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City in Lower Saxony, German
Photo: Axel Hindemith, Public domain via Wikimedia Commons
Wolfsburg is a city in the German state of Lower Saxony most known for hosting the headquarters of Volkswagen Group. While the castle that gave the city its name is as old as 1302, the city has been essentially created only in the 20th century around the original Volkswagen factory. It became more of a tourist destination in the 21st, with the creation of Volkswagen AutoStadt, the Phaeno science museum and the opening of a high-speed railway line to Berlin.
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AutoStadt is the home of Volkswagen AG. AutoStadt theme park is a city in itself and offers entertainment, dining, tours and driving. Includes the Zeithaus, a car museum covering not just VW but other marques as well.
It is a new building designed by Zaha Hadid and is a breathtaking and revolutionary space. While the architecture was a bit controversial with locals at the time of its construction, the museum - focused on science and the likes - is a good place to take the kids to but also a fun place for adults to "toy around" with their inner child, observing and exploring phenomena as diverse as fire tornadoes, brain waves or vacuum.
Schloss Wolfsburg
Apart from all the attractions at the AutoStadt, including the Zeithaus, there is also a separate Volkswagen AutoMuseum in Wolfsburg situated somewhat farther afield from the Volkswagen complex.
The origins of this building are a curious tale of German-German relations during German partition. When VW made a deal to deliver something they produced to the East, the East German regime (ever conscious of their limited supply of hard currency and anxious to reduce hard currency expense if possible) "paid" by delivering optical implements made by their world renowned optical industry in Jena. VW having little use for that decided to donate the goods to the city of Wolfsburg and hence the Planetarium could be built.
Factory tours are organized for customers picking up cars directly from the factory, but participation is possible for the general public availability permitting. Tours are only organized during factory work days (M-F) and may be unavailable due to various circumstances. Contact AutoStadt customer care in advance to book, or if already on location, the welcome desk on the Piazza. Guests are transported from the AutoStadt to the factory by boat, departing where the Maritime PanoramaTour does.
Five times a day, a canal boat departs for an hour's tour of the canals around some of the most prominent buildings on the Volkswagen campus, including the power plant and factory itself.
Die Wölfe were relegated in 2026 and now play soccer in 2. Bundesliga, the second tier. The stadium has a capacity of 30,000. The women's team play in their top tier at AOK Stadium.
Learn to drive economically with Volkswagen's on-site experts, using less fuel and putting less wear on your car while at the same time becoming more environmentally-friendly. Vehicles are provided for participants on the training course.
A special course featuring obstacles simulating various hazards on the road is in the AutoStadt, and various courses are offered with professional instructors teaching participants how to handle those dangers in Volkswagen-provided cars.
This artificial lake was dug in the early 1970s and has served various recreational purposes (mostly bathing and swimming) ever since.
A large indoor pool near Allersee.
Home of the local first division ice hockey team.
Mexican chain restaurant and cocktail bar.
Good pizzeria.
Gourmet food on offer from the multi-Michelin star chefs at the Ritz-Carlton. Expect to pay handsomely for the experience.
Small cosy Italian with reasonable priced tasty food.
This street-food style cart might not look like much, but the pizza (made to order with Italian ingredients that the owner imports himself) is certainly worth it.
In the centre of the city. In need of refurbishment but service is good, free drinks in mini-bar. Large extension being built next to original hotel.
Quality rooms. Close to main VW factory.
Great facilities but on the pricey side
This modern Ritz-Carlton is an integral part of the AutoStadt and features a three-Michelin-star restaurant. A Club Level lounge is accessible to residents of upper room categories.
Good sized room and reasonable breakfast. Good restaurant although a little expensive. Ideal location if you want to be out of town, but will need a car.
Wolfsburg Outlet Shopping Centre is a place to find designer discount brands. They have brand shops such as Diesel, Adidas, Fossil, Nike, Puma, Clinque, and Calvin Klein.
Includes REAL supermarket which is open from 07:00 to 23:00 (has free WLAN), MediaMarkt and a number of other out-of-town goods and food chains.
Shopping mall with the usual cloths chains and a number of budget food outlets.
By train
The main line rail station is Wolfsburg Hauptbahnhof, Willy-Brandt-Platz 3, and there are regular services to many destinations.
By road
Take junction 5 off of the A39 and head towards Wolfsburg-Morse.
By plane
While there is an airport (BWE) close by, it is mostly used by VW and thus chances are for most flights you will fly to Hanover (HAJ) or Hamburg (HAM).
By bus
Regiojet serves Wolfsburg, while Flixbus surprisingly doesn't. Flixbus does however serve many surrounding cities which are in turn served by public transit options to get to Wolfsburg.
Perhaps surprisingly for a city built on for and by the automobile, walking is the best option. Everything is close to each other in the city and the downtown core is largely pedestrianized.
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