cassiebo123

Hello! I am getting married in July and my fiance and I will take a 2 week honeymoon to Germany in August. We started looking yesterday at the places we want to visit and the travel between destinations. I have to admit, I could not be more confused by the bahn.de website.

We plan to fly into Berlin, spend 4 days in Berlin, then take a train to Frankfurt. According to the bahn website, the train would cost almost 200 euros. After one night in Frankfurt, we want to take a train to Munich and spend about 4 days in Munich. This trip is also another 200 euros. What I don't understand is why so expensive? I've been talking to others who have taken trains around Germany and they say they did not spend this much on travel. They tell me they used the bahn.de website. Is there something I'm doing wrong?

I just saw another post on this forum that you can get from Munich to Salzburg for less than 30 euros. Are there any other cheap trips like this within Germany? I am so frustrated by this bahn website- I just tried to look up a train from Munich to Salzburg and it doesn't even let me type in a destination.

Any train travel advice would be greatly appreciated as I currently don't know a single thing! Thank you!

Christina

well, Berlin and Frankfurt are on opposite sides of the country, that's a pretty long trip. It's over four hours for the trip and so 100 euro per person on an ICE train doesn't seem that unusual to me. German trains aren't super cheap for the high speed trains during peak hours. Frankfurt to Munich is also a long trip, so should run about 90 euro per person as a saver fare. Munich to Salzburg is a much shorter trip and is a cheaper type train (not an ICE).

There will be cheap trips based on shorter destinations, that's all. I think you may not realize how far apart some of your destinations are, a long 4 hr ICE trip isn't going to be 50 euro or less.

I just used the bahn website and had not trouble typing munich or salzburg into the boxes. the Salzburg destination is Salzburg hbf which is the main train station, but the list gives you that. Don't know what you are doing wrong. they spell Munich Munchen in Germany, but they will accept Munich anyway.

PalenQ

Yes there are deep discounted ticket on www.bahd.de/en - the German Railways official site - it displays full fare - like the 200 euros you saw and then if the limited in number discounted tickets remain it will say "Savings fare from" -usually if you look a few weeks in advance there will be savings fare available but they do indeed sell out early often so booking really early - I think up to 90 days ahead or so you can get 29 or 39 euro tickets between just about any two cities.

Now these tickets are train-specific and non-refundable so be sure of your times. If you want flexibility to hop virtually any train anytime then look at the Germany Twin Railpass which allows just that - two long full fare and fully flexible tickets will cost more than a multiple-day unlimited pass (which is valid on the popular K-D (www.k-d.com) boats on the Rhine - a great thing to do IMO.

So check out the passes ad if you are doing a series of discounted 39 euro fares or so a several day pass may actually be cheaper than a string of discounted tickets and give you complete freedom to hop any train anytime - www.budgeteuropetravel.com; www.seat61.com; www.ricksteves.com - sites that have lots of useful info in addition to pass prices.

greg

You look at last minutes non-discounted fares. Think how airfares are offered.

I see Sparpreis as low as 29€ if you can choose future dates and at specific departure times. Those with solid itineraries would book these super discounted tickets far in advance.

If the itinerary is not solid, you can,
Choose time of travel.
Avoid ICE, if possible. These are expensive trains.
Get a German railpass. This is what I do if trip involves a lot of ICE trains or need to travel during peak hours.

Dukey1

What Dates did you input, OP? You say you are "confused" by the site. Why? As to ICE trains, believe me, you do not want to take a non-ICE train from Berlin to Frankfurt (assuming you can find one that won't require changes.

And as to prices..I juts looked for fares in March between Berlin and Frankfurt and they are not 200 Euros

You have a choice to make: you can drive between these places or perhaps find a budget flight or take the train..BTW, how much is that wedding going to cost?

sparkchaser

<i>believe me, you do not want to take a non-ICE train from Berlin to Frankfurt </i>

I agree.

DB offers tickets for sale 90 days in advance. You can get a feel for what sparpreis fares will be like by picking a date 80-90 day out from now.

lavandula

I have travelled from Berlin to Frankfurt many times by ICE and it's not usually that expensive - especially if you are buying tickets a couple of months beforehand. Also make sure you are looking at second class, which is perfectly acceptable, even if often crowded. Remember to buy a seat reservation at the same time; another couple of dollars but gets you that seat for what will be a long journey.

If you give us some dates maybe we can tell you what to look for, if you find it confusing. There is an English option for the website if that helps at all.

Lavandula

adrienne

I choose a random date 3 months from today and see tickets for E65 each for Berlin to Frankfurt.

Why travel to Frankfurt for only 1 night; why not go directly from Berlin to Munich and save time and money?

The Bahn.de site is the easiest European train site to use. I can see the Munich to Salzburg schedules.

PalenQ

A German Twin Railpass costs about $60 a day p.p. or about 40 euros a day and you can take any train - no need to pre-book, just hop on. and once in Berlin or Frankfurt or Munich you can use the pass the rest of the day on the S-Bahn systems that are epically useful in those three cities - running right thru the heart of town.

spaarne

<i>adrienne on Jan 22, 14 at 5:41pm
The Bahn.de site is the easiest European train site to use.</i>

Well spoken. Germans travel everywhere. This site is the most complete and easiest to use for trains throughout Europe.

For train travel in general see http://tinyurl.com/eym5b, an illustrated introduction for newbies.

Unless you have a compelling personal reason for going across Germany for one day(?) in Frankfurt a/M I would skip it. Alternatively Dresden is a nice stop between Berlin and Munich.

BTW, if you don't know German, "Spar" is the word for "savings," normally seen associated with banks. On the Bahn site it refers to discounted fares.

november_moon

I was wondering about the trip to Frankfurt for 1 night too. I would skip Frankfurt and probably pick somewhere in the countryside to spend a couple nights between Berlin and Munich - get a flavor for non-urban Germany as well. Germany has some fantastic towns.

sparkchaser

If you're coming from Berlin and were only planning on one night in Frankfurt, you might be better off overnighting in Bamberg, Nürnberg, Chemnitz, or Dresden.

PalenQ

Bamberg to me was one of the very nicest looking towns in Germany!

sparkchaser

I love Bamberg and will be there Saturday night watching a friend's band.

november_moon

Bamberg is my favorite German town thus far, so it would be my recommendation too

sparkchaser - please have a Rauchbeir for me while you are in town.

sparkchaser

I always do

PalenQ

have two or three for moi!

spaarne

<i>PalenQ on Jan 23, 14 at 4:01pm
have two or three for moi!</i>

Pal, They are in Germany so that would be "have two or three for mir."

sparkchaser

"mich" not "mir"

Phil

except in Berlin, where it is "mir"