Cheapest ways to travel in Germany

Germany has numerous places to visit, and its location makes it very convenient to travel to a lot of other European countries as well. While every person visiting Germany would like to take the opportunity of travelling around, sometimes students might get worried about their expenses while planning a trip. However, you need not worry much about burning a hole in your pocket, for there certainly are cheap ways to get around the country! Here are some ideas for you to spend less and see more in Germany, whether travelling by train, flight, carpooling or bus :

Cheap travel in Germany: Trains

When it comes to travelling long-distance, train is a great option to consider in Germany or Europe in general, even if it is a night train in which you could sleep through your journey and reach your destination in the morning. The prices however, are always a concern. Nevertheless, Deutsche Bahn , the railway service provider of Germany, has quite a few offers that you could make use of, and travel cheap. 

Group travel in Trains in Germany

Travelling around Germany is much cheaper if you do so in a group of 5 or so.  If you are travelling in a group of more than 5 people, you could get the tickets at half-price. Yes, even for the fast ICE trains. You would just have to select the number of travellers when you book your ticket online, and fill out the age of each of the travellers. People below 26 years of age always have discounts and more offers, in comparison to the others.If you are a frequent traveller, you can choose to buy a Bahn Card 25, 50 or 100, that would give you discounts on every ticket you purchase as long as the card remains valid.

Regional trains in Germany : Cheap travel

If you are not travelling in a group, you can get saver fares on train tickets if you book your ticket online quite in advance. Look out for the Spär Ticket (savings ticket) which is only available online.

Some of the other offers from Deutsche Bahn include :

1.Quer-durchs-Land-Ticket – This is a day ticket for the whole of Germany, but is only valid for regional trains. While it costs 44 euros for one person, 4 more people are allowed to travel with the ticket-holder, by paying 8 euros each.So, if 5 people choose to take this ticket together, each would end up paying about 15 euros or so.

2. Schönes-Wochenende-Ticket – This is the weekend ticket for all regional trains across Germany, that can be used only on Saturdays or Sundays.It costs 40 euros for one person, and 4 euros for every additional person; maximum group of 5 allowed.

3. Länder-Tickets – This ticket is valid for one day in a specific state, and you can buy it from any of the DB ticket machines in the state, or online or even at the train station. You should note that every ticket you buy at the station counter would cost 2 Euros more. Depending on the state, the ticket could costs between 23 to 32 Euros for one person, and you can use it for unlimited travel with regional transport for an entire day. This is useful if you would like to make day trips in your state and use public transport in those cities too. 4 more people are allowed to travel with you on this ticket, by paying 4 or 5 euros each  additionally. The number of people can be selected while buying the ticket from the vending machine or online.        

 Pro Tip: Just so you know, the Badischer Bahnhof in Basel, Switzerland is a German railway station, from where you can buy the Baden Wütternberg ticket for 23 euros (19 euros if you are below 26) and travel across the whole state of BW for an entire day! As an example, I recently visited Konstanz and Titisee in the Black Forest region , Germany by buying this ticket from Basel Badischer Bahnhof.

You can also check out the night trains and the Europa Special trains , in order to get good deals on your trip.

 

Cheap travel in Germany: Low cost flights

 

Certain low cost airlines are extremely helpful when you are travelling on a budget.

While most flights tend to be expensive unless you book way in advance, and book the return journey with the same flight too, there are a few options you could try out for flying at very low prices. Ryanair, EasyJet are two low cost airlines, and a slightly expensive airline could be GermanWings. With tickets available for as low as 10 and 20 euros, Ryanair surely has the cheapest flight options possible, although you are charged for carrying anything more than a cabin baggage and the airports are typically located quite far from the main cities. Another cheap airline is the Hungarian Wizz Air which flies from 11 airports in Germany.

However, the good thing is, that you are not forced to book your return ticket with the same airlines. You could, for instance, choose to travel from Cologne to Rome with Ryanair, but then decide to take a train or bus to another city from there. 

READ : The time I travelled to 4 cities in 3 countries spending 110 Euros on travel costs

 

Select Flight to ‘Everywhere’ for finding the cheapest options:

 

 

Cheap travel in Germany: carpooling 

This is one of the most economical and environment-friendly ways to travel all around. Using websites such as BlaBlacar, you can create an account and enter your origin and destination on the home page to start searching for people offering rides on your desired days. Not only are the prices extremely reasonable, the mode of payment is too! Depending on the driver, you could either make an online payment, which is completely secure via the website, or you could pay in cash during the ride itself. This could be a great way of meeting new people while travelling, and knowing more about the city you are travelling to. In the absence of traffic jams, the lack of speed limit on the Autobahn (highways) can give you a great driving experience.

If you drive, this is a great way to split the costs of fuel too.

Read a carpooling story here : When a wrong train led to the right destination

Cheap travel in Germany: bus

If you are unable to get cheap train tickets or a carpool, you can most definitely consider taking buses for your trip. With a large number of low-cost bus services like Meinfernbus, DeinBus, Eurolines, Flixbus, you can travel across large distances at the cheapest prices possible. For example, travelling to Heidelberg from Cologne with Meinfernbus could cost you as less as 11 Euros, Berlin to Munich could be 22 euros while Deinbus could charge you only 7 Euros to travel from Heidelberg to Stuttgart airport! With Eurolines, you can also get cheap tickets to travel to cities in neighbouring countries, such as Amsterdam, Paris, Brussels or Prague. The only catch is that the travel time would definitely be longer than a train or car, and the buses can get quite delayed  in case of a traffic jam on a highway.

Hope you found this information useful. Make sure you save it for easy reference later and share it with your travel loving friends.  Need help planning your next trip? Get in touch and let me help you with your planning!

Here are some Useful Travel Accessories for your travels!

 

Some guide books to help you on the road:

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