Gelsenkirchen is an industrial city in Germany's Ruhr region, known for its football club and its history as a coal and steel center, and while the city itself has no airport, its dense position within the Ruhr's autobahn network makes a rental car an easy and practical way to get around once you have landed nearby. Most visitors fly into Dusseldorf Airport, roughly forty-five minutes to an hour south, or Dortmund Airport, a similar distance east, and pick up a car at either before driving into Gelsenkirchen along well-developed autobahn connections.
Once in Gelsenkirchen, the surrounding Ruhr cities are all within easy reach: Essen and Bochum lie roughly twenty to thirty minutes away, while Dortmund and Duisburg are each perhaps thirty to forty-five minutes further along the region's dense highway grid. This part of Germany is one of the most urbanized in the country, so expect frequent junctions, closely spaced exits and steady traffic rather than open road, particularly during weekday rush hours across the wider Ruhr conurbation.
Driving is on the right throughout Germany, and the autobahns connecting Gelsenkirchen to Dusseldorf, Dortmund and the rest of the Ruhr are toll-free, as with the German motorway network generally, though sections do carry variable speed limits and stretches without an official maximum, both of which call for attentive, confident driving rather than a relaxed pace. Roads within Gelsenkirchen and neighboring Ruhr cities are well maintained but often busy, with tram lines, cyclists and pedestrian crossings woven through the dense urban grid, so navigating city streets takes more care than the open autobahn stretches between cities. Fuel stations are abundant given the area's urban density, and winter brings occasional snow and ice to this part of Germany, so cautious speeds and extra following distance are sensible from December through February on any of the Ruhr's busy connecting roads.