Best tips for visiting Bremen, World Heritage in Germany

My most recent trip to Bremen, riding a el northern germany, has meant a reunion with a beautiful city that I visited many years ago on a car route to the North Cape.

I barely remembered the image of perhaps the most popular icon of the city, the monument of the Bremen musicians, famous story of the Brothers Grimm.

The main purpose of this trip was to attend La Strada, street performance festival which has been celebrated in mid-June for more than 20 years.

This has allowed me to know Bremen in depth. one of the typical cities in northern Europe that have always been very attractive to me.

Rather small in size, it is a very easy city to visit.

With extensive green areas, in Bremen Everything is very well maintained, with trams as the main means of public transport, it is very ideal for traveling by bicycle, which populates the entire city.

Su historical Center brings together two corners that have turned it into Heritage, its old town hall and Roland statue.

Tips for visiting Bremen

In sum, Bremen It is an ideal city to visit on a long weekend or on a weekend, and essential to include in a holiday route through northern Germany.

Next I am going to give you some tips for visiting Bremen, which will surely be useful to you.

How to fly to Bremen from Spain

From Spain, apart from other alternatives, you have direct flights with Ryanair from Madrid, Barcelona, ​​Alicante or Mallorca, which provides you with a trip of about two and a half hours at very reasonable prices.

How to get from the airport to the center of Bremen

Furthermore, it has the great advantage that the airport is very close to the center of Bremen, where you can get there in just 20 minutes using the tram 6.

Now, if there are several of you and you prefer to make the transfer directly to the hotel in the most comfortable way possible, you have the option of booking your private transfer from Bremen airport to city center.

Curiosities of the history of Bremen

Bremen It is a city that was founded more than 1.200 years ago on a gentle hill and whose history you will see is directly linked to the commercial activity of its river port.

Located on the banks of the navigable river weser, the sea is about 100 kilometers away to the north, but the effects of the tides still reach and the river even has a system of locks.

Bremen It is one of the cities that belonged to the so-called Hanseatic League. to which, for example, the Norwegian city of Bergen.

It was an association of European cities on the banks of the Baltic Sea with common commercial interests, which was created during the 12th century, and which is said to have been an advance of the current European Union.

From the fishing port to Bremerhaven

This inner city became the Germany's main fishing port and, as a curiosity, thanks to the river transport It was a natural path for the export of wines produced in the south of the country.

But during the 1827th century the port became small and in XNUMX it was decided to build a new port, much larger and closer to the sea, Bremerhaven.

This is now the real one Bremen port and the country's most important export port for cars. Mercedes-Benz which are produced in the city's large factory, the second largest of the prestigious German brand.

In fact, Bremerhaven It is a small city of about 100.000 inhabitants compared to the little more than half a million who live in Bremen.

At old port of Bremen Now you will only find small boats for river cruises, some pleasure boats and several old boats used as restaurants or hotels.

What's more, at the time of its greatest boom, Bremen was one of the largest ports in Europe, and was twice as large as Hamburg's.

A large part of this surface has been immersed since 2000 in a major urban reconversion, which has involved covering old dikes with earth.

High-rise houses are being built on them. standing, as well as cultural facilities and restaurant areas.

How to get around Bremen by transport

As I have commented, Bremen It is a very manageable city to visit.

El historical Center You can explore it perfectly on foot, but my advice is that rent a bike and enjoy the pleasure of moving around a city with this vehicle, just like the majority of the population of Bremen does.

Of course, be very careful when walking on the sidewalks and make sure that you do not walk on the red tile lane reserved for the circulation of bicycles.

But since in the end at some point you will need or will be more comfortable to use public transport, it may be worth buying the BREMEN CARD transport card.

You can use this card on trams and buses, starting with tram 6 which, as I mentioned, will take you from the airport to the center of Bremen (by taxi it will cost you about 18 euros).

Here you have all the information to, in advance of your trip, reserve your BREMEN CARD, and thus be able to use it from the airport.

To use it, when accessing trams and buses you will only have to show it if the conductor asks for it; You do not have to cancel it on any machine.

What places to visit in Bremen

Regarding your visit to Bremen, if, as we always advise, you prefer to start it with the advice of a specialized guide, you have the option of signing up for this guided tour of the center of Bremen, with a duration of two hours and a guide in english.

And if you are a group of friends or family, you have the alternative of private tour of Bremen with guide in spanish.

Regarding the visit on your own, we inform you that the focus of your Bremen visit will focus on its historic center and, specifically, on its marketplace.

In this almost pedestrian-only area (only trams and bicycles circulate) you find the four most significant monuments of this German city.

First, the old town hall of Bremen Built in 1410, and whose spectacular Renaissance façade dates back to the XNUMXth century.

In front of her Roland statue, known as the statue of Liberty, a symbol of the city that in 1404 was built in stone, after a first statue that was made of wood.

Both monuments in 2004 were declared Heritage, and in this way Bremen joined the prestigious list of the Unesco.

On one side of the old town hall is the Bremen Cathedral.

Its origins date back to the time of the founding of the city, although the current building, in the style early gothic, is from the 13th century.

And on the west side of the aforementioned town hall you have what is perhaps the most popular symbol of the city, the monument of the Bremen musicians.

There you will find a small (don't be surprised by its size) bronze sculpture from 1951 dedicated to the protagonists of the tale of the Grimm brothers.

Under the town hall you can also see the historic Ratskeller winery with more than 600 years of tradition, whose main exponent is now a restaurant.

Also next to the square you can visit the church of our lady, the oldest parish church in Bremen.

The Bremen market square leaves towards the river Böttcherstrabe, or of the coopers, a narrow and very touristy passage with restaurants, shops, some museums and a curious carillon.

Next to the river you find schnoor, oldest neighborhood in the city of Bremen, a few blocks with very narrow streets, houses originating from the 15th and 16th centuries, restaurants and craft and souvenir shops.

Very close, on the banks of the river, is where you can experience the atmosphere of the city, in a section known as Schlachte, where the terraces of breweries (biergarten) and restaurants.

On the weekends “the whole” Bremen atmosphere is concentrated there.

To highlight the great Alexander von Humboldt sailing ship, which you can visit, and where you can sleep, eat or have a beer.

Another area also with an atmosphere, although more bohemian and cultural, is the one you find on the street that from the marketplace heads towards the southeast, after already passing the Kunthalle museum.

Well yes, in Bremen you can also visit museums.

Which museums to visit in Bremen

This is the case of the aforementioned Kunthalle, a gallery with works from different periods, from the 14th century to the present day, including French Impressionists or Picasso y Tapies.

If you like nature, you must walk through the Rhododendron Park, where is it located Botany, a corner where you can see impressive azaleas from all over the world.

If you travel with children, Universe It is a very ideal place for them, a science museum with many interactive games.

And if you are interested in delving deeper into the Bremen port tradition, you must go to the area of ​​the old docks, where in the Hafenmuseum You have a sample of the city's history as a great commercial port.

And finally, if you are a car enthusiast, in Bremen you have the opportunity to visit a Mercedes-Benz factory, the second largest of the prestigious German brand, and see how the versions are manufactured disconnected y convertible for the E series.

In short, you have enough reasons to dedicate two or three days to visit Bremen.

Will not disappoint you.