Getting Around Hildesheim
Hildesheim is a compact city in Lower Saxony, and most of what a visitor wants to see sits close together in the centre. That makes getting around refreshingly simple: you can cover the historic core on foot, and fall back on buses, taxis or a bicycle for anything further out.
On Foot
The city centre can be explored comfortably on foot, and the main sights and public buildings are well signposted for pedestrians. The Marktplatz, the cathedral and St. Michael's Church all sit within the historic core, so a walking day is entirely realistic. Note that the centre is a rebuilt one: much of the medieval town was destroyed in the 1945 air raids, and the market square was reconstructed in the 1980s and 1990s, with some concrete postwar buildings later replaced by replicas of the originals. The surviving half-timbered streets cluster around St. Godehard and the Kehrwieder Tower, in streets such as Keßlerstraße, Knollenstraße, Gelber Stern, Am Kehrwieder, Lappenberg, Brühl, Hinterer Brühl and Godehardsplatz — a pleasant area to wander on foot.
Buses and Public Transport
Public transport in Hildesheim is run by two operators, SVHI Stadtverkehr Hildesheim and RVHI Regionalverkehr Hildesheim. The network is made up of regular daytime bus lines supplemented by less frequent secondary lines, and it covers the city. Service starts early in the morning, so an early start is not a problem.
- Tickets: Buy them on the bus or at many sales points around the city.
- Single ticket validity: A single city bus ticket applies for 60 minutes and allows as many changes as you like within that window.
- Night buses: These run on Fridays and Saturdays until late, serving the theatre, cinema and pub areas — useful if you are out in the evening.
- Boarding after 8 p.m.: On some lines you may get off between stops after 8 p.m., and drivers can also call a taxi for you.
- Bicycles: Bicycles are permitted on the buses.
- Free Saturdays: From 1 July until the end of 2026, travel is free on Saturdays on SVHI and RVHI lines for journeys that both start and end within Hildesheim city limits. Separate rules apply to night buses after midnight.
For more information, contact Stadtwerke Hildesheim.
Cycling
The cycle track network is nearly complete, with only a few gaps in the centre. Cyclists benefit from their own uniform signage both in the city and across the surrounding region, which makes navigating by bike straightforward.
Taxis and Ride-Hailing
Taxis are available for longer distances and as a complement to the buses — drivers on some late bus lines can even call one for you. Beyond that, the practical advice for a visitor is simply to use taxis where the bus network does not reach; the city is small enough that a taxi ride across town is short.
Trains and Regional Connections
Hildesheim is well connected by rail. It is an ICE stop with hourly service on several long-distance connections, including the Berlin–Frankfurt route. Regionally, there are Regional-Express trains from Hanover roughly every hour, plus S-Bahn lines from Hanover running at frequent intervals through the day. For a visitor based in Hanover, this makes Hildesheim an easy day trip.
Getting There from the Airport
The nearest commercial airport is Hanover Airport (HAJ). From there, the journey into Hildesheim takes roughly 30–40 minutes by car, or around an hour by train. If you are arriving by car instead, Hildesheim is connected to the Autobahn network via the A7.