Bargain trains: Cheap rail fares across Europe for 2009
A German train pulls into station. Photo by Francois Roche.
It is that time of year when many travellers start sketching out their plans for 2009 trips to Europe. And for travel within Europe, many of the continent’s budget airlines will unveil their summer 2009 schedules in the coming weeks. Book early for the best discounts.
Plan ahead: Rail travel for next year
Rail travelers can still take a while refining their travel plans for summer 2009, for although many of the schedules are now becoming available, tickets do not generally go on sale until two to four months prior to travel.
The extension of the Europa-Spezial scheme to encompass many more countries means that canny travellers can now plan long treks across Europe with rail fares that greatly undercut even the lowest air fares.
Europa-Spezial: Great value for money
Europa-Spezial fares can be booked online at the German Railways website. Tickets generally go on sale 90 days prior to travel, so bookings can already be made for January 2009.
Choose your trains carefully and you can travel from Budapest to Cologne for just €39 one way – and you can include stopovers on the way (each for a maximum of 48 hours). We chose a Budapest – Prague – Berlin – Cologne routing, with en route stops for two nights in both Prague and Berlin, and found plenty of availability for mid-January 2009 at the lead-in €39 fare.
Other gems there for the taking are €29 one-way from Hamburg to Vienna (via Prague), €39 from Paris or Copenhagen to any station in Germany, and a €39 fare that will take you from any station in Belgium or the Netherlands to Basel on the Swiss border or to Salzburg in Austria.
First class options: Worth considering, even for Cheapos
If the lowest fare for your selected route is already sold out, you can still buy a Europa-Spezial ticket, but it will be priced at a higher tariff tier (e.g. €49, €69, and up). Europa-Spezial fares are also available for first class, and these are really worth checking.
Berlin to Vienna (either direct or with a one or two night stopover in Dresden) for €49 first class sounds almost too good to be true. If you find little availability for Europa-Spezial fares in second class, just have a look to see if the cheapest first class option is still available. First class sells out less quickly, and we have found many examples of journeys where remaining first class availability is cheaper than heavily-booked second class.
The great thing about these Europa-Spezial fares is that, subject to availability at the time of booking, you really can use them on the fast express services. The only real snag is that you must commit yourself to date and time of travel, but at such rock bottom fares that is scarcely a burden.
The new Europa-Spezial fares, along with long-standing promotions like discounted TGV fares in France, might really tip the balance as you weigh up whether it is worth buying a rail pass for 2009.
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Brian (above). The reason for this is simple. On most routes, group discounts kick in with a group size from six travellers. The amount of the discount varies, but is usually in the range of 50 to 70 per cent off the regular tariff. These group fares can usually be booked from one year in advance until one hour before departure. They offer great flexibility, and really allow a group of six to travel at will (without the need for long-term advance booking) at prices way below those might obtain for just a single traveller. You can book these tickets at any DB ReiseZentrum or by phone to their call centre.
Nicky
which is the cheapest way (either by Train or Flight) to visit London to Frankfurt, Frankfurt to Milan and Milan to London.
Hope I’ll get best advices with web links and proper guidance with fare details.
Thanks.
Deval Ghorecha
Hi,
I’m looking to get from Moscow to Istanbul around November 14 (my date is flexible). Any ideas?
Thanks!
Helen
Thanks Nicky. So here’s a follow-up question. I have tried to find an English speaking number for DB. The only one I tracked down was in the UK. I try this number from the USA and I am not able to use it. Any clues.
1. To Brian (above)
The regular number for the Deutsche Bahn’s UK (so English-speaking) call centre is 0044 8718 80 80 66. I have no problem calling that number from outside the UK, but perhaps your network in the US has restrictions on you calling certain numbers. I’ve no idea about that. If that is the one you have tried without success, here is an alternative: 0044 2083 39 47 01. Again I’ve just tried that (from Germany) and it worked perfectly.
2. To Helen (above)
Moscow to Istanbul on 14 Nov (ore indeed any other day) is easy. 9.39 pm from Moscow kiyevskay station, with one change in Sofia.
