TOURISM
Housing - There are many living options in Bremen
WGs (Wohngemeinschaften or joint apartments) are a cheap and fun way to live in Bremen while meeting new people. People who have an apartment with free rooms rent it out to others. The best way to find them is on Schwarzes Brett's marketplace at http://schwarzesbrett.bremen.de under 'WGs'.There are many different places to live in and around Bremen. A few of the most popular are Neustadt (new city), Stadtmitte (city center), and Viertel. Neustadt is south of the Weser, and is mostly residential. Here the apartments are more modern and vary greatly in price, quality, and size. As there is a high demand for city center apartments, they are a bit more pricey. Viertel, east of city center, is a very popular and lively neighborhood with a lot of culture. Here is a great place for young people and students. The apartments are older and have a lot of character, and the neighborhood is always alive.
Transportation
Bremen is a bicycle city. It is small enough that everywhere is within biking distance, and there is bike parking and bike paths on almost every street. Also because of this, bikes are readily available and cheap.There are a lot of open markets in Bremen. The best way to find out about them is to ask locals, but there are some weekly ones. For example, every Sunday there is a big open market located behind the Hauptbahnhof (main train station) where many goods can be bought (including bicycles).
Probably the best and the cheapest way to bike a bike is through Bremen's online "Schwarzes Brett" (blackboard) at http://schwarzesbrett.bremen.de. There you can buy a bike directly from a private party. But be careful, there are many stolen bikes in Bremen! You should ask from some proof of purchase from the vendor.
Otherwise, there is of course the Bahn. The Bahn (public transportation) is only trams in Bremen. It is quite comfortable, fast, and practical (especially when the weather is bad!) Most trams run every day until midnight. Single ride tickets up to month-long tickets are readily available. There are also other options, such as year long tickets for students. Normally, it takes just a little longer to travel with the Bahn than it does to travel by bicycle.
Schwarzes Brett (Blackboard)
The biggest market in Bremen is online! http://schwarzesbrett.bremen.de is a wonderfully useful website where you can buy or sell almost anything secondhand. It is a private sale market offered by Bremen.de. It has everything, from bikes to apartments to concert tickets to job offerings. It is the cheapest and most effective way to buy and sell in Bremen!Travel
Bremen lends itself for travel. Amsterdam, Berlin, Hannover, and Hamburg are all only an afternoon away from Bremen. There is, of course, also Bremen's own Bremerhaven, the giant port on the North Sea.There are many available modes of travel. Naturally the Deutsche Bahn (railway) is fast and secure, and also not too expensive if you book early in advance (www.bahn.de). For the really good planners, Ryanair (www.ryanair.com) and Germanwings (www.germanwings.com) offer extremely cheap flights (as cheap as 0 € to London), if one plans very far in advance. Another option is Mitfahrgelegenheits. A Mitfahrgelegenheit is when someone is driving from one city to another and has extra seats available. You contact them and pay a small fee (you can think of it as a portion of the gas money) and drive with them! It is very cheap, usually around 5€ per 100 Km (i.e. 20€ to Berlin, 20-25€ to Frankfurt). Naturally every ride is different, but most of the people that you meet along the way are quite friendly and interesting. Although there are some Mitfahrgelegenheits listed on schwarzes brett (www.schwarzesbrett.bremen.de), the best to find them is on www.mitfahrgelegenheit.de.