BremenCARD City Card with Unlimited Public Transport

Bremen Market Square, the Town Hall and the Roland

Most visits to Bremen start at the Market Square, one of the most beautiful historic squares in Germany. The Town Hall was built in Gothic style at the start of the 15th century and given its richly decorated Weser Renaissance façade in 1612. Together with the stone Roland statue of 1404, a symbol of the city's freedom and rights, it has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 2004.

With the BremenCARD, getting here is effortless: trams stop at Domsheide and Obernstraße, a minute from the square. Is Bremen Town Hall worth visiting? Its upper hall with model ships hanging from the ceiling is a highlight, and guided visits of the Town Hall are among the offers you can book at a reduced rate with the card. Allow an hour for the square and the surrounding façades.

St Peter's Cathedral and Böttcherstraße

Across the square rise the twin towers of St Peter's Cathedral, whose origins go back more than a thousand years. Inside you find a Romanesque crypt, Gothic vaults and a museum of church treasures, and in summer the tower can be climbed for views over the old town. Just around the corner begins Böttcherstraße, a short lane rebuilt between 1922 and 1931 in a striking brick style unlike anything else in Germany.

Böttcherstraße holds museums, craft workshops and a famous carillon of porcelain bells that plays several times a day, while a rotating wall of carved panels tells stories of ocean crossings. The city-centre tourist information, where you can collect your card, is right here, making this lane a natural first stop of a BremenCARD day.

The Schnoor quarter

The Schnoor is Bremen's oldest residential quarter, a maze of narrow lanes between the cathedral and the Weser. Its name comes from the word for string, because the tiny houses of fishermen and craftsmen were lined up like beads on a cord. Many of the buildings date from the 15th to the 18th centuries and today hold small shops, galleries, cafés and ateliers.

The best time to visit the Schnoor is early morning or late afternoon, when the lanes are quieter and the light falls softly on the old façades. It is a short stroll from the Market Square, and the trams along Balgebrückstraße put it within easy reach whenever you want to return during your stay.

The Weser, the Schlachte and the river ferry

The river Weser made Bremen a great Hanseatic port, and the Schlachte promenade along its east bank was the city's harbour for centuries. Today it is lined with restaurants, terraces and moored historic ships, and it comes alive on summer evenings. In winter it hosts a much-loved Christmas market with a maritime theme.

One of the nicest extras of the card is the small ferry across the Weser between Osterdeich and the sandy river beach on the Stadtwerder. The crossing takes only a few minutes, but it gives you a lovely view of the river and the old town skyline. The ferry runs in the warmer months, so check the season in your booklet.

Further afield: Universum, Bürgerpark and Bremen-Nord

Because the BremenCARD also covers trams and regional trains across the whole city, it opens up sights beyond the centre. Tram line 6 runs to the university, where the whale-shaped Universum science centre offers interactive exhibitions, and the Bürgerpark, a vast landscaped park with lakes and woods, lies just behind the central station.

Regional trains take you north to Vegesack in Bremen-Nord, where one of the oldest artificial harbours in Germany, historic ships and a riverside promenade make a relaxed half-day trip. How to get around Bremen without a car? With this card you simply hop on and off, and long-distance trains and Bremerhaven are not included.