Nicky
Hello! We r in Ljubljana and we (3 including myself, wife and 10 years daughter) would like to travel to Vienna and a few Austrian cities in last week of october. how best to go about it on low budget. will bus be better or train. and how does one go about it. please advise for day trip and also a 2-3 night trip.
Nicky, thanks for your help. The DB office in UK is very friendly and helpful.
FYI, I tried using three different calling cards to get through to the UK office and I discovered that the number is blocked. But if I call direct I can get through just fine. Go figure why it is blocked.
Hi Nicky and Susanne,
My family of 2 adults, 4 children are travelling to Europe from Australia in Dec/Jan.
Our intended itenary was Milan, Verona, Florence, Venice, Salzburg, Vienna, Paris and London staying 4 days in each and travelling by train. We have looked at Eurail Select tickets…do you think they are a good option.
Thanks,
John
John (above)… Probably not. But so much depends on your dates of travel, whether you would be prepared to take the time and trouble to book in advance (and fairly soon), and what ages your children are. For example, with some European rail tickets, your children (depending on ages) could travel entirely for free. Many of your journeys are short hops (eg. Milan to Verona, Verona to Florence), where tickets (esp. if pre-booked now) will cost no more than a few euros each. If you are using Eurail Select, I guess you’d need a 4-country pass (IT, AU, FR and DE) to cover the Salzburg or Vienna to Paris leg (which would normally be via Germany), and even then you’ll have to buy the London sectors on top.
Nicky and Susanne
For Surjit (above)
RE: SLOVENIA TO AUSTRIA AND BACK
The cheapest way to do this would be to buy the Regio AS fare from Ljubjlana to a station in Austria. Choose one close to the border. For example the Regio AS return from Ljubljana to either Villach or Klagenfurt is €19 (that’s return and per person). The ticket is valid for four days maximum.
Then for local journeys within Austria, use the Einfach Raus ticket which will give your whole family unlimited travel for a day on all but express services (so on over 95 per cent of Austrian trains). Just one Einfach Raus ticket will cover all of you. It costs €28. The ticket may be used any time on Sats, Suns and public holidays, but on regular work days it is valid only from 9 am.
*************
Hello
If I want to travel from Paris to Aix en Provence this coming Sunday, would it be better for me to get the ticket when I get to Paris, as I am finding that the ticket prices are really very expensive right now, and I am a senior. I am leaving for Paris on Friday.
Thank you
Nicole
For Nicole (above)
Better to buy the ticket online now. The regular one way fare, depending on quite which service you use, is in the range of €110 to €140. Book well in advance (say a month or more prior to travel) and that plummets to about €25 one way.
But you are looking to travel on a peak travel day (Sundays are always extremely busy on main TGV routes in France, and esp. so for journeys leaving after midday). At this stage, less than a week prior to travel, you will still find discounted fares (eg. Paris to Aix for €80.90 is still there on several morning departures – to both Aix TGV and Aix Centre), but these cheaper fares will be sold out on the busier trains, esp. later in the day. So book online now on the SNCF French language website if you are keen to get a cheaper fare. Or just show up in Paris and pay slightly more. It is a 500 mile journey, so even a €120 fare is still a reasonable deal. Check out the first class fares too. Often on these busy days (and esp. Sunday afternoons when the trains are packed with students), the extra fare for first class is not a lot more.
Susanne and Nicky
editors
hidden europe magazine
Susanne and Nicky,
Your web posting was extremely informative. Thanks a lot.
My husband and I are planning to travel from Nuremberg to Budapest on June 5, 2010. Our 22 month old will also be with us. I could not find any information on Deutsche Bahn whether we will need a ticket for her.
If I understand correctly, we should start looking for tickets from March 5 – right? We plan to travel on the couchettes since it will be an overnight trip.
Any suggestions will be greatly appreciated. Thanks.
Hello Sayata
Come, come now, Sayata. We think you might be teasing us. No sane parents travelling with an infant ever opted for couchettes as their preferred choice.
