Lander Train Tickets?
 

Does anyone have any idea how to get from Trier, Germany to Berlin using the Lander Tickets? We have a couple of days to make the journey and want to do it as inexpensively as possible.
Thanks
Viv

If you can travel on a Saturday and a Sunday, Schoenes Wochende (Happy Weekend) tickets will be your cheapest option. They're good for anywhere in Germany.

Since you would be crossing several Laender, the cost of travelng on weekdays and having to buy separate tickets would add up in a hurry.

An alternative would be to book far enough in advance (up to 90 days allowed) at www.bahn.de to get a Dauer-Spezial fare on fast trains between Trier and Berlin (one change required). You could make the trip in seven hours for a Dauer-Spezial fare of either 29€ or 59€, depending upon how many allocated seats are still available. You'd save yourself the cost of a night in a hotel in the bargain.

A further clarification: You would need separate Happy Weekend tickets for Saturday and Sunday.

Here's something to ponder:
1. If you plan a month or more ahead, you can get a fast train (IC EC, or ICE) to Berlin for less than the cost of multiple Laender tickets (29E/person, 2nd class).

2. EC, IC and ICE trains will most likely have food and beverage services -- most local trains won't. Also, my experience with the local trains is that many are rather old, worn and less comfortable than the generally newer ICE/IC/ECs. So, you'll travel in much greater comfort on IC/EC/ICE trains.

3. If you time things right and hit a weekend day you could take a Schoenes Wochenende ticket and save a bit of cash if more than one is in your party. However, you'll have a 12.5 hour trip. I love training in Europe, but 12.5 hours is too long -- especially on nothing but local trains with limited or no beverage/food services. This compares to a 7 hour trip on fast (EC/IC/ICE) trains. Even if you could save money, which would be unlikely, unless you hit a weekend day, think of the added travel time.

Here's the website for the German train system (Die Bahn). you can enter dates, start and end cities and see what options are available and the cost.

http://reiseauskunft.bahn.de/bin/que...quest=yes&