Finding your way around the Splendid Sunshine-Planet
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To avoid confusion this is Halle at the river Saale, near the city of Leipzig, and with the postcode of 06108. The location of the town can be explained by its natural resources of salt and as the Saga goes, once upon time, when the moon and stars where shining, people were bringing the salt out of the soil in the beautiful town of Hall (-e; meaning: salt).
How to Get to Halle
By plane
The nearest airport is Leipzig/Halle (or just Leipzig). It does not have a lot of international flights on offer (unless you are coming from Turkey, Tenerife, or Egypt) and thus you usually have layovers at other German airports when you are coming from outside Germany. Major airlines are going to Leipzig several times a day, and if you can catch a flight to Leipzig that would be perfect.
Having said that, you can look into cheap flights to Berlin, for example Ryanair, Easyjet, Germanwings and AirBerlin (the last one can be expensive these days). Berlin has two airports (Schonefeld and Tegel) which are both served by these four airlines, apart from the major airlines, several times a day. There are direct flights from London, Paris, Geneva and Bucharest, depending on the airline, so it's best to check their websites to be sure. We will try and pick you up from Berlin airports if you let us know in advance when your flight arrives.
If all fails then the nearest international airport is Frankfurt am Main but this is only for those who have long-haul flights. We would try and pick you up from there too, but it’s some way to drive.
Unfortunately, Wizzair is not flying anywhere near Halle. The “nearest” is Dortmund/Dusseldorf and we could see if we can get you from there to Halle. Just get in touch with us for arrangements.
By rail
Train travel in Germany is reliable and Halle is served every hour or so by trains from Berlin or anywhere else (Munich, Frankfurt, etc.). But it can be expensive so you would need to book online in advance if you have a long distance to travel. More info can be found on their website in English here.
By car
Just follow the yellow-brick road motorway…
OK, seriously now. Halle is connected to the A9 (Berlin-Munich), the A14 (Dresden-Magdeburg) and the A38 (Leipzig-Gottingen). When you are coming from Romania, you have two options (as you will know): one is through Austria and the other one through Czech-Republic. We take the latter one because it goes through Prague which is only 3 hours away from Halle. The main route is: Oreda, Budapest, Bratislava, Prague, Dresden, Leipzig, Halle.
In Halle the main exit is Brehna/Halle when you are coming on the A9, Halle/Peissen when you are on the A14, and Halle SΓΌd when you are on the A38. We will send you a map for the accommodation once we have it confirmed.
Germany has no road tax or vignette for using the road. On the motorway speed limits are either signposted or not in effect. Be careful though, Germans use the unlimited speed limit…! In towns the speed limit is 50 km/h and only indicated by the yellow sign at the beginning of the city. Outside towns, but not on motorways, the speed limit is 100 km/h (or signposted). Speed checks are common (but not as often as in Romania, i.e. every village). The most common ones are stationary, mobile (policeman on the spot, with camera in hand), or hidden in cars or else (in the form of a photo camera). Police can either stop you and fine you on the spot, or make a nice camera picture of you and send it to you later by post.
Approximate driving times to Halle from:
- Basel: 8-10 hrs
- Berlin: 1 1/2 hrs
- Dresden: 1 1/4 hrs
- Frankfurt: 3 hrs
- Hamburg: 3 hrs
- Dusseldorf: 5 hrs
- Munich: 4 1/2 hrs