Couchettes are HORRIBLE. Take our word for it. Just imagine a June night, temperature about 30 degrees Celsius – that’s 86 deg F, and you three sharing a couchette compartment with three total strangers, all of whom bring their crates of beer and doner kebabs on board. Those three decide to chat their way overnight through Europe singing half remembered Beatles tracks from their childhood. They’ll share salami, hard-boiled and life stories while you and family just want to sleep. No Sayata! You won’t enjoy it, and if you daughter grows up to be a recluse who for evermore refuses to leave North Dakota it’ll all be down to that one awful night on the night train to Hungary.
Sleeping car = fine (blissful sleep all the way). Couchettes = a night you’ll wish never happened.
So let us give you the good news and the bad news news.
First the BAD NEWS: there is no direct overnight train from Nurnberg to Budapest, not now, nor in 2010.
Now the GOOD NEWS: this is a very easy journey, and a pleasant one, accomplished without hassle in a single day. Sample timings are as follows: leave Nurnberg at 10.31 on a German ICE and you’ll arrive into Wien at 15.20. An easy half hour change between trains at Wien Westbahnhof, going on at 15.50 on an Austrian RailJet service and you’ll arrive Budapest at 18.49.
The one-way fare for two adults and one infant, inclusive of seat reservations, will usually be €82 second class. If you opt for first class, the one way fare for all three of you will be €142. These fares are both the Europa-Spezial Ungarn Ticket, which will go on sale at http://www.bahn.de 92 days prior to travel – so, just as you say, on 5 March. To secure that cheapest fare, do book early on that day.
When you select the reservation accommodation, you may care to select the Kleinkindabteil option. These are special compartments, on German ICE trains, for parents travelling with small children. Remember to include your daughter in the listing of number of passengers. There is no extra charge for her, but she must be included in the booking.
If you prefer to book in the US rather than on the Deutsche Bahn website, US based agents can book you onto the same trains (as cited above), but we know of none that charges less than 500 US dollars PER PERSON for this journey.
Hope this helps. Do let us know what you actually do (and if you decide to buy the tickets through a US agent, we’d be intrigued to hear how much they actually charge you).
Susanne Kries and Nicky Gardner
http://www.hiddeneurope.co.uk
Thanks a lot for your reply.
I had ABSOLUTELY no idea about the couchettes.
The only time that we have traveled by train in Europe was from London to Edinburgh and it was a pleasant 4 1/2 hr journey and we had no problems with our daughter.
The reasons for wanting to take the overnight train to Budapest were simple – 1) save money on a hotel, 2) figured that since it was a longer journey, we were better off planning it during her bed time rather than during the day.
We do have another option of taking the train from Munich. I think that in that case we will get direct trains and we really want to avoid changing trains.
Do you think that taking the night train from Munich in the sleeper class would be too terrible?
.
Any suggestions will be appreciated
And when the time comes, we do plan on using the Deutsche Bahn website – it is very user friendly.
Hi Nicky and Susanne,
Your website has been very helpful so far. I am trying to book train tickets for my parents (traveling to Brussels and Paris in late November) online. I am worried that if I buy them electronic tickets online using my credit card (they live in India and don’t have a credit card) they won’t be able to board the train. Do you know what the rules are regarding third party purchase of train tickets in Europe?
They can also purchase their tickets at the train station in Brussels when they arrive there but I am worried that the prices will be much higher if they buy the tickets 5 days in advance.
Also, on the Eurostar website this is what I get:
Total price of 260 for 2 adults (1 over 60yrs)
RT Brussels to Paris
Depart: November 22nd, 09 afternoon to November 27th, 09 early morning return Paris to Brussels.
Do you think this is a good price? Will it much higher if my parents buy it at the station?
Thank you in advance,
Kirti
Nicky and Susanne,
I checked out the Deutsche Bahn website for the night train from Munich to Budapest. I checked out the fares for February 11 (3 months out) and I found something rather strange:
When I put in 2 adults and 0 children, I can get a sleeper fare of Euros 138 (3-berth) or 158 (2-berth).
When I put in 2 adults and 1 child (and specify the age of child as 1), the sleeper fares jump to 207 Euros for the 3-berth.
