By Plane:

The closest international airport (80 km, 1 hour by car) is Frankfurt Rhein-Main Airport (Flughafen Frankfurt) with a wide selection of national and international connections. Transportation between the airport and Heidelberg is available by a regular train service. Frankfurt Airport is directly connected to the German long-distance rail system by its own train station (without need to use local transportation to Frankfurt first). Additional modes of transportation to Heidelberg include a dedicated Lufthansa Airport Bus Service and individual shuttle services like TLS.

Stuttgart Airport is located approximately 125 km (1.5 hours by car) from Heidelberg and has regular European connections including several low-cost airlines. It does not have direct access to the long-distance rail network, but is connected by local transport to Stuttgart Main Station (Stuttgart Hauptbahnhof) with regular train service to Heidelberg.

Many low-cost flights are available to Frankfurt-Hahn Airport (which is not actually in Frankfurt). The distance to Heidelberg is approximately 150 km. There is no train connection but a dedicated bus service (8 times per day, 2h10min).

Several low-cost connections are as well available to the Airport Karlsruhe/Baden-Baden which is about 90 km (1 hour by car) south of Heidelberg. There is a dedicated bus service to Heidelberg available.

By Train:

Heidelberg Main Station (Heidelberg Hauptbahnhof) is linked regularly to most German and European destinations by long-distance train service. Information on schedules is available on the homepage of Deutsche Bahn.

By Car:

Heidelberg is centrally located approximately 80 km south of Frankfurt on the "A5", one of Germany's major north-south motorways.

We strongly recommend to book your hotel well in advance.

There are many hotels to choose from in Heidelberg, however, we have provided a sample of some of the hotels nearest to the conference site in this link.

We have also booked some accommodation at the Max-Planck Haus (the workshop venue).  There are 2 single room apartments and 3 single rooms with a common kitchen available. Bookings will be taken on a first-come, first-served basis.  If you would like to take advantage of this, please follow this link, and/or contact Ms. Sandra Viforcos Marzi via email.

Note that the conference site, Max-Plack-Haus, is serviced by the number 21 and 24 trams, and 31 and 32 buses, which run every 10 minutes during most of the day (i.e., between 7am and 8pm) and can provide transport between the conference site and the rest of Heidelberg.

Single tickets (EUR 2.20) can be obtained from vending machines or the bus driver. If you intend to use local transport several times during your stay in Heidelberg, we recommend buying either day tickets ("Ticket 24", EUR 5.20, valid for 24 hours after validation), or a weekly ticket ("Wochenkarte", EUR 19.-, valid from Monday 12am to the following Monday 12pm). Please note that weekly tickets can only be bought at RNV service stores, e.g. in front of Heidelberg's main station.

A schematic map of Heidelberg's public transport system can be found here. Heidelberg main railway station is marked as "HD-Hauptbahnhof." Some other useful landmarks are the conference venue, Gerhart-Hauptmann-Str. 36, 69120 Heidelberg (near the “Jahn-straβe” stop in Neuenheimerfeld) and the main railway station: Heidelberg Hauptbahnhof (Heidelberg Hbf).

Please familiarise yourself with the Visa regulations of the Federal Republic of Germany. Official information is provided by the German Federal Foreign Office. EU nationals do not require a Visa to enter Germany.

Generally speaking, all other foreigners require a Visa for stays in Germany. A Visa is not required for semi-annual visits of up to three months for nationals of those countries for which the European Community has abolished the Visa requirement.

Visa are issued by the German embassies. If you need a Visa to enter Germany, please get in contact well in advance with the embassy in the area in which you have your ordinary residence or domicile. If you require an invitation letter, please download invitation letter.pdf or invitation letter.doc, fill in the required details and send it back to the conference secretariat, Gabriele Weese (Fax: +49 6221 516 549; email: Gabriele Weese). Please note that you have to register first before applying for a VISA invitation letter.