How to Get Around Germany: An Easy Guide to Transportation in Germany

For planning a Germany bucket list vacation to multiple cities, you’ll need to understand how transportation in Germany works. It’s a big country, but it’s very well connected through the train system.

Bus options are also good to consider, especially for budget travelers. Take a look at our guide to how to get around in Germany.

It helps to look at how long it takes to get from one part of the country to another, and to compare trains and buses. That way you can decide how much time you’re willing to spend in transit when planning your Germany itinerary.

And if you’re on a budget, sometimes a slightly longer option can save you a lot of money.

Getting around Germany by train

Germany’s national rail company is Deutsche Bahn. Their website is excellent, available in English, and easy to use for planning routes throughout the country.

FlixTrain is another new option for trains in Germany. They are the same company as FlixBus, a popular bus company throughout Europe. Their bus site will even show you train routes, where available, alongside the bus options.

Whether you’re planning out your Germany itinerary or scouting locations for weekend trips from Berlin, trains are an excellent option.

>>Make sure you know what to pack for traveling in Germany.

Deutsche Bahn fast train transportation in Germany

Traveling long distances from one region to another is easier and more efficient using Deutsche Bahn‘s fast trains.

ICE are the fastest trains, and IC or EC, are still fast but stop more often. These trains are best booked ahead of time.

The ticket prices are more expensive if you book last minute, so if you know when and where you want to go, you can save money.

For reference, ICE means Inter City Express, IC means Inter City, and EC means Euro City. So usually the ICE trains are slightly faster and/or have slightly fewer stops than the IC trains. EC usually means the train is traveling to a city in another country.

To give you an idea of distances, here’s how long it takes to get between Berlin and some of the major cities in Germany:

• Berlin to Munich: 4 to 5 hours
• Berlin to Hamburg: 1 hour 40 minutes to 2 hours
• Berlin to Heidelberg: 5 to 6 hours
• Berlin to Freiburg (Black Forest): 6 hours 30 minutes to 7 hours
• Berlin to Frankfurt: 4 to 5 hours
• Berlin to Cologne: 4 hours 40 minutes
• Berlin to Leipzig: 1 hour 10 minutes to 1 hour 40 minutes
• Berlin to Dresden: 1 hour 50 minutes to 2 hours 15 minutes

As you can see, there aren’t too many short journeys there. So every time you change cities, you will spent half or even a full day in transit. Be sure to work this into your planning.

>>Read: How Many Days in Berlin Do You Need?

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Deutsche Bahn regional train transportation in Germany

Germany has several regions or states. Traveling short distances, especially within one state, can often be really affordable when you take the slower regional trains.

Each state has a day ticket that allows you to travel on the regional trains and city public transportation with up to five people traveling together. This can save you a lot of money if you’re traveling within one state.

These tickets are valid from 9am to 3am the next day on weekdays, and from midnight on weekends and official holidays. You pay a base fare for one person and an additional rate for each person up to five, and you can book the day you want to travel.

For example, there’s a Brandenburg-Berlin regional train ticket that you can use to travel within the states of Berlin and Brandenburg in one day. Depending on where you’re going, it could save you money.

There are some variations depending on the state so be sure to check the rules first.

>>Read: 1 Week in Germany Itinerary: Berlin and Munich

Booking tickets

Deutsche Bahn train tickets are easy to book online since the website is also available in English. But you can also book tickets at machines, which also switch to English, in any train station.

Most train stations will also have a ticket counter if you want to buy from a person. But they might not always speak English and sometimes there are extra charges involved.

Certain tickets, usually savings fares, will bind you to a specific train. You must travel on the exact time and route you have booked.

The only exception is if you have a connecting train and your first train is late, causing you to miss your connection.

If you want more flexibility, book the standard fare which allows you to travel on a particular route but you are not bound to an exact time. You must still ride the same class of train as the ticket you have booked.

You don’t validate train tickets in Germany. But someone will come through and check your ticket almost every time, so don’t ride without a ticket.

You used to be able to buy a ticket on the train, but recently rules have changed, eliminating this as an option in most cases. Always buy a ticket before boarding the train.

>>Check ticket prices and routes on Deutsche Bahn.

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Buying Deutsche Bahn tickets online

If you’re planning out your trip, I usually find it easier to use the website on my laptop. The app is great, but if you’re not used to booking train tickets, the normal website might be easier, and it’s a little easier to see more details.

Here are screenshots of the website. I’m going to walk you through searching for routes so you can buy tickets on Deutsche Bahn for your trip to Germany.

The picture above is the Deutsche Bahn homepage. This is where you’ll start your search by putting in your starting and ending cities and your date and time of travel.

Now you can see what the screen looks like once you’ve entered all your info. Note that even on the English version, dates are still written in European format, which means the date shown in this screenshot is May 11th.

Also, make sure you put in the number of people you’ll be booking for. This is less important early in the planning process when you just want to see what the route options are, but when you’re looking for prices and getting ready to book, put in the correct number of people.

Usually using the “fastest connections” option is best since it’ll get you from A to B in the quickest amount of time. But if you’re traveling on a budget and you only want to use regional trains, uncheck that box and check the “local transport only” box.

The screenshot above shows the search results with train routes starting with the time you put in. There’s always an “earlier” and “later” button you can hit if you want to see more options.

See the blue circle I put on the image? I’m showing you where there’s a sprinter train. The sprinter train is faster than a normal ICE train and has fewer stops, so it can save you time.

You won’t see it on every route, but there are a few per day on the Berlin to Munich route I’m using for this example. In this case, it saves you about a half hour.

