Give me the choice between a long car journey and a train ride and I’d pick the train any day of the week. You get to experience new places, see some beautiful scenery, and can read or watch a movie without feeling sick. But when I moved to Germany, I realised that longer train journeys were far from cheap, and if I wanted to explore the country I’d have to start saving my pennies. Until, that is, I discovered these secret train tickets.
Of course, they aren’t secret as in no one knows about them, because frankly that would be a bit silly. But Deutsch Bahn do an excellent job of not advertising their existence on their ticket machines. Probably because they can save you literally hundreds of euros as you travel through Germany.
Table of Contents
Regional Tickets
Germany is made up of 16 different states, and each one has their own regional train ticket. With this ticket, you can travel anywhere within that state on local or regional transport, starting at just €22. There are a few rules of course. You can only travel within the day the ticket is bought for. From Monday to Friday this is from 09:00 until 03:00 on the following day, while on weekends and on public holidays the ticket is valid from midnight.
You can also buy a single ticket or a group ticket. The group ticket works out to be excellent value, as you can add additional passengers for as little as €3. However, one thing that’s important to note is that the regional ticket is not valid on ICE trains, so check your journey before you make your purchase.
Here is a little real-life example of how much money that can save. I live not far from Ulm, a pretty riverside city in Baden-Württemberg. One weekend, myself, my boyfriend and his Dad decided to head there for the day, and with every intention of visiting some pubs, driving was out of the question. The journey takes just under an hour. Here is the price for 3 normal return tickets:
Had I known about the regional ticket, the exact same journey would have cost only €36 for all three of us, with the added flexibility of not having to specify exactly which trains we were going to use. If you can save this much on a short journey, you can imagine how handy it can be for longer trips. The exact price of the ticket varies per region, and you can find a breakdown of a couple of the most popular below.
Bavaria Regional Ticket (Including Munich, Nuremburg And Even Salzburg!)
| Number of Passengers | 2nd Class Ticket |
|---|---|
| 1 passenger | EUR 25 |
| 2 passengers | EUR 33 |
| 3 passengers | EUR 41 |
| 4 passengers | EUR 49 |
| 5 passengers | EUR 57 |
Click here for a map of the valid stations, or here to purchase your Bavaria Regional Ticket (just right click to find the option to translate to English)
Baden-Württemberg Regional Ticket (Including Stuttgart, The Black Forest And Lake Constance)
| Number of Passengers | 2nd Class Ticket |
|---|---|
| 1 passenger | 24 euros |
| 2 passengers | 30 euro |
| 3 passengers | 36 euros |
| 4 passengers | 42 euros |
| 5 passengers | 48 euros |
Click here for a map of the valid stations, or here to purchase your Baden-Württemberg Regional Ticket (just right click to find the option to translate to English)
Details for all the other regional tickets can be found at the links below:
- Brandenburg-Berlin-Ticket
- Hesse Ticket
- Lower Saxony Ticket
- North Rhine-Westphalia Ticket (called the Schöner Tag Ticket NRW)
- Mecklenburg West-Pomerania Ticket
- Rhineland Palatinate Ticket
- Saarland Ticket
- Saxony Ticket
- Saxony Anhalt Ticket
- Schleswig-Holstein Ticket
- Thüringia Ticket
The Germany Day Ticket (Quer-durchs-Land-Ticket)
It’s all well and good saving money travelling around a state, but what if you want to head further afield? There is a ticket made for exactly that, although I must admit I’m not sure how useful it is. The Quer-durchs-Land-Ticket allows to to travel to any state in Germany,
BUT the catch is that it is only valid on regional trains. This does not include the high-speed ICE trains which typically cover long distances. Almost all journeys that cover multiple states will usually involve at least one ICE train, so the Quer-durchs-Land-Ticket probably wouldn’t save you that much money. However, I’m sure there are some instances where you can make a saving so it’s always worth checking your route!
As with the regional tickets, the day ticket can also be purchased for groups of up to 5 people (plus kids). The prices for the ticket are as follows:
| Number of Passengers | 2nd Class Ticket |
|---|---|
| 1 passenger | 42 euros |
| 2 passengers | 49 euro |
| 3 passengers | 56 euros |
| 4 passengers | 63 euros |
| 5 passengers | 70 euros |
Making this ticket even better value for families, up to 3 children aged between 6 and 14 can be taken along free of charge, while children under 6 always travel free. As with regional tickets, it can be purchased up to 6 months before you travel (although the price doesn’t change, so there’s no harm in booking it later)
Click here to purchase your Germany Day Ticket (just right click to find the option to translate to English)
Good To Know
Here are a few things that might be useful to know when purchasing a regional or Germany day ticket:
- As well as regional trains (RB, IRE, RE), these tickets also allow you to travel on underground trains (like the S-Bahn), but as noted above, they are not valid on ICE trains
- Passengers can bring small dogs (no larger than a cat) free of charge, provided they are in a carrier. Larger dogs are considered passengers and charged as adults. If you are travelling with a dog that requires a ticket, enter the German name for dog (Hund) instead of a passenger name.
- You must enter the first and last names of all passengers when you purchase the ticket. It is not possible to change names after you have purchased the ticket.
- Make sure to have some ID on you when you travel, as you may be asked for it by a ticket inspector
- If you buy the ticket from a machine, you may also need to sign it (this is definitely the case in Bavaria)
- Accompanying passengers using the day ticket for Germany can join or leave the group at any station along the route.
- Once purchased, the tickets cannot be exchanged or refunded
Pin It!
