German OWASP Day 2014/Getting there

Venue

The conference program will be held in Hotel Hafen Hamburg, Seewartenstr. 9, 20459 Hamburg, in the so called (Elbkuppel)

Directions

Public transport

Hamburg has a well developed public transport system, named HVV. There’s info online at geofox.de / HVV on the schedules available as well as the entire line plan for subway (in Hamburg: U-Bahn), and S-Bahn (not a tram), railway (A/R) and HVV ferries in the harbor.

Note

In Hamburg you don’t have to stamp the tickets after purchase, they are valid immediately. This implies that you can’t purchase them in advance. Just search vending machines at the S- or U-Bahn station or get tickets on a bus from a driver.

If you plan to take two (non-short distance) rides (each 3.00 €) during the day you are already better off with a ticket for the whole day: 9-Uhr-Tageskarte is valid after 9 am until the end of service (~1am) and costs 5.90 €. (9 am until 6 am next day the following day, all day on Sat and Sun).

With a group of two or three – if you stick together all day – purchase a 9-Uhr-Gruppenkarte for 10.80 € in order to get unlimited rides for the whole day after 9 am. On Saturday or Sunday a 9-Uhr-Gruppenkarte is valid for up to 5 persons.

There are two short distance tickets one way which cost 2.00 € or 1.50 €. It’s not obvious which ticket is valid for which distance. You have to look this up online or the vending machine instructions. In the bus the driver will tell you which ticket to buy.

The ticket vending machines, likely even at the airport, won’t accept credit cards. You need either an ATM card or cash (€).

Arriving by Train

If you’re coming by train and want directly to go to the venue there are three alternatives. I am describing the easiest one here (In fact you can also use U3, S11, S21 or S31):

Get off at Hamburg’s main railway station (Hauptbahnhof). Be careful to pick the right one, Hamburg has four major railway stations (others are Harburg, Altona and Dammtorbahnhof). From here you can take either S1 or S3. For the S-Bahn leave the railway station to the north east and go down the escalator/stairs to S1/S3. Those two trains go into the right direction (do NOT use: S11/S21/S31). Get off at Landungsbrücken, before going over the bridge over the street towards the harbor leave the station at a small exit to your right hand side. You already see the Elbkuppel then, the thing with the yellow letters. Cross the street, go up the stairs and pass the hotel at the left side. Entrance is north.

Arriving by Plane

You can either hire a cab (~30 €, credit cards are not always accepted) or use public transport. Please note that a cab cannot fly or dissolve traffic jams by a magic wand. Expect usual delays until ~10am in the morning and from ~4pm to ~6:30pm.

The S-Bahn departs directly underneath the airport, in the middle of both terminals (T1, T2). The schedule is once every 10 minutes. There's only one line (S1) which takes you directly to Landungsbrücken. A ride takes 30 minutes.

Departing by Plane

Please note that the S1 train will be split in two parts one station before the airport. You have to be in the first three cars in order to not miss your destination.

Arriving by Car

Parking is difficult here. The hotel has garage however. Price details on that to follow. You just need to direct your navigation system to Seewartenstr. 9, 20459 Hamburg.

As said Hamburg has an excellent public transport system, you’re better off using this one.

Social Event, Dec 8th

is @ Gröninger. Basically you can have a walk from the hotel, see and and click "a stroll by foot" on the left hand side. You'll catch a glimpse of Hamburg then, some sightseeing spots will be on your way.

Otherwise board the U Bahn (U3) at Landungsbrücken (direction Rathaus), get off at Rathaus/Jungfernstieg and walk down south.

Entrance is open from 6pm, buffet starts at 7pm.

What’s around?

Hamburg is the second largest city in Germany with about 1.8 million inhabitants. There’s lot of stuff to do and to see. Not only people from Hamburg say it is the most beautiful city in Germany. What probably creates this atmosphere are two things: Lots of green space and water, i.e. the Alster lakes in the center of the city and the harbor located at the broad river Elbe. The harbor is also something special as up to 400m (1200 ft) container or cruise ships are coming almost into the center of the town.

Harbor / Port

No visit to Hamburg is complete without a good look at the harbor. It is the second biggest in Europe after all. The public transport ferries van be used with a whole day ticket, it’s a cheap opportunity experience the cities harbor. Line 62 is the one which takes you from Landungsbrücken (get there with line U3 or S3/S1) to Finkenwerder and back.

A better choice are the small boats cruising into the historic warehouse district (Speicherstadt) or the ones which go to Altenwerder where the fat container ships are loaded/unloaded. They last 1.5h or longer.

Nightlife

Probably St. Pauli is the closest. As a tourist you probably might want to go there to too. Besides red light clubs (be careful about rip offs in table dance bars) there are lot of other normal bars, night clubs and so on. Be careful on the streets there! Stay away from any clashes and leave knives etc. in your hotel as otherwise the police will come after you.

Misc

Weather

You better have a thorough look at the forecast before you pack your bag. Normally it's around freezing point this time a year. Expect rain too.

Additional info

Credit cards are not widely accepted. Make sure you always have cash = Euros with you.