So I have to pay 69 Euros for an infant who will share a berth????
Do I then just buy a ticket with 2 adults and 0 children? Or are infants under 2 not free?
I was also not able to find the Kleinkindabteil option.
I am quite sure that I am doing something wrong, but I have no idea what it is…..
Oh, and Rail Europe offers tickets on their website for a total of $330+their fees and it is for the regular seats, not berths. Seems quite expensive compared to buying direct from the Deutsche Bahn website.
Thanks a lot.
Whoever invents these random queries sure has a vivid imagination.
For Sayata (above)
Couchettes are fine, but six to a compartment just is not a lot of fun with children. Sure, if you really are determined to go by night, you can train it to Munich (but remember that Nuremberg-Munich will probably cost more than Nuremberg-Budapest by day (as quoted above). Once you’ve got to Munich, you can hop on the night train to Budapest (which takes longer than the daytime services from Nuremberg to Budapest). You’ll have to hang around in Munich until almost midnight to board the train (surely hardly fun with an infant). Reckon on about €150 per person for the journey in a sleeper if you book in advance. You’d save a few euros if you take the couchette option.
For Kirti
Eurostar have no trains at all from Brussels to Paris. The services are run by Thalys, so best to book with them. Order a paper ticket to be mailed to your parents’ address in Brussels and that way you’ll have no problems with the credit card issue. The fare you mention is high, but you’ll find cheaper alternatives on the Thalys website.
Susanne
Look Sayata
Susanne’s last comment was written without having seen your updated query. We are 100 per cent totally confused. We suggest you contact the travel centre at a station when you arrive in Germany.
No sane person would detour to Munich to catch a night train at midnight when you can do the journey by day much more quickly and more cheaply. If you catch a night train and opt for sleeping berths, you must buy a berth for each person travelling. So yes, if you catch that €69 per person one way fare (unlikely for travel in June), you must pay for a berth for your daughter.
If you really are intent on using a night train, why not travel by bus from Nuremberg to Prague on the afternoon of 5 June 2010? From there the night trains to Budapest are very cheap. You would be best to book direct with the Czech railways to secure the best fare for that routing.
Nicky
Susanne and Nicky,
I appreciate your responses and was not aware that I was making up queries…sorry about that.
Anyway, I was not able to find the Kleinkindabteil option. Since you mentioned about it and I could not locate it, I asked for some help in trying to find it out. And neither was I able to find anywhere if infants were free.
Also, you had asked for US agents that quoted prices and I supplied you with information about rail europe website that seemed more expensive than Deutsche Bahn website. Once again, I thought I was providing some information that you were interested in. My mistake
Thanks you for all your help.
Think we had some crossed wires in recent postings, and if that was due to misunderstandings on the part of one or both of us, our apologies.
With respect to the query on what might be the best way to travel from Nuremberg to Budapest, clearly we have laid some false trails. We assumed that this was a journey that would only be done by day, on the basis that it is a relatively short trip, cheap and served by very high quality trains (viz. ICE and RailJet services). And that advice still stands. With a one-way fare for three people (inclusive of all seat reservations for two adults accompanied by one infant) of €82 (second class) or €142 (first class), we would judge that as being a good option.
If, as the original questioner implied (particularly in the reference to the need to save an overnight hotel bill), the real need is to cut costs without regard to comfort, then those same fares cited above are valid on an overnight route via Munich. The overnight train from Munich is the Kalman Imre, one of the more colourful night trains in Europe, used mainly by Balkans-bound passengers. It has Romanian, Croatian, Hungarian and Slovenian carriages – some of which are quite period pieces (and we mean that positively – some have a certain antique charm).
The Kalman Imre timings are pretty gruesome, mainly because departure from Munich is not till just before midnight, which is (believe us) just not a lot of fun with an infant. Trust us! We’ve done it!
But if that’s the way you want to go, sample timings would be:
Dep. Nuremburg at 7.08 pm arr. Munich Hbf at 8.53 pm (Regionalbahn)
Dep. Munich Hbf at 11.40 pm arr. Budapest Kel at 8.49 am (EuroNight service)
The three of you could do this journey for €82 second class. Note that when you book the Munich to Budapest sector specify you would prefer ‘Ruhesessel’ (ie. reclining seat) to the regular second class seated accommodation. It comes at no extra cost, but must be pre-specified when booking.
