 10 11 for any additional information.

Bicycle

There are many bike paths throughout the city of Dresden. Since it is such a small city, transportation by bike is cheap. If you don’t have excess or heavy luggage you can rent a bicycle at the airport and enjoy a nice 30-35 minute ride to the city center.

Taxi

There are about 500 taxis operating 24 hours a day, 7 days a week in Dresden. Traveling by taxi is affordable. You can call 0351-211211 to order a taxi at any time of the day. Getting to the city center from Dresden Airport by taxi costs about 20 euros. You might be able to negotiate this down to 15 euros.

Popular taxi companies in the city include 8x8 Ihr Chaufferuservice (+490351 88888888), Fritzche Gmblt (+4903724131313), FunkTAXIDresden (+490351211211), Go Taxi (+4901801113322) and Reiseburo Urlaubsparadies und Kreisel Dresden (+4903512060100).

Rental Car

Renting a car from one of the many rental car companies at the airport is a convenient way to get to the city center. The 9 km drive from Dresden Airport to the city center takes about 10-15 minutes. Traffic in the city is considerably light, espeiclaly since the city is so small that most people travel on bike or by public transportation.

The most popular rental car companies at the airport are Avis (+4903518814600), Budget (+4903518814600/01), Enterprise (+4903518888660), Europcar (+4903518814590), Hertz (+4903518814580) and Sixt (+4901805252525).