Public transport in Harz region. Harz card and Hatix

Last Updated on 13/06/2025

On this page, you’ll find guest cards and public transport in Harz Mountains. The Harz Mountains are generally not a very expensive region, even compared to other German regions. Accommodations here are fairly inexpensive, and the sights, with the exception of the Brocken, are not too expensive. But it’s always nice to save even more.
UPD 2025.

Harz mountains. Wernigerode old town
Harz. Around Wernigerode, stalactite caves
Einbeck – half-timbered jewel
Thale, children program
Quedlinburg old town
Goslar – what to see
Goslar. Rammelsberg
Brocken, Wurmberg
Harz map. Center and East – from Wernigerode to Tilleda
West Harz from Goslar to Göttingen

Gast cards in Harz and public transport card Hatix

Prices change every year. Please check the latest prices before traveling.

Many towns in the Harz region offer guest cards with small discounts for local attractions. These are usually small but valuable offers.
Overview of the Harz guest cards can be found here: Link (select service overview – PDF file with all offers).

The most valuable part of these guest cards is the transport card Hatix (https://www.hatix.info/). You will receive a discount booklet in which you can enter the names of the passengers and the arrival and departure dates. This booklet serves as your free ticket for regional and city buses.

Please note that not all towns have Hatix. Goslar, for example, joined only a few years ago. You can find information on which towns will issue you a card on the website. If you’re renting an apartment privately, you may not receive a guest card: Not all owners take care of it. However, if you officially pay a tourist tax, request one.

Hatix is ​​a service offered by various transport associations that serve the Harz region as a tourist destination from various directions (see links below).
The program’s base region is the Landkreis Harz. All buses there are free. In other regions, specific routes apply.

The following maps show the lines included in HATIX (except lines 172 and 160, which are not included). Not all lines are shown, only those that take you to the attractions.

Public transport in Harz maps

The blue and light green lines mark the boundaries of the transport associations.
Black lines – narrow-gauge railways
Black squares – train stations (not all, only those relevant to attractions)
Blue squares are cable cars
Numbers on a white background – bus numbers
Red numbers without a background are attractions listed in the corresponding posts on my website.

If you cannot see the maps, please enable advertising and/or cookies

HATIX bus routes are available on its website. However, you’ll need to check the schedules on the transport associations’ websites. It’s easier to check the larger associations first, as the websites of smaller companies are generally less informative.

Main transport companies from the north:
Harzbus (part of a larger network – VRB) Link
VRB (region Braunschweig) Link
HVB Link

Additionally to the districts:
VSN (Süd-Niedersachsen) Link
VGS (Südharz) Link
Marego (Magdeburg) Link

Regional public transport fares

If you do not have a Hatix card or a Deutschland-Ticket, you will have to pay for the tickets.

More about Deutschland ticket: German ticket for regional public transport
Local public transport in Germany
Trains in Germany

For one-off trips outside the Harz region, don’t forget about regional tickets. In this case, these could be:
Niedersachsen-Ticket
Sachsen-Anhalt-Ticket
Sachsen-Anhalt-Ticket + Westharz
Sachsen-Ticket + Westharz

Buses in the Harz

VRB (Harzbus)

Harzbus Link

You need this network for journeys between the cities:
Goslar, Bad Harzburg, Braunlage, St. Andreasberg, Clausthal-Zellerfeld, Torfhaus, Hahnenklee, Braunschweig, Wolfsburg (Volkswagen Autostadt)

Fares and zones of the transport association clearly presented here: Link
Enter your departure and destination locations and get ticket options. Fares apply to both buses and local trains.

Ticket types:

Kurzstrecke – up to 4 stops
Einzelfahrschein – Single trip, price and travel time according to number of zones
6er-Mehrfahrtenkarte – 6 for the price of 5, also children’s ticket

Tageskarte – unlike other regions, a day ticket is sold here with different passenger numbers: not only for one or five people, but also for two, three, and four people. For tourists, the day ticket is often the best choice.
8er-Tageskarte – 8-Tages-Tickets with 22% discount

Fahrradtageskarte – bicycle ticket for only 3 euros.

HVB

HVB Link

This company offers bus routes between the cities:
Ilsenburg, Wernigerode and further east to Quedlinburg and Aschersleben, south to Braunlage and Wippra and north to Halberstadt, Osterwieck.

Day tickets, especially family tickets, are very affordable in this region. The ticket selection is very simple: either single tickets or day tickets. Day tickets are valid for one person and one family (up to three children). However, these only apply to buses. For trains, the Saxony-Anhalt fares apply.

I haven’t found a practical way to calculate zones and prices, so you have to use more complex methods.

1. Download the fare zone map: Tarifzonenplan

2. Download the fare table from there

3. Find your cities on the fare zone map.
– If you travel within the red circle, fare O applies.
– If you travel from one red circle to another, fare N applies, regardless of whether you cross the cell boundary.
– If you travel within the yellow lines, fare I applies.
– The number of zones between the start and destination is not calculated based on the actual distance, but rather on the number of intervening zone boundaries on the map. If the cells touch, fare II applies; if two yellow lines run between them, fare III applies, and so on.