Now might we comment on the difficulty of finding the child-friendly special section on the train? This ‘Kleinkindabteil’, we mentioned in an earlier comment, is on German daytime ICE trains. It could not be found on a night train booking because such accommodation is found only on day trains.
Finally, we would suggest a compromise. If we have really misunderstood, and the main considerations are that a night train MUST be included, then go for a night train route that allows you to board at 7pm-ish, not midnight. That is just so much nicer, especially with a young child, than hanging around on deserted station platforms till nearly midnight. That would suggest going NORTH from Nuremburg to make the time you spend on the night train longer. Even via Berlin. This will have little effect on the overall fare.
If you take one of the night train routes and cost is not an issue, then definitely consider the upgrades to Schlafwagen (ie. sleeper). Much better than couchette. You will need to reserve all three berths in an Economy 3-berth compartment. Travelling with an infant, you cannot just book two of the three berths.
We very much hope that this clarification helps you as you plan your journey through Europe next year. If we misled you in an earlier post, we’re sorry. Sometimes when we are travelling, we have only limited internet access and often rely just on memory to provide key data. We are very fallible.
Nicky and Susanne
editors / hidden europe
We are a party of 4 adults 2 boys age 14 and 8 from Bangkok Thailand and would like to travel from Zurich to Vienna and back on train (air fare costs too much!!) We will be traveling Dec 20 – 23, 2009.
Can you please advice??
Thank you so much
Jutamas
Jatamas (above)
The usual return fare we’d expect on the route you describe for your family of four would be €196. But now you are booking at very short notice, with your outward journey just five days hence. So as it stands now the cheapest option would be as follows:
Outward (overnight on the 20th): €176.80
Return (by day on the 23rd): €98
Total: €274.80 (for all four of you).
Given you are booking at the last minute, and travelling on really peak travel days, we’re surprised that even that is still available. It could well be that remaining availability at that fare will be limited, so best to book in the next day or two. You can book http://www.oebb.at.
The full return fare (by very comfortable day trains) is 566 Swiss Francs for the four of you. That is about €360. That is called the TEE Normalpreis and includes a family discount. You can book that online at http://www.sbb.ch, where you can print out the ticket. The best trains are out from Zurich on 20th at 8.40 am, and back from Wien at 9.30 am on 23rd. Definitely do the journey at least one way by day. The central part of the journey between St Anton and Innsbruck through the Austrian Tyrol is superb.
Nicky and Susanne
editors / hidden europe
Berlin, Germany
I think they meant they’re a group of 4 adults plus 2 boys, rather than 4 total? Or perhaps you guessed more correctly than I did? Hmm.
.
Aaaggghhhh, yes, Krupo. You are surely right. We just did not take time to read the query. Sorry.
4 adults return with two children (provided the latter are entered on the ticket at the time of booking) will be 1132 Swiss francs return. That’s the full fare, which is now really the only option. But for six people, each making a 10 or 11 hour journey and return, still not really over the top. €92 per person per direction. We always think it would be nice if folk would comment back. So Jutamas… if you are there… why not let us all know what journey you actually make and what it cost?
Hi All.
My wife and I are looking to travel from England to Germany (possibly Berlin) by train sometime in January or February of 2010. We are purposely looking to travel by train and make the journey an integral part of the holiday as a train provides much more comfort and legroom than an aeroplane AND we like to take in the scenery as we travel.
My one bugbear from what I have so far seen is the trouble we have to go to searching out and booking separate journeys through each different rail company where we would like to literally make one simple booking from Weymouth to Berlin and have done with it without the messing around. My other concern is obviously to keep costs down to a minimum.
Are there any feasible ways of achieving either of these objectives?
Many thanks.
Jason.
