Hamburg Airport to Altona
About 12 km from HAM; the S1 to Hauptbahnhof then S-Bahn west, around 30 minutes for €3.70.
A separate city until 1938 and still distinct in feel, west of St Pauli, with its own mainline station, a balcony of a park above the Elbe and the Ottensen quarter behind it.
Every way to get there
Our verdict: for Altona, a private transfer is the easiest door-to-door option (from €45).
What it costs for your group
The bus is charged per person, while a taxi or private transfer is one price for the whole car — so the more of you there are, the better door-to-door value looks.
| Group | Private transfer | Best value |
|---|---|---|
| Solo · 1 traveller | €45 | Private transfer |
| Couple · 2 travellers | €45 | Private transfer |
| Family of 4 · 4 travellers | €45 | Private transfer |
Which option should you choose?
| If your priority is… | Our pick | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Lowest price | Cheapest fare | From €3.7, though slower with a change in the city. |
| Speed & comfort | Private transfer | Door-to-door, fixed price, a driver waiting for you. |
| A group of 3–4 | Transfer or taxi | One flat fare splits cheaper than several bus tickets. |
| A late-night arrival | Transfer or taxi | Both run 24/7 when buses and the tram have stopped. |
By transport mode
Train
Thirty minutes on a single ticket. Altona is a mainline station in its own right, so long-distance trains north to Denmark call here as well as at Hauptbahnhof.
Where to catch it: S1 from the airport, changing at Hauptbahnhof or continuing depending on the service — several S1 trains run through to Altona.
Best for budget travellers near a stationTaxi
Ottensen, immediately south of the station, is a dense grid of nineteenth-century streets with restaurants, cinemas and a former factory converted into a cultural centre — the part of Hamburg that residents recommend.
Where to catch it: Metered, around half an hour depending on traffic.
Best for small groups in a hurryPrivate transfer
The Altonaer Balkon is a terrace of park above the river with container ships passing below — one of the better free things in the city.
Where to catch it: Useful for the residential streets away from the station where bus coverage thins.
Best for families, groups & late arrivalsCar rental
Not needed. The S-Bahn reaches Altona in minutes from anywhere central and the harbour ferry from Landungsbrücken is a pleasanter way to arrive.
Where to catch it: Residents' parking dominates Ottensen and visitor spaces are scarce.
Best for travellers who want to exploreAltona & Hamburg in photos
Buying tickets in Hamburg
The S1 runs directly under the terminals — escalators down from arrivals, no shuttle in between. €3.70 to Hamburg Hauptbahnhof in 25 minutes, every 10 minutes from about 04:30 to past midnight, on the HVV network. Buy from the machines or the app before boarding. The same line continues west through the city to Altona and on to Blankenese, so a good share of Hamburg is reachable on one fare without changing. There is one genuinely local quirk, and it bites on the way back: the S1 splits at Ohlsdorf — the front carriages continue to the airport, the rear ones go to Poppenbüttel. Displays and announcements warn you, in German first, and sitting in the wrong half is the single most common transport mistake visitors make here. Hamburg's harbour ferries are part of the same HVV ticket system, which means line 62 to Finkenwerder is effectively a harbour cruise for the price of a bus fare — the best-value thing in the city.
Taxi scams & safety in Hamburg
Hamburg is straightforward: taxis are metered on a municipal tariff (about €3.20 to start, with the per-kilometre rate falling on longer runs), €25–35 into the centre, and there is no touting worth the name. Three things are worth planning around rather than guarding against. The cruise terminals are three separate places — Altona, HafenCity and Steinwerder, on opposite banks and kilometres apart, with Steinwerder reached through the Elbe tunnel; your documents name which one, and turning up at the wrong terminal on sailing day is a serious problem. The city centre is an environmental zone requiring a sticker. And the area immediately south of Hauptbahnhof is busier and rougher after dark than the rest of central Hamburg, which matters when choosing a hotel rather than when making the journey. On the Reeperbahn, the ordinary caution about drink prices in any club district applies — agree what you are ordering before it arrives, particularly where someone approaches you first.
Getting from HAM to Altona
Altona was a separate city until 1938 — Danish for much of its history, then Prussian, always in competition with Hamburg next door — and it still does not feel like a district of anywhere. It has its own mainline station, its own high street, a terrace of park above the Elbe, and in Ottensen behind it the quarter that Hamburg residents recommend when asked where they actually go.
Getting there
The S1 from the airport runs through Hauptbahnhof and on to Altona — several services go straight through without a change. Thirty minutes and €3.70. A taxi is €30 to €42.
A mainline station in its own right
Long-distance trains north to Denmark and Sweden call here as well as at Hauptbahnhof, and for anything going that way Altona is often the better boarding point. The station was rebuilt in the 1970s and is functional rather than handsome.
Ottensen
Immediately south, a dense grid of nineteenth-century streets built for factory workers, now full of restaurants, small cinemas, bookshops and a former factory converted into a cultural centre. It is the part of Hamburg that people who live in Hamburg suggest, and it is markedly less expensive than the Elbe villages further west.
The Altonaer Balkon
A terrace of park on the bluff above the river, looking down over the container terminal and the shipping lane. Ships of every size pass a few hundred metres below and the whole thing is free. It is the single best viewpoint in Hamburg that costs nothing.
The Danish century
Altona belonged to Denmark from 1640 to 1864 and was granted unusual religious and trade freedoms as a deliberate rival to Hamburg — which is why it grew, and why its street plan and some of its buildings differ from those across the old boundary. The Altonaer Museum covers the period properly.
The fish market end
The Fischmarkt is technically in Altona, at the eastern edge, and the Sunday morning ritual runs from there. It is a twenty-minute walk from the station down towards the water.
Övelgönne and the beach
West along the river, a row of pilots' and captains' houses along a footpath, with an Elbe beach in front of them and container ships passing close inshore. There is a museum harbour of preserved working boats. It is a straightforward hour's walk from Altona station and one of the pleasanter things to do in the city.
The Elbe beach, honestly
People do swim, the water quality is monitored, and the currents from passing ships are real. It functions mostly as a place to sit with a beer and watch fifteen thousand containers go past at walking pace.
Where to eat
Ottensen's main streets — Ottenser Hauptstraße, Bahrenfelder Straße — have the density. The old fish auction hall at the waterfront does events. Prices across the district are noticeably below the centre.
Staying here
Fewer hotels than the centre and correspondingly quieter, with the S-Bahn putting Hauptbahnhof fifteen minutes away and the Reeperbahn five. For a stay of several days it is a better base than the station district.
The harbour ferry
Line 62 from the Landungsbrücken calls at Neumühlen/Övelgönne, so you can arrive in Altona by boat on an ordinary HVV ticket. It is the recommended approach in either direction.
Parking and the zone
Residents' parking dominates Ottensen and visitor spaces are scarce. Hamburg's environmental zone covers the district. The S-Bahn reaches it directly from the airport, so there is no reason to arrive by car.
The station that is moving
Altona's mainline station is being relocated north to Diebsteich, a long-running project that has shifted the timetable and the building works around it more than once. Check which station your long-distance train actually uses before travelling — the local S-Bahn service is unaffected either way.
Palmaille
The street along the top of the bluff, laid out in the seventeenth century for a ball game the Danes brought from Italy, and lined with neoclassical merchants houses by the architect Christian Frederik Hansen. It is a short walk from the station and it is the most coherent piece of pre-industrial architecture in the district.
HAM to Altona — FAQ
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