Press office City of Duesseldorf: trivago reports only 20 percent hotel availability from 1 to 2 July 2017

For the cycling event Grand Départ Düsseldorf 2017, the start of the Tour de France, visitors will be coming to the state capital of North Rhine-Westphalia from far and wide on the first weekend in July. An international sporting event, a "public festival" along the route and a friendly metropolis on the Rhine with tourist highlights await them.

And Düsseldorf is looking forward to its visitors, who will obviously be coming in large numbers. Just under a month before the start of the Tour, for example, the Düsseldorf-based online portal, trivago, is already reporting only 20 percent hotel availability in Düsseldorf from 1 to 2 July. From 20 June to 1 July, availability is still at 29 percent.

There are many ways to travel, and these can be combined. Here you’ll find the most important information:

… by plane

You can fly to the international airport of Düsseldorf. The state capital can be conveniently reached by direct flights from more than 200 cities worldwide: www.dus.com/de-de At the airport, there will be a reception desk for guests of the Grand Départ Düsseldorf 2017, where you will find information on your onward journey.

... by train

Visitors from Germany can travel by Deutsche Bahn for the attractive and exclusive fixed price of 99 Euros (2nd class) or 159 Euros (1st class), throughout Germany in all the long-distance trains of the Deutsche Bahn.The price applies to the return journey from any DB station in Germany. The offer is valid from 27 June 2017 to 4 July 2017. The tickets can be purchased under www.duesseldorf-tourismus.de/gd-offers/

Visitors from North Rhine-Westphalia are best off using regional trains and the "SchönerTagTicket NRW" (30 Euros for 1 person; 44 Euros for 5 persons). It is valid on all underground trains, trams and buses in local transport in the whole of North Rhine-Westphalia and in the 2nd class of all local trains. The ticket can already be booked in advance in the app of the Düsseldorf transport company "Rheinbahn" (www.rheinbahn.de/app) or in the Internet (www.rheinbahn.de/shop). Visitors from the area of validity of the Verkehrsverbund Rhein-Ruhr (VRR) and from Düsseldorf should also use local trains, urban and underground trains and buses. Here, the Rheinbahn recommends the "TagesTicket" (day ticket) for up to five persons (from 6.80 Euros/price level A).

... getting around Düsseldorf by bus and train

Whether you are traveling by plane, train, coach or car - from the airport urban railway station or the airport main-line station, the car parks and the Düsseldorf main station, which is also a coach station, the local transport company "Rheinbahn" gets you conveniently into and around the city.

Within Düsseldorf, the Rheinbahn recommends the "TagesTicket" (day ticket) from 6.80 Euros in price level A. With this, individual visitors or groups of up to five persons can travel between the various venues as often as they like for a favourable price. The tickets are available in the Internet under www.rheinbahn.de/shop or - the quickest way - directly via the Rheinbahn app www.rheinbahn.de/app.

... by coach

You can also get to the Grand Départ of the Tour de France by coach to Düsseldorf. More information on the journey and a direct link to the provider Flixbus, which serves the Düsseldorf main station, can be found under: www.duesseldorf-tourismus.de/gd-offers/

... by tour coach (charter)

Düsseldorf Tourismus offers coach travel organisers an online reservation system for bus parking spaces, which already proved itself at the Christmas market. More information is available at: hospitality@duesseldorf-tourismus.de

... by car

The road closures will already be prepared on the Friday. Until the end of the time trials on Saturday, 1 July 7 pm, plus a while for the dismantling of the barriers, major restrictions are to be expected for the general traffic in the town. The districts Carlstadt, old town, Oberkassel - southern Luegallee, "Weiße Siedlung" Golzheim, left and right of Stockumer Kirchstraße, as well as the residential estate to the north of Beckbuschstraße are closed for general traffic during this time.

Also for the second stage, it is not advisable to travel by car - especially in the inner city. The 2nd stage of the Grand Départ starts on Sunday, 2nd July, 10 am with the start of the publicity caravan at Burgplatz. The start of the cyclists is planned for 12.03 am. The period of unavoidable restrictions for the general traffic in Düsseldorf starts successively in the early morning hours from 5 am and lasts until around 4 pm. The road closures will be maintained from around 9 am until at least one hour after the last Tour vehicle has passed through. The stage leads through the districts old town, Carlstadt, harbour, Unterbilk, town centre, Pempelfort, Düsseltal, Grafenberg, Gerresheim, Rath, Mörsenbroich, Derendorf, Niederkassel, Oberkassel, Lörick and Heerdt.

Visitors who definitely want to travel by car should therefore be sure to book a parking space online beforehand. The parking space includes a Rheinbahn day ticket for four people for the onward journey to the Tour route. With the booking confirmation, a directions sketch for the last kilometre and the GPS data are sent. Booking under: www.parkvogel.de/granddepart

For wheelchair users arriving by car, a parking place is to be set up, for example, on Maximilian-Weyhe-Allee, which can simply be booked online. The booking costs a nominal charge of 5 Euros and can be carried out online at: www.parkvogel.de/granddepart

... by camper van

Around 800 fully-equipped pitches for mobile homes are available at the Caravan Center of the Düsseldorf trade fair (P1). The pitches are close to the start/finish area of the 1st stage. Bookings under: www.parkvogel.de/granddepart

... by bike

If you want to come to the Grand Départ in Düsseldorf in proper style by bike, you’ll quickly find the optimum route to the state capital with the tour planner www.radroutenplaner.nrw.de. Details on how to reach the Tour stage by bicycle on the day of the 1st stage are shown by a bike map under www.duesseldorf.de/fileadmin/Amt13/grand_depart/karten/Etappe1_Radverkehr.pdf

Around the 1st stage of the Grand Depart, in addition to the existing bicycle parking facilities, the state capital of Düsseldorf is providing at least another 33,000 bicycle parking facilities. Grids will be provided, to which the bikes can be locked. The old town will be accessible and ridable by bike on Saturday, 1 July. Access is possible from the south via Apollo-Platz/Mannesmannufer. However, it will not be possible to ride all the way from North to South along Rheinufer. Between Oberkassel bridge and the trade fair, the route along the Rhine will be blocked. From the North, the start/finish point of the first stage can be reached via Lohauser Deich or Beckbuschstraße/ArenaStraße. The left and right sides of the Rhine are connected by the Theodor-Heuss bridge and the Rheinknie bridge, which are also part of the diversion ring for cyclists.

Cyclists can easily reach the second stage of the Grand Départ using the existing cycle lanes, and cross the route at any time - except when the publicity caravans, the accompanying vehicles and cyclists are passing through. For bicycle navigation within the city, we recommend www.duesseldorf.de/radschlag or the RADschlag app.

... by taxi

The same restrictions apply to taxis on both days of the Grand Départ Düsseldorf 2017 as for cars. Close to the stage route, temporary taxi stands will be set up. Visitors should inform the taxi driver before starting their journey.

You may download the following material for editorial use

File: http://ots.de/PCDzw

Event plan, stage 1, Saturday, 1 July with bridges and barrier free crossings of the route

File: http://ots.de/LaNKc

Event plan, stage 2, Sunday, 2 July, with bicycle parking spaces

File: http://ots.de/auLXa

Cycling and parking facilities, stage 1, Saturday, 1 July

File: http://ots.de/h7bYu

Team presentation, Thursday, 29 June

To the online version: http://ots.de/bZ3YN

CONTACT:

Landeshauptstadt Düsseldorf

Amt für Kommunikation

Kerstin Jäckel-Engstfeld

phone +49211 8993131

e-mail: presse@duesseldorf.de

http://www.duesseldorf.de