Travel in Germany

Here are the most popular means of travel between cities in Germany.

by train: fastest on short- & mid-distance, cheap if bought early
by bus & car:
- car rental: expensive but most flexible
- rideshares: cheap but reliability varies
- long-distance buses: cheapest but slowest
by plane: most expensive but fastest for distances over ~400km

By Train[edit]

The vast majority of trains are operated by Deutsche Bahn, Germany's national railway company.
- You can travel all their trains for 1, 2 or 3 months with a "flat rate" ticket:
  - Interrail^[1] if you a citizen or resident of an European country
  - Eurail otherwise
Their biggest private competitor is Flixtrain.

These long-distance trains by Deutsche Bahn connect all larger Germany cities with frequent connections.
Find a connection with their Connection search^[1].
Get the best price with their Best price finder^[1].
- Ticket prices start from €17.90, even for very long connections.
- A calendar view of best prices for a connection gives you Bahn.guru (inofficial).
With a Bahncard^[1], you can get a 25% or 50% discount on nearly any ticket.
- A Bahncard 25 costs €56,90, a Bahncard 50 €234 per year (2nd class).
- There is a 3-month trial version (Probe-Bahncard) for €17.90 / €72,90.

Flixtrain is a brand of Flixbus, Germany's biggest operator of long-distance buses.
Their network connects many cities, but trains run only 1 to 4 times a day
Prices are very cheap, starting from €3.
Trips can be booked together with Flixbus busses, so you can get one ticket for the whole trip (bus & train).
The Flixtrain connection search^[1] shows both Flixtrain and Flixbus connections.

Regional/local trains are mostly operated by Deutsche Bahn.
They connect close cities or cross / go around big cities.
- It is possible (but slow) to travel long distances by using many regional trains in a row.
There are day passes (Länderticket) valid in all regional transport in one ore even multiple German federal states, often also reaching into neighbouring states.

At organized ride shares (Mitfahrgelegenheit), people who travel by their passenger offer their free seats to other travelers.
Prices are similar to those for long-distance buses.
BlaBlaCar^[1] is the most popular ride-sharing platform.

Car rental for traveling between cities is rather unpopular in Germany. It is mostly done when moving to a new place, and a van is needed.
The biggest rental companies are Sixt^[1] and Europcar^[1].

Because of Germany's fast train network, plane travel within Germany only makes sense for very long distances, e.g. Hamburg-Munich.
Find all flight connections with Google Flights.

↑ ^1.0 ^1.1 ^1.2 ^1.3 ^1.4 ^1.5 ^1.6 ^1.7 ^1.8 This is an affiliate link. If you click on it and then buy something or sign up for a service, we may earn a commission which covers our expenses. This does not change the price for you.