Wulf / Jason (above, on 27 Dec)
You raise an interesting point about through bookings from outside London to the continent via Eurostar. Through bookings are available to selected stations in Belgium, France, the Netherlands and Germany from some 130 stations in the UK. Unfortunately Weymouth is not one of them. Westbury to Nice can booked, as can Exeter to Cologne. But no through fares for journeys starting from Weymouth. we could explain why, but now’s probably not the place for that digresson!
So your best bet would be to use the Deutsche Bahn website to book your London to Berlin tickets (and the return). This is a journey we do often. Book at http://www.bahn.de. The rock bottom one way fare is €49 second class or €99 first class. For this fare you use Eurostar to Brussels, continuing with a German ICE train from Brussels to Cologne (which runs only thrice daily), then on from Cologne by any train. The only realistic daytime connection from London to Berlin leaves St Pancras (London) at 8.30 am-ish, and takes about 10 hours to Berlin. So coming from Weymouth, you would need an overnight stay in London.
The London to Berlin tickets mentioned above, sold by the Deutsche Bahn, go on sale three months prior to travel. The €49 fare sells out very quickly, and it is unlikely you would still get that for any date in the coming six weeks. The fare does allow break of journey en route (insofar as that is specified when making the booking), so you could consider a later departure from London – so allowing you to travel from Weymouth to London on the day of travel to Germany. Then you could break your journey overnight in, say, Cologne. The tickets also allow (to some degree) circuitous routes (again only if specified at the time of booking), so if you break your journey in Cologne you could then travel up the Rhine Valley, a very beautiful route, before continuing to Berlin.
There are a myriad of other options, of course. Eurostar from London to Paris then overnight train to Berlin is one we like too. But more expensive and you’ll not see much by way of scenery as you trundle through Europe by night.
After you have your London to Berlin return ticket, you can buy (from your local station in Weymouth) a special ticket to London to connect with Eurostar. Not a lot cheaper than normal, tho’ it may undercut the peak fares, but the ticket is made out as going to London International (CIV). The advantage of this is that it provides a guarantee that if your Weymouth to London train is late, then Eurostar will still honour your onward tickets. And vice-versa.
Nicky Gardner and Susanne Kries
editor
hidden europe magazine
Very helpful advice thank you Nicky and Susanne. We will almost certainly be looking to travel by day as the scenery and train journey experience is the whole reason for taking the train rather than flying / driving. It is something we are very much looking forward to doing.
Many thanks.
Jason.
My wife and I plan to travel from Brussels to Zagreb on 31st May 2010, leaving Brussels in the morning. I am very interested in your comments regarding 29 euro fares from Germany to Zagreb. Do they still apply? If so, could you confirm the conditions for these fares please? Does one have to sit up all night. If so how much extra for a sleeper.
Hi, I’m trying to plan ahead for trip in April. I’ve tried researching and booking through Deutsche Bahn website for the night trains for the following route: Paris -> Munich (April 4) , Munich -> Vienna (April 6). When I tried to book for Paris -> Munich and going through the payment process, the website showed that it’s not possible to book. My question is when the Bahn website shows the fare as “Check availability”, does it mean it’s not available at all? Rather confusing since the website allows you to actually go all the way through payment process before saying that it’s not possible to book the ticket.
Brussels to Zagreb is too far for a day, but there is no need to go overnight. You can, for example, break your journey in Munich. The €29 fare is now €39, but sells out very quickly. Availability of that fare is much higher if you book it from Munich rather than further north. Which suggests it is best to book the Belgien-Spezial fare from Bruxelles to Munich, then the Kroatien-Spezial fare from Munich on to Zagreb. Tickets for May are not yet on sale, but just checking dates a little closer, that looks fairly easily available at €78 total for various March dates.
If you do take a night train, you will need to pay the supplement for couchette or sleeping depending upon what category of accommodation you select. Supplements vary from a modest €20 for an uncomfortable berth in a crowded couchette to over €200 for the best single berth sleepers.
Lisa
Paris to Munich on 4 April looks perfectly bookable on the DB German site. Cheapest €43 seats are gone, but lots of remaining options from €63 seats to sleeping car at €119.
