Augsburg Transportation

Like any other self-respecting German city, Augsburg has an active chapter of the General German Bicycle Club (ADFC). This is a service and lobbying organization to promote cycling as a healthy, safe and sensible means of transportation.

The Augsburg chapter is particularly interested in establishing well-marked cycling lanes on the streets, not on the sidewalks, so as to increase safety and avoid infringing on the rights of pedestrians. They are also lobbying for the establishment of a full-service guarded bicycle station at the main Augsburg railway station. Such bicycle stations already exist in a number of German cities such as Darmstadt, Aschaffenburg and Gera, among many others.

As the name implies, the ADFC is intended to counteract the nefarious machinations of the infamous General German Automobile Club ADAC.

I am of course a member of the ADFC, but in Frankfurt not in Augsburg.

The AVV (Augsburger Verkehrsverbund) is the public transport operator in Augsburg and its area. Its network consists of four tram lines, dozens of bus lines (urban and regional), as well as six regional train lines.
I think it is a great system for a medium-size city like Augsburg.

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Augsburg Hauptbahnhof is the central station of the city (there are two smaller stations for commuter trains). The building is very beautiful and clean; a square with a fountain lies in front of it, making this rail station a comfortable place to meet friends or to relax in the rarely hot summer days.
Inside the station you can buy train tickets, either by yourself at the automatic machines or at the ticket office, where you will certainly find a gentle lady ready to help you. Apart from that, there is a bookstall with a wide range of German and foreign newspapers, as well as books, postcards, etc. Then, you will find a bar, a drink vendor machine and, if I remember well, a florist, too.
Outside the station, you will find many bus and tram stops to reach any part of the Augsburg. The combination of train and local transport is very popular and helps keep the air clean and the city enjoyable and green. Congratulations to the Augsburgers!

Augsburg is situated on the main train route from Stuttgart and Ulm to Munich, thus can be reached by fast ICE connections.

The train station is situated outside the old town, still within walking distance of the centre and the main sights. Since you'll be walking more than enough in the city, though, you may want to catch a bus or tram to get into town. Several lines stop in the square in front of the station.

Almost all bus and tram stops of the Augsburger transport system are equipped with these digital displays informing which lines are going to stop, what their direction is and how long people have to wait.
I have never seen that in a medium-size Italian town.

If you have always thought, as I did, that the only country with really a lot of bicycles is Nederland, well you are wrong.
Augsburg, as well as Nürnberg, is so full of bikes and of cycle tracks that bikers also have their own traffic lights. I took a photo of this one, located on a mixed pedestrian-cycle track, but I have also seen traffic lights only for bicycles.
It was very curious for me, because Italian towns and cities have few cycle tracks, since Italians love using their car, although one of my aunts has told me that such traffic lights also exist in Ferrara, a city of Emilia-Romagna where everybody moves by bike (happy exception!).

Most of the points of interest in Augsburg are within easy walking distance, and to encourage walking tours the city has put up maps at several places showing suggested walking routes. At the main railway station and at the information offices (Bahnhofstraße 7 and Rathausplatz) you can also get folders showing these routes.

Among other places, these walks take you to all the parts of the city that have anything to do with Leopold Mozart, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart or Bertolt Brecht.
This particular map is on display near the Augsburg Theater on Kennedyplatz.

If you come to Augsburg by train, you have two options for getting to the city center. You can walk straight out of the station directly east on Bahnhofstrasse; this will lead you to eventually to the center, if you cross Adenauer-Allee to Burgermeister-Fischer Strasse, followed by a left at Maxmillianstrasse. However, this is a good 15-20 minute walk. A sometimes faster option is to exit the train station and head to the right following the road which curves around the bend there. You'll see the streetcar stop, basically kitty-corner from the post office there. Streetcar lines 2 and 3 both stop there. Be aware, both 2 and 3 will take you one stop ahead to Koenigsplatz, the main transit center of Augsburg; Line 3 then breaks south, while if you remain on line 2, you will reach Rathausplatz and the main center of the city in a couple more stops.