Tübingen has an excellent bus system, and it is often the easiest and fastest way of getting around when you don't want to walk.
Buses in Tübingen are part of the network operated by the regional transport company "Naldo". The Naldo area stretches from just South of Stuttgart down to the Bodensee on the border with Switzerland.
Bus service in town is free on Saturdays (from midnight on Saturday to 5 a.m. on Sunday) to encourage people to visit and leave their cars outside of town.
Tübingen has more than 20 bus lines as well as a few local train stations connecting the different parts of the city. Buses generally run from about 5 a.m. to midnight on weekdays, with night buses covering the main routes in the city after midnight. Click on the picture to view all of the city bus lines with the names of the stops.
Daytime network
The daytime bus network covers all areas of the city. Depending on the bus stop location and time of the day, busses leave between every ten minutes to hourly.
Night busses
Night buses run hourly between midnight and 4 a.m. every night. They follow different routes than daytime buses.
During summer and Christmas school holidays, special holiday timetables (Ferienfahrplan) apply to some bus lines. On the timetable at each bus stop, these are indicated in a separate column called Ferien.
You can check bus departure times online in English on the naldo homepage. Click on the name of the bus stop to view a location map. Naldo also offers a free app for your Apple or Android smartphone. If your phone's language is set to English, the app will automatically switch to English as well. Via GPS you can display nearby stops.
A single ride ticket costs 3,10 EUR (2023) and can be purchased from a ticket machine on the bus (not from the bus driver!) or via the naldo app. The machines accept payment by debit card, credit card (Mastercard, Visa), smartphone or coins. As soon as you take the bus more than once during one day, it is worth buying a day pass (Tagesticket), which costs 5,40 EUR (2023) and is cheaper than two single tickets.
The Deutschlandticket allows unlimited 2nd class travel on busses, trams and local trains in all of Germany for a monthly price of EUR 49 (not valid for travel on ICE, IC and EC trains and long-distance busses). Thanks to a subsidy from Tübingen city, the monthly price for Tübingen residents is only EUR 34.
The Deutschlandticket is a subscription ticket which can be cancelled monthly. In the mobile ticket version it can be ordered any time, including after the beginning of the month. The Deutschlandticket as a chip card needs to be applied for until the 29th of the month before you want it to start. It is a personalized ticket (not transferrable).
You can buy the ticket online (German only) or at naldo salespoints.
If you have a work contract you might be able to purchase the Deutschlandticket as a Jobticket at a further discount. For further information, please see the section "JobTicket".
A great option for getting around cheaply is the semester ticket for students enrolled at Tübingen University. It costs 127,30 EUR per semester (6 months; winter semester 2023/24) and is valid within the whole "naldo" area. To be able to buy it you have to enroll as a student at the University of Tübingen.
After you have enrolled in the university, you can download the so-called Bescheinigung für das Semesterticket (confirmation for buying the semester ticket) in the University's ALMA portal. You will need this confirmation for buying the semester ticket.
Semester tickets can be purchased online as well as in the tourist information office at the Neckarbrücke, at the train station, in the main office of Kreissparkasse bank, and at the Central Municipal Office (Bürgeramt) in Schmiedtorstraße 4.
If you are employed at a research institution in Tübingen, you may be eligible for a so-called JobTicket (discounted yearly ticket for staff). Please be aware that, depending on your institution, it’s possible that you may not be able to apply for the JobTicket before you have actually started working. There might also be deadlines for applying that could result in you only getting the JobTicket from your second or even third month of work.
Depending on your research institution, the JobTicket might be available as a Deutschlandticket . For further information, please contact your personal support.
If you ride the bus regularly, an economical option is a monthly ticket. It costs 65,70 EUR a month (2023). If you plan on only riding the bus after 9 a.m., you can get the so-called 9-Uhr-Monatskarte. This is a monthly ticket that is only valid after 9 a.m. on weekdays and all day during weekends and public holidays. It costs 50,80 EUR a month (2023).
After 7 p.m. on weekdays and during the whole day on Saturdays, Sundays and holidays, up to four additional people can travel with you using your monthly ticket at no additional charge.
Monthly tickets can be purchased from ticket machines on the bus, the tourist information office at the Neckar bridge, at the train station, in the main office of Kreissparkasse bank, and at the Central Municipal Office (Bürgeramt) in Schmiedtorstraße 4.
If you are a student at your home university but are not enrolling as a student in Tübingen, you might still be able to purchase a monthly student bus pass from all places selling bus tickets if you show your student ID from your home university.
The bus pass costs 36,30 EUR (2023) and is valid for the Tübingen city area. After 1.15 p.m. on school days, and all day long on holidays, during weekends and school holidays, the ticket is valid for the whole "naldo" area.
If you have school-aged children and all of you will be using the bus regularly, the cheapest option for families of three or more people can be the Family Bus Pass (Abo-Familienkarte). It costs 115,90 EUR/ month (2023) for the whole family and you can use all buses in the Tübingen city area. You can find more information on the pages of TüBus (Tübingen city busses; German only).
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