Munich to Vienna on 6 April is still available at €29. In truth, we’d not recommend Munich to Vienna as a night train journey. Late departure (just before midnight) and you get turfed out at 5.45 am at a suburban station in Vienna. That train is designed really for passengers going on to Budapest, so it skirts round the edge of Vienna before dawn. Hardly the best way to start a day exploring Vienna.
Susanne and Nicky
Hi Susanne and Nicky,
I have just encountered this and found that you’ve already helped a lot of people in their trips. May I also seek your trip?
I’m currently here in Dresden for a short course, and with 3 of my friends plan to spend the Easter Holiday on a trip to explore VIENNA and BUDAPEST, then sight-see PRAHA on our way back to DRESDEN. Please advice on the cheapest train itinerary on this trip tentatively scheduled on April 1 to 5, 2010. This is our first time here in Europe, we just arrived last 16th january and will be here till 16th July.
Thank you very much in advance.
sincerely,
JONG
Hi Nicky,
Thank you so much for your answer. I have one more question. On an older website I saw that a stop-over on these train journeys of not more than 48 hours is permitted. Is this still the case and if so, does the one ticket cover the whole journey – in our case from Brussels to Zagreb, even though we would be stopping o/night in Munich?
I really appreciate your help.
Regards,
Kevin
I am needing to find the cheapest train (or even a plane) from Madrid to Prague. My wife and I are arriving in Madrid on Feb. 4th and then on the 6th she has to fly to London for 2 days to visit a friend in the hospital. We are going to meet up in Prague on the 8th – she’ll be flying from the UK, but I wasn’t sure if taking a train could fill up the two days affordably, or if I should just fly. Any suggestions?
Thanks,
Brandon
i plann to visit amestrdam next week with my wife i like to get the cheapest train from amestrdam to a coruna in spain so please help me to get the price of that train .
Great information about the Europa Spezial but I’m struggling with the stopovers as whatever time I enter say 24.00 hours it gets changed to 00.24 minutes when I click search. We are planning on travelling from Vienna to Berlin stopping off at Prague and Dresden on the way for between 24 and 48 hours. Can you give me any hints about what I’m doing wrong?
Ruth
This is very easily fixed. Note the syntax. 24:00 requests a stop of 24 hours. The number before the colon is interpreted as hours. You probably typed 24.00. There being no colon, it would be interpreted as 24 minutes.
Odd eh? And, if you ask quite how I come to know this absurd detail, I cannot rightly say. Perhaps it is knowledge that is injected secretly into European travel writers at birth. But worth remembering that the syntax on many travel websites across Europe is that a colon separates hours and minutes.
Why not try again, and report back on how it works this time round?
Nicky Gardner
joint editor
hidden europe magazine
Berlin, Germany
Hi Nicky,
As I intend to book tickets through DBahn and had the same trouble as Ruth, I tried your suggestion and it worked. Thanks for the info.
Hi Nicky,
As I intend to travel between Ljubljana and Hannover on 8th/9th June with an overnight stop in Munich, I have been entering ticket requests for the day 92 days from today to practice. I find if I intend to travel 2nd class I can may the whole journey for 39 euros but if I wish to travel first class there are no tickets available even though I am entering the information at 0001 92 days before the intended journey. I can get to Munich for 69 euros and it is possible to travel to Hannover the next day for an additional 49 euros. Is this a reflection of DBahn policy in that they do not allocate first class seats including an overnight stop or does it seem to be a problem with the online booking system. I note you mention that first class tickets usually do not sell out as early as second class tickets but my experience online is the opposite. I guess I may be doing something wrong.
Because I am in Australia it is easy for me to access the site at midnight German Time but I am wondering if I would do better telephoning the London Office when they open that day.
I do appreciate you assistance.
Regards,
Kevin Page
Further to my last post I tried the DBahn site in German and found I could get the 69 euro fare providing I did not want a three hour stop in Nuremberg between Munich and Hannover.
