Last Updated on: 6th February 2026, 01:23 am
Where is Kiel?
Kiel is a port city in the north of Germany that is about 96km north of Hamburg, on the Baltic sea.
About Kiel
Size
Kiel is the capital city of the state of Schleswig-Holstein in Germany. Its population in 2024 was around 250,000 people. By most standards, this is a relatively small town, so I was surprised that a lot of German people I spoke to outside Schleswig-Holstein knew about it. Kiel is where the University of Kiel, or the Christian Albrecht Universität, is. Kiel is about 118 square kilometres, which means 10km is considered incredibly far. Most students live within a couple of kilometres from the city center, and indeed the university campus.
If you are reading this article because you are a prospective student of the Medical Life Sciences Masters program there, read my articles about the MedLife Science program of Kiel here. Subscribe below to get notified of new articles.
Geography and climate
Kiel is a strategically located port city at approximately 54ºN, and has a major cruise ship terminal. It is not a coastal city the way Sydney Australia, California or Florida in the USA, Bali, Indonesia, or Phuket in Thailand are, and is cooler than cities famous for their beach life, although it can get into the high 20’s degrees Celsius in summer.
Kiel is very roughly shaped like backwards letter J or a fish hook pointing to the right. The coastlines of Kiel (which is mostly where Kiellinie is) wraps around and contains the Baltic sea, which enters in a south westerly direction. Cruise ships departing from here go all the way to Oslo in Norway or Gothenborg in Sweden.
There is also a small island, Sylt, that is a popular beach holiday for domestic and local Schleswig-Holstein tourists in the summer, even late autumn, which you can get to by train for free using your semester ticket.
In winter, Kiel experiences snow fall, which is great because it means you will likely get a white Christmas, while Sylt, being a small island, is still reasonably comfortable in autumn. On any day where there might be snow on the ground in Kiel, Hamburg, a large city and therefore warmer, might have no snow at all.
How to get to Kiel
Closest airport
There is a small regional airport in Kiel, but it is hardly used, and especially not for international flights anymore. So, the closest functioning airport to Kiel, is Hamburg International Airport. If you are arriving by plane, this is the airport you will arrive at. Depending on where you are flying from, your only options, or the cheapest option, might be to arrive in Germany in another city, like Frankfurt or Berlin first and transfer to Hamburg on a different flight.
You will then need to get from Hamburg Airport, which has its own suburban underground train station (U-Bahn), to Kiel.
How to get from Hamburg International Airport to Kiel
The easiest way to get from Hamburg International Airport to Kiel is to first get an U-Bahn train from the airport to Hamburg Hauptbahnhof (Hamburg Main/Central Station), then change platform at Hamburg Hauptbahnhof get a regional train to Kiel Hauptbahnhof. The trip is free with your Semesterticket (now known as the Deutschlandsemesterticket). Learn about the Semesterticket or the Deutschlandsemesterticket here.
Note: There is an airport bus, called the Kielius bus (Kielius is a brand), that travels between Hamburg airport and Kiel city center, but this service is not included in your Semesterticket and will cost extra.
Transportation access in Kiel
Kiel has a main train station, the Kiel Hauptbahnhof. In German, “Hauptbahnhof” means “head train station”, or “central station”. It has 8 railway tracks and 7 platforms (8 if you consider a split platform as 2). Regional and ICE trains go to and from Kiel Hauptbahnhof. It is served regularly by trains going to and from Hamburg Hauptbahnhof (the RE7 and RE70). The trip takes about 1 hour 15 minutes.
Kiel also has a good system of buses. There is a major interchange outside Kiel central train station on the north western side. There are also for-hire electric scooters around the city. To use these, you need to install an app on your smartphone, add a payment method, and scan a QR code (mobile data is needed) to start it up. The price depends on the distance you travel on it.
To learn about the different types of trains in Germany, see this article.
Orientation of Kiel (for students going to CAU)
Major roads you will know:
- Holstenstraße
- Andreas-Gayk-Straße
- Holstenbrücke
- Martensdamm
- Rathausstraße
- Sophienblatt
Major landmarks and places to know:
- Bootshafen
- Altstadt
- Kiel Hauptbahnhof
- Sophienhoff
- Rathaus
- Neues Rathaus
Bootshafen (opens in new tab) is an easily identifiable landmark to start the orientation, due to its small triangular body of water seen on maps. The water is on the south eastern side of Bootshafen.
From Bootshafen, heading in a south-westerly direction:
• The main road on the south-eastern side of Bootshafen is Andreas-Gayk-Straße, which becomes Sophienblatt street at Ziegelteich street when moving in a south-westerly direction. The train station (Kiel Hauptbahnhof) is located 900m away in this direction.
• On the north western side of Andreas-Gayk-Straße, are rows of shops. On the south eastern side is a post office, sportswear store, and the new town hall (Neues Rathaus),
• Directly across the road from the Kiel train station on the north western side is the shopping center, Sophienhof.
From Bootshafen. heading in a northerly direction:
• There is a shopping center, Nordlicht, immediately on the north eastern side of Bootshafen. Nordlicht has a grocery store plus a variety of other stores.
• On the north western side of Nordlicht is Holstenstraße. Holstenstraße is a pedestrian-only paved and cobblestoned street that runs for 650m through the Altstadt. Along this street are a variety of shops, from “dollar”/variety shops, sports gear, to restaurants.
• The Altstadt (literally: “Old City”) is the traditional historical town area that every German city has. Kiel’s Aldstadt is the area directly north and north east of Bootshafen. The area is vehicle-free. During Christmas, the Kiel Christmas market has stalls in this area, as well as the open space at Andreas-Gayk-Straße.
From Bootshafen. heading in a north-westerly direction:
• If you walk or take a bus along Holstenbrücke, you will reach a fork in the road at a small in-land lake called Kleiner Kiel. The left road of the fork is Rathausstraße, this is where the old Rathaus is. The Rathaus is the Town Hall, it is a government building where official administration tasks are done. As an international student or expat, you will be visiting both the new and old Rathaus to get administration tasks done, such as residency registration. The right road of the fork is Martensdamm. If you continue northward along Martensdamm, you will eventually reach Brunswiker Straße, which is another street that borders the UKSH campus.
From Bootshafen. heading in a north-easterly direction:
• The main road is Kaistraße, which turns into Wall, then Düsternbrooker Weg, which is perpendicular to Schwanenweg (entrance to the UKSH campus). Schwanenweg is about 1.3km away from Bootshafen.
Now that you are acquainted with the city of Kiel, stay tuned and subscribe for my next article on living in Kiel – seeing a doctor, grocery shopping, going out, and local practices and procedures.
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Related posts:
Guide for international Medical Life Sciences students to the University of Kiel (Christian Albrechts Universität) in Germany: Campus orientation and facilities
Transportation in Germany | U-Bahn, S-Bahn, Regional and ICE: the different types of trains explained, plus the Straßenbahn
Overview of the Masters of Medical Life Sciences at the University of Kiel, Germany – Introduction
Your practical guide to German Christmas markets: What to see, do, buy, and eat
Germany’s university student Semesterticket (Deutschlandsemesterticket): What it is and how it works
德国基尔大学 (University of Kiel) 医学生命科学硕士项目 (Masters of Medical Life Sciences) 概览——简介
