Germany (Lonely Planet, 6th Edition) - Andrea Schulte-Peevers [544]
Musiktheater Bad ( 169 4138; www.musiktheater-bad.de, in German; Am Grossen Garten 60; ) In this large old building and its surrounding grounds, you’ll find a mixed bag of live music, music theatre and dance offerings. It’s great in summer when there’s an outdoor stage.
Pavillon ( 344 558; Lister Meile 4; ) This huge circular venue has a cafe-bar (see opposite), theatre and various rooms used as venues where you can catch a wide program of jazz, off-beat rock, world music and whatever else anyone decides to put on there.
SPORT
AWD Arena (www.awdarena.de, in German) With a capacity of 44,000, this ground is one place where you can usually get last-minute seats (about €35) for matches between Hannover 96 and their opponents (not Bavaria Munich, rarely Schalke 04). Follow the stream of fans or take U-Bahn 3, 7 or 9 from Hauptbahnhof to Waterloo and follow the signs for about 500m.
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Shopping
Hanover’s compact city centre makes it ideal for shopping, although most of what you will find is modern, international fashion. A pedestrianised zone full of shops extends south from the Hauptbahnhof, along Bahnhofstrasse, Georgstrasse and Karmarschstrasse. The Niki de Sainte Phalle Promenade, a subterranean shopping strip running below Bahnhofstrasse, and Ernst-August-Galerie (Ernst-August-Platz 2) are also worth browsing.
There’s a regular flea market (Hohen Ufer; 8am-4pm Sat) behind the Historisches Museum, along the Leine River Canal near Die Nanas.
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Getting There & Away
AIR
Hanover Airport (HAJ; 977 1223; www.hannover-airport.de) has many connections, including Lufthansa ( 0180-380 3803), and the low-cost carriers Air Berlin ( 01805-737 800; www.airberlin.com) to/from London-Stansted and TuiFly ( 01805-757 510; www.tuifly.com) to/from Newcastle in Great Britain.
The S-Bahn (S5) takes 18 minutes from the airport to the Hauptbahnhof (€2.80).
CAR & MOTORCYCLE
Nearby autobahns run to Hamburg, Munich, Frankfurt and Berlin, with good connections to Bremen, Cologne, Amsterdam and Brussels. Major car rental firms are in the Hauptbahnhof, including Sixt ( 01805-252 525; 7am-9pm Mon-Fri, 8am-6pm Sat, 9am-9.30pm Sun) and Avis ( 322 610; 7am-9.30pm Mon-Fri, 9am-4pm Sat, 4-9pm Sun).
TRAIN
Hanover is a major rail hub, with frequent ICE trains to/from Hamburg (€40, 1¼ hours), Munich (€116, 4¼ hours), Cologne (€64, 2¾ hours) and Berlin (€61, 1¾ hours), among others.
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Getting Around
The transit system of buses and tram/U-Bahn lines is run by Üstra ( 166 80; www.uestra.de; 8am-9pm Mon-Fri, 8am-6pm Sat, 9am-5pm Sun). Most U-Bahn lines from the Hauptbahnhof are boarded in the station’s north (follow signs towards Raschplatz), including U-Bahn 8 to the Messe (fairgrounds; €2.10, 19 minutes). Lines U10 and U17 are different. These are overground trams leaving south of the station near the tourist office.
Most visitors only travel in the central ‘Hannover’ zone, where single tickets are €2.10 and day passes €4.10. If you wish to travel in two/three zones, singles cost €2.80/3.50, while day passes cost €5.30/6.60.
For taxis call 8484, 2143 or 3811. From the centre to the fairgrounds a taxi costs about €35; to the airport it’s about €20. Fahrradstation am Bahnhof ( 353 9640; Fernoroder Strasse 2; bicycle per day €7.50; 6am-11pm Mon-Fri, 8am-11pm Sat & Sun) has bicycle hire, alongside the Hauptbahnhof.
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AROUND HANOVER
Nobles the world over will tell you that ancestral homes can be such a huge financial burden to maintain, especially when they’re turreted castles. In late 2005, the family of Prince Ernst August of Hanover (Princess Caroline of Monaco’s husband) auctioned off some 25,000 household objects to raise money