Note how inexpensive these trains are. This is because I’m searching for routes roughly 3 months into the future, so if you can plan ahead, you can usually save money. The same route only a few days in advance is showing me almost 4 times the price.

If you’re flexible, check trains for different times of the day. Using that same May 11th example, I did see one route that was about 4 times as expensive as the other options, so I personally wouldn’t choose that one.

On each route, you’ll see a line that says “show details” and you can click on that to expand it. It’ll give you some more details about the route, and then you can click on the “further information” option in the route to show you the stops.

Now you can see in the picture above where this route stops between Berlin Hbf and Munich Hbf.

Interested in seeing the whole route? That train number, ICE 1003, is a clickable link.

Once you click the train number, you can see something like the screenshot above. Now you know that this route starts in Hamburg Altona and ends in Munich Hbf.

I mostly like to look at this to see if the train goes to a more convenient train station in Berlin. In this case, chances are Berlin Hbf is the best one for you, but if you’re staying near the East Side Gallery, for example, and the train you want stops in Ostbahnhof, that is closer.

Once you select a route, you’ll see a screen like the picture above. As you can see, there are several options, each with a different price. So what’s the difference?

Types of train tickets

Super Sparpreis: Basically, this is the super savings price. This is the cheapest option because it comes with no extras and you’re bound to the exact train you book. You can’t change your ticket later if you decide to go on a different day or even at a different time on the same day.

Sparpreis: This option also binds you to the exact train you book, but it does come with the option to cancel before the day of travel for a fee. The Sparpreis ticket also comes with a city ticket, which means you can use it to ride local public transportation before and after your train. (Doesn’t work outside of Germany.)

Flexpreis: The Flexpreis ticket gives you more flexibility but at a much higher price. It comes with the option to cancel for a fee before the day of travel, and it comes with a city ticket, but it also lets you travel on any train that runs that route on the same day. So if you book an 8am train and decide to sleep in, you can get the 10am train.

Flexpreis Plus: This ticket is just like the normal Flexpreis ticket, except you can travel 1 day before 2 days after the day you booked. This is the ultimate in flexibility, but it comes at a price.

1st class: You’ll also see an option to upgrade to a 1st class ticket. This comes with a seat reservation and a bit more space. I generally don’t bother with 1st class unless there’s a sale or the price is almost the same as the cheapest 2nd class ticket, but booking in advance, this actually looks tempting.

Note that either Flexpreis option still restricts you to the route you’ve booked. So if you booked Berlin to Munich, you can’t change your mind and use that ticket for Berlin to Frankfurt.

Seat reservations on Deutsche Bahn

Deutsche Bahn train tickets don’t automatically assign you a seat. If you want to reserve a seat, there’s an option in the booking process to do so.

It costs 4.50 euros per leg, and it’s only available on the long distance (IC, ICE, EC) trains. You can’t reserve seats on the regional trains.

Reserving a seat means you know exactly where to go and you don’t have to stress about searching for an empty seat or get split up from your traveling companions. There’s even a map on the platform telling you where to stand based on where your seat is.

If you don’t reserve a seat, when you board the train, look above the seats next to the seat numbers to find one that isn’t reserved. On rare occasions on popular routes at busy times, there could be no seats available.

In 11 years of living in Germany, I’ve only been stuck completely without a seat once, but it was enough for me to almost always reserve seat now. The small fee is worth it to avoid the stress, especially when I have lots of luggage.

>>Check out: When is the Best Time to Visit Berlin?

FlixTrain transportation in Germany

FlixTrain is a fairly new option in Germany, but it’s one that could save you money. They are good for medium to long distance travel.

Even though they don’t have as many routes, they do have the most popular routes you are likely to be interested in as a tourist.

Some example routes include Berlin to Cologne, Cologne to Hamburg, Berlin – Frankfurt – Heidelberg – Stuttgart, Hamburg – Berlin – Leipzig – Munich, and Munich to Frankfurt. These routes have other stops as well. FlixTrain also has one route in Sweden.

Train tickets on FlixTrain come with a guaranteed seat. You don’t have to worry about getting stuck standing. Most trains have free wifi and outlets at your seat.

FlixTrain also uses the normal train stations, so you don’t have to go someplace different to catch the train.

It’s definitely worth comparing FlixTrain with Deutsche Bahn since they could save you money on the same routes.

>>Read out guide to saving money while traveling to Berlin on a budget.

Getting around Germany by bus

FlixBus can be a great option for getting around in Germany since it is usually cheaper than the train. But you do have to weigh the cost savings with the amount of time it takes.

For some routes, the timing is similar, while others are much longer. Shorter distances are usually similar, while longer routes are usually faster with the train than the bus.

FlixBus is definitely worth checking out when you’re planning your routes. Their buses are modern, clean, and safe, and I’ve used them dozens of times, so I would recommend them for any type of traveler.

The FlixBus website also tells you when they have a FlixTrain option for the route you’re searching for, so if the bus takes too long, the train might be good.

For example, Berlin to Hamburg takes about 2 hours by train on Deutsche Bahn. If you look at FlixBus to compare with the bus prices, you’ll see that the bus takes 3 to 4 hours, which is not ideal.

But they tell you it’s faster with the train, and you’ll see that the FlixTrain option takes about 2 hours.

When I’m traveling around Germany, I always check the FlixBus site before I book my transportation. If it’s cheaper and similar timing, I’ll use FlixBus.

>>Check prices and schedules on FlixBus.

Berlin Travel Resources

I want you to have the best trip to Berlin, and hopefully this guide to transportation and getting around in Germany is helpful. But there are lots more tips on the site!