If you are staying in Sonderborg for a longer time, you might want to explore more of the region than you can cover on foot.
Public transport in Denmark is in general fairly comprehensive and you will most likely be able to find a way to get from A to B with public transport. However if the two points are not along major traffic arteries the journey might take you a long time.
In Sønderborg there are town busses, local busses, regional busses and intercity trains.
Small town but two stations
Sønderborg is mainly located on the island of Als, but the train only goes to the Jutland side. So if you are arriving by train you are not getting dropped off in the center of town but by Alsion, the main campus area.
The train station is called typically called “Sønderborg St.” and the bus station “Sønderborg Bus Station”. They are 1,1km apart or a 20min walk.
Finding your connection
In order to plan your route from A to B I would suggest you use the website Rejseplanen if you know the address or names of your origin and destination.
Use Google Maps if you are more map oriented and want to see your options.
If you have a smartphone both Rejseplanen and Google Maps have good apps.
Town buses
There are five bus lines that loop within the city limit of Sonderborg. They all depart from the bus station in Sønderborg and make loops.
Local and Regional buses
There are about 30 bus routes that cover the municipality of Sonderborg. Most of them are local routes but there are also regional buses in the direction of Aabenraa-Toftlund-Ribe-Esbjerg and Aabenraa-Haderslev-Kolding-Vejle.
For the list of lines check Sydtrafik’s website. In order to find which route will take you to your destination check Rejseplanen or Google maps.
Night Buses
Fridays and Saturdays there are three night bus lines departing from Sonderborg in the direction of East (Nordborg-Kegnæs), West (Broager-Gråsten) and Aabenraa.
Trains
Trains arrive and departs on an hourly basis towards Copenhagen. The train stops in Gråsten-Kliplev-Tinglev-Rødekro-Vojens-etc. In order to go south you need to change train in either Tinglev or Rødekro.
Train tickets must be bought before you enter the train. There is no ticket office but a machine at the train station that takes cash and credit cards.
Bus tickets and prices
Prices are based on the number of zones you are travelling. To see what a trip will cost from A to B you can click on the Zones i Sydtrafik in the example below a trip from Sonderborg to Flensburg shows the that there are 7 zones and the price for adults (Voksen) is 70DKK. As of writing each zone costs 10DKK.
On the buses you can pay cash when you enter.
Another cheaper option for paying is Rejsekort which is a credit card size card you top up with credits and then use on most public transports in all of Denmark.
If you are staying long-term it makes good sense to get a personal Rejsekort once you have CPR number. If you are here on vacation it might not be worth it.
The card tourists can buy costs 80DKK and you need to top it up at least 170DKK. Read more here.