For example:

Buses in Wernigerode – fare О
Wernigerode – Rübeland or Hasselfelde – fare 2
Wernigerode – Thale, or Halberstadt, or Braunlage – fare 3
Wernigerode – Quedlinburg – fare 4
Wernigerode – Drei Annen Hohne – fare N
Quedlinburg – Thale – fare 2
Quedlinburg – Gernrode – fare N

VGS

VGS Link

This network is required for travel in the southeastern Harz region, i.e., around Sangerhausen. As in the previous case, we have the legacy of the GDR: no practical calculators, but low prices. To find out the price, you need to download the fare map (hier ) and count the circles you travel through, including the destination circle.

The fares are listed on the same page. You can choose between a single ticket, four single tickets, and a day ticket for the entire network for one person.

VSN

VSN Link

A public transport network for anyone traveling in the southwestern Harz region around Göttingen. They serve Walkenried, Osterode, Northeim, and Einbeck, among others.

There is price calculator: Preisauskunft.

In addition to the single ticket, there is:
– 4-Ticket booklets- Viererkarte
– 8-Ticket booklets – Achterkarte
– five different day tickets – from 1 to 5 people

Narrow-gauge railway and Brocken fares

https://www.hsb-wr.de

Before we get to the Harz Card, let’s take a look at the fares for the Brocken and other narrow-gauge railway lines.

! The train ride to the Brocken is only included in the 4-day Harz Card and only in one direction.

The fare for the Brocken is the same from any station – €57 round trip for an adult and €34 for a child (2025). The one-way ticket costs two-thirds of the round trip fare. The afternoon trip costs €47 round trip for adults.

That’s the Brocken fare! Fares for other sections vary and are very reasonable. So consider whether you really need to go up to Brocken. Information about the Harz Narrow Gauge Railway can be found on a separate page.

More about: Brocken, Wurmberg

For those who want to save money, there are options:

• Take the train to Schierke. It’s much cheaper. Then walk uphill. The climb isn’t too difficult; many people walk, even with children.
• Buy Harz Card for 4 days
• There are also other trails – easier ones (e.g. Goetheweg from Torfhaus) and more difficult ones (e.g. from Ilsenburg).
• Choose the Wurmberg instead of the Brocken. The cable car is cheaper. The mountains themselves are of comparable height, and the view from the Wurmberg is even more beautiful. The Brocken has a big name, a very small alpine garden, and a very small museum. The Wurmberg has a new observation tower and a large playground.

Harz Card

www.harzcard.info

The Harz Card can be purchased for either 48 hours or 4 days.

The 48-hour Harz card is valid from the first use and expires after 48 hours. This means it’s valid for three days if you begin your trip in the middle of the first day and end in the middle of the third day. The Brockenbahn is not included in this card.

The 4-day Harz card is valid until the end of the calendar year. You can select up to 4 days within this period, but these will not be counted as 24 hours, but as one calendar day (from 0:00 to 24:00).

Prices 2025 (adult, children 5-14 years old, babys up to 4 years old):

The Harz card contains many sights, but they are spread over a large area. Therefore, its usefulness is less than it seems at first glance, simply due to the lack of time. Distances in the Harz are not that short, and the roads can be slow—repairs and road closures are not uncommon. The journey from north to south is particularly slow. Those traveling by bus should pay particular attention to the timetable — buses run infrequently and may have lunch breaks. Therefore, choose nearby sights for a day trip.

On the other hand, it is not very difficult to recoup the cost of the card.

To make the 4-day Harz Card worthwhile, you have to:
Day 1: drive to the Brocken, visit the museum there, and visit the hotel’s view point, visit Wernigerode Castle,
Day 2: visit the Baumann Cave and a thermal pool
– this covers the price in 2 days. Everything else is a plus for you.

To make the 48-hour Harz Card worthwhile, you should visit
a thermal pool, Wernigerode Castle, explore the Baumann Cave, and visit the Kleiner Harz in Wernigerode
– all of this takes up a day. Anything beyond that is an additional benefit for you.

Which of the major attractions am I missing in the Harz Card? Don’t forget: Conditions change every year, so always check!

• The cable car in Thale is not included, only the chairlift – and the summer toboggan run (coaster) is also missing.
• The cable car in Braunlage to the Wurmberg
• Aircraft Museum in Wernigerode
• Coaster in Schierke
• The cathedral and the associated museum in Quedlinburg
• The Hermannshöhle cave (only the Baumannshöhle is included)
• Coaster in Hahnenklee
• Treetop walk (Baumwipfelpfad) in Bad Harzburg

Harz mountains. Wernigerode old town
Harz. Around Wernigerode, stalactite caves
Einbeck – half-timbered jewel
Thale, children program
Quedlinburg old town
Goslar – what to see
Goslar. Rammelsberg
Brocken, Wurmberg
Harz map. Center and East – from Wernigerode to Tilleda
West Harz from Goslar to Göttingen