The good news is that Kaiserslautern is right in the heart of Europe giving you a sackful of choices in getting there by plane. The bad news that none of them are right on the doorstep.

The airports closest by are Frankfurt, Hahn and  Zweibrücken.

Frankfurt's busy airport hub has links to Heathow and Manchester with the major carriers and the airport station makes the journey to Kaiserslautern, via one change, in two hours.

There's also a link via Ryanair from Stansted to the small airport at Zweibrucken. From there it's a bus connection and train, getting you to Kaiserslautern in under two hours.

Frankfurt Hahn airport is on the no-frills airlines map and this is further, getting on for three hours including a bus link.

If you're in the south of England a better option is Eurostar from London via Paris. Kaiserslautern is on the main route between Paris Est and southern Germany. The whole journey, including crossover in Paris, can be done in a little over five and a half hours.

Expect to pay around £60-£100 each way - there are occasional special deals on this route on the official German rail site (in English) -  www.bahn.de

It does get busier than this, honest: Kaiserslautern main train station ad bus station.

The chances are you'll arrive at Kaiserslautern's smart DB Hauptbahnhof rail station. Everything of note is north of the station, ahead of you out of the main entrance - with the exception of the stadium which is just to the south, a ten or 15 minute walk.

The town centre, stadium and station are all in walking distance of each other so you may well not need public transport in town - but if your hotel means you do, the main bus station is right outside the train station. There's also a taxi rank there.