Accommodation
Bonn, as the seat of the UN Climate Change Secretariat, has hosted more than twenty sessions of the UNFCCC negotiations (Subsidiary Bodies) and countless meetings and workshops. It has become a “second home” to many delegations and participants, who have their long-standing local hosts, favourite restaurants and beaten paths between hotels and meeting venues. Eager to return to Bonn, many participants have already made their arrangements for COP23.
Bonn and the surrounding region offer a wide variety of accommodation, from five star hotels to bed-and-breakfast lodging and many homestay opportunities. Nine thousand hotel beds exist within Bonn city limits, and neighbouring counties and cities between Cologne to the north and Koblenz to the south offer another 56,000 beds within a radius of 50 km.
For participants who haven’t yet booked for COP23, please note that the November sessions are expected to attract much larger numbers than the Subsidiary Bodies meeting, so that all participants are encouraged to make their arrangements as early as possible.
Accommodation can be booked directly with hotels and other providers, or through travel agencies and online services. Participants seeking comprehensive personal advice and assistance are invited to contact Tourismus & Congress GmbH.
Tourismus & Congress, Bonn and the region’s tourism agency, has agreed with the Government of Germany to assist with the coordination of the supply of accommodation during COP23. Apart from helping participants find suitable hotels, bed and breakfasts, etc., Tourismus & Congress also facilitates contacts with Bonn citizens who volunteered to offer free homestay opportunities to COP participants (go to Private Host COP23 for more information).
The Government of Germany and the Climate Change Secretariat are working hard to ensure that COP23 adheres to the highest possible international standards of sustainability. Tourismus & Congress will inform participants of green features and eco certifications of hotels within its portfolio, so participants can make educated choices and help reduce the conference’s environmental footprint.
Public transportation
The region is well connected through public transportation, with trains, metros/ trams and buses running at short intervals. From most places in the region, no more than one change of transport needs to be made to arrive at the conference centre.
Metro/ trams and buses are usually the preferred choice of transport for conference participants staying in Bonn, plus in the areas of Siegburg, Sankt Augustin, Beuel, Koenigswinter, and Bad Honnef, and along the intercity tram lines between Bonn and Cologne, including in the southern districts of Cologne. The metro (U-Bahn) stop closest to the Bula Zone of the November 2017 sessions is “Heussallee”, located 500m from the main entrance to the World Conference Centre. The “Deutsche Welle” bus stop (610 and 611 lines) is 100m away.
Participants staying in downtown Cologne, west of Bonn towards Euskirchen, south of Bonn along the Rhine all the way to Koblenz, or in the picturesque wine-growing Ahr valley, can take any regional train (RE and RB) and will be able to get off at the brand-new train station “UN Campus” located only 800m from the Bula Zone’s main entrance.
The conference’s two zones - the Bula Zone and the Bonn Zone - will be connected with each other, with the new train station and the “Heussallee” metro stop by dedicated electric shuttles. In addition, several hundred bicycles will be available at the Bula Zone and the Bonn Zone for free rental and use within the city.
By courtesy of the State of North-Rhine Westphalia and the German Federal Government, transportation by bus, tram, metro and regional trains (RB, RE) will be free of charge in Bonn, Cologne and in-between (“VRS” area) for all registered participants in the two-week sessional period. It is planned to also include the Ahr valley and Koblenz south of Bonn.
Fast and high-speed long-distance trains (IC, EC, ICE) from, e.g., Cologne, Koblenz, Frankfurt and Dusseldorf airports and farther away stop at Bonn Hauptbahnhof/Central Station, Bonn-Beuel, or Siegburg/Bonn, from where metro, tram or bus take travellers to their hotels and the conference zones.
For a map of the region and directions to the United Nations Campus and the World Conference Centre Bonn, please see the Maps and Directions page on our website. The “Directions” and the “Schedule Explorer” tools in the map entitled “World Conference Centre Bonn” are most useful to learn about routes, commuting times and time schedules between the conference centre and any place in the region.
Useful links
Bonn transportation authority homepage
Local transportation overview map for the region
Photo credit: Tourismus & Congress GmbH