Getting Around Thuringia 2026

Thuringia (Thüringen) is a landlocked state at the geographic heart of Germany, often called the country's "Green Heart" for its dense forests and rolling hills. Home to Erfurt, Weimar, Jena, Gera, and Eisenach, Thuringia punches far above its size in cultural weight: it is the birthplace of the Reformation's Bible translation at Wartburg Castle, the cradle of German Classicism through Goethe and Schiller in Weimar, and the founding ground of the Bauhaus movement. Dense forests, half-timbered old towns, and a compact, affordable travel footprint make it one of central Germany's most rewarding regions to explore.

Thuringia's transport backbone is Erfurt Hauptbahnhof, a major stop on the Munich–Berlin ICE high-speed line that puts Frankfurt, Berlin, Munich, and Leipzig within one to three hours. Within the state, Deutsche Bahn regional trains (RE/RB) link Erfurt to Weimar, Eisenach, Gotha, Jena, and Saalfeld in well under an hour, and the Thüringen-Ticket offers unlimited regional rail and local transit travel across Thuringia, Saxony, and Saxony-Anhalt for a flat daily fee. Within Erfurt itself, the EVAG Stadtbahn tram network, integrated with city buses through the VMT fare association, covers the compact city centre thoroughly. Erfurt-Weimar Airport offers only seasonal leisure charter flights, so most air travellers connect via Leipzig/Halle or Frankfurt airports and finish the journey by train. A rental car is worth adding only for the Kyffhäuser monument, the Thuringian Forest, and villages with limited rail service.