Regards,
Kevin
Going to Paris in May and would like to travel to Buapest and Praque. Would the easiest way to travel be by train and how much would it costs. Any usefule websites to look into? How long would we need in each city?
we are visiting europe and we are a family from singapore. I would like to know whether I could buy the bahn rail ticket online on bahn website? I was told by some friends that we cannot buy on bahn website if we are not in europe, is it true? We are flying into Zurich and we intend to take the rail from zurich to munich then to salzburg and finally to st gallen, can I buy the train tickets on bahn website for these routes and can I print the ticket instead of delivery? thank u for your kind advice. regards
Hello!! I would like to go from Frankfurt to Munich on April second, could somebody help me telling me what is the cheapest way? train? which train company? and how the discounts work? thank you.
Hi Selma,
The best thing to do is go to DB German site. At the top you can find a box where you can change the language to UK English or USA English if necessary. Put in details of your required trip i.e. Frankfurt to Munich and your time and date on departure. The site will give you a choice of trains and also show the lowest price. Using the German site in German is sometimes better but, having entered your requirements the cheapest ticket showing at the moment is second class for 49 euros. All trains are run by German railways.
Sorry Selma, I should have mentioned typing bahn.de into google will take you to the site.
Actually, Munich to Frankfurt on 2 April is still do-able for €29 (city centre to city centre) as long as you would not mind taking slower trains for part of the route. So if cost (rather than speed) is of the essence, you may consider this option. Just one of many routings still on offer at that €29 fare is 07.46 from Munich on Train IC2290. Change at Stuttgart Hbf (arrive 10.01) when there is a good connection onto the Regional Express to Heidelberg, where change again for Frankfurt. If you wished to break your journey for a few hours in Stuttgart or Heidelberg (or both), that would be allowed at this €29 fare.
You can book this on the German language Bahn website, taking care to enter Stuttgart Hbf in the field marked ‘Ueber’ and untick ICE and EC/IC in all but the first row of the field marked ‘Verkehrsmittel’. The fare would be €49 for two people.
If you do not wish to book in advance and are happy to use slower local services you can travel from Munich to Frankfurt by buying a Bayern Single Ticket which costs €20. That will take you as far as Kahl-am-Main (the last station in Bayern before the border with Bundesland Hessen) from where it is a short €7 hop on to Frankfurt. If you are not travelling alone, but with others, buy the Bayern Ticket for €28 which allows 5 people to travel from Munich to Kahl-am-Main, where you buy the add-on for the onward hop to Frankfurt-am-Main.
Apologies, Selma. Frankfurt to Munich equally available at €29 one way on 2nd April. Our notes above gave the right route but the wrong direction. The knack in securing the €29 Deutschland-Spezial fare is to choose an appropriate midway point (eg. Stuttgart or Wurzburg), and use IC/EC options (not ICE) for one half of the trip and Regionalverkehr for the other half. And what we said about using Regionalverkehr throughout still stands of course. The great advantage of that latter option is that you do not need to prebook. You could usefully pre-purchase a Bayern Single Single (if you travel alone) or a Bayern Ticket (for up to five of you, plus children, travelling together). Then just get Frankfurt to Kahl on the day or departure.
Hi again,
My wife and I wish to travel from Dresden to Augsburg first class on Friday 18th June. I realize I can’t book now but in practice I looked at the same journey on 4th June. I was hoping to find a 49 euro fare for each of us but the cheapest I can find without ICE is 101.90. Is there an alternative so I can get the cheap fare or is travelling on a Friday a problem?
There is plenty of availability from Dresden to Augsburg for 4th June at the lead-in cheapest fares. If you book now, it’ll be €49 one way second class for two people or €79 one way first class for two people. This is still available even on services using ICE services (eg. by way of example 08.53 or 09.44 from Dresden via Ingolstadt, but lots of other options too).
This is an instance of a journey where some of the fastest services are in the category that cannot be pre-reserved, viz. IRE departures at 10.53 and 12.53 from Dresden Hbf, which take 5hrs 48mins to Augsburg with just one change of train in Nürnberg. For these tickets, just buy the ticket on the day and it is just the same price as if you prebook. For these services, using the Sachsen and Bayern Tickets, the one way fare on this route from Dresden to Augsburg is €40 for one person and €56 one way for a group of two to five people.