Germany
Leverkusen
Away-day guide
unverified draftLeverkusen is a company town — 165,000 people, the Bayer chemical works, and a football club that has outgrown both. The BayArena is excellent and the welcome is friendly, but the town has little for a weekend, so most visiting fans stay in Cologne or Düsseldorf and travel in, which takes about twenty minutes.
🚺 To BayArena
About 15 minutes' walk from Leverkusen Mitte S-Bahn station — head south-east and follow the crowd; matchday shuttle buses also run from the station. From Cologne or Düsseldorf allow 45 minutes door to door on the S6.
- Nearest stop
- Leverkusen Mitte (S-Bahn S6)
- Lines
- S-Bahn S6; wupsi shuttle buses on matchdays
- Walk from centre
- 15 min
- Parking
- Stadium parking is permit and pre-book only, and the surrounding streets are restricted; the match ticket includes the train, so use it.
Public transport
Leverkusen sits on the S-Bahn between Cologne and Düsseldorf: line S6 runs to Leverkusen Mitte, the useful station for the ground, several times an hour. Local buses (wupsi) fill in the rest. A single ticket in the VRS network is about €3.50 depending on distance and a day ticket around €9; buy in an app or from machines and validate paper tickets. The important saving is that a Bayer match ticket normally includes free travel across the VRS and VRR networks on matchday, which covers the trip from Cologne or Düsseldorf.
Typical prices
- Beer (0.5L)
- EUR 4.5
- Coffee
- EUR 3.2
- Meal, mid-range
- EUR 20
- Taxi from airport
- EUR 45
- Single transit ticket
- EUR 3.5
✈ Airports & cheaper alternatives
- Cologne Bonn Airport CGN primary 30 km S-Bahn from beneath the terminal to Cologne, then the S6 north to Leverkusen Mitte — about 40 minutes in total on one VRS ticket. A taxi is €45–55. Ryanair, Eurowings and easyJet all fly here from the UK and Ireland; the closest airport and the easiest transfer.
- Düsseldorf Airport DUS alternative 25 km S-Bahn or regional train from the airport station south to Leverkusen Mitte in about 25 minutes. More long-haul and flag-carrier routes, and just as close. Either airport works; take whichever is cheaper.
🍺 Supporters' pubs
Bayer Leverkusen
Home fans: Bayer's support gathers around the BayArena itself — the beer stands and pubs on the walk up from Leverkusen Mitte — rather than in a town-centre pub district, because there is not really one. Many fans travel in from Cologne on the same trains as you.
Away fans: Drink in Cologne or Düsseldorf beforehand and travel in on the S-Bahn; both are twenty minutes away and both are far better nights out. Leverkusen is relaxed about colours and there is no hostility here.
German champions in 2024 and a fixture in the European places, playing at the compact and modern BayArena.
Sourced from supporters' forums — always follow your club's and police advice for the fixture.
Nightlife
There is not much of one, and there is no point pretending otherwise. A handful of bars around Wiesdorf and the City-Center cover the town. Cologne is twenty minutes away and has one of the great German nights out — the Kölsch houses of the Altstadt, Zülpicher Straße for students, the Belgisches Viertel for something smarter. Düsseldorf, the same distance the other way, has the Altbier breweries of the Altstadt. Base yourself in either.
Food & drink
Rhineland cooking, which means Halve Hahn (a rye roll with cheese, despite the name), Himmel un Ääd (black pudding with mash and apple), Rheinischer Sauerbraten, and Currywurst from any Imbiss. The beer is regional and taken seriously: Kölsch in small 200ml glasses in Cologne, Altbier in Düsseldorf, and the waiter keeps bringing them until you put a beer mat on the glass. In Leverkusen itself, the pubs pour whatever the region does.
Cheap eats & beer
Imbiss stands and bakeries do a filling lunch for €5–8, and a Mittagstisch in a pub is €10–14. Beer is €4–5 in a bar and around €1 in a supermarket, with a deposit back on the bottle. German supermarkets close on Sundays entirely, so buy on Saturday. If you are staying in Cologne, a round of Kölsch in the Altstadt is cheap by the glass but they are small and they add up quickly.
Staying safe
Leverkusen is quiet and safe, and German football policing is firm but proportionate. Validate transport tickets — inspections are frequent and the fine is €60. Do not cross on a red pedestrian light. On matchday, away support is escorted and pyro is heavily punished. If you are staying in Cologne, the area immediately around the Hauptbahnhof at night is the one place worth ordinary caution.
On matchday
Bayer play at the BayArena, a tight 30,000-seat ground about 15 minutes' walk from Leverkusen Mitte station, with shuttle buses running on matchdays. Your match ticket normally covers the S-Bahn from Cologne or Düsseldorf and back, so keep it handy. Away fans have their own block, entrance and escort; searches are thorough and beer inside is bought with a stadium card, so top it up on the way in. European kick-offs are 18:45 or 21:00 local, and the S-Bahn back afterwards is busy but frequent.
This city guide is still being fact-checked — some details may be inaccurate.