Hi All,
I'm off to Germany in June 24 for a week and intend to travel extensively across the country. The intention is to use all forms of public transport, (ICE, Local, trams etc). I'm mid 50's.
Can anyone recommend the best ticket available? I've looked and seem to be going around in circles as the only ticket I can find cannot be used if you live in Europe?
Many Thanks
If you're a European resident, you can buy an Interrail pass. Otherwise, you can buy a Eurail pass at a slightly higher pass. Those passes can be obtained in either country-specific or "Global" (almost all countries in Europe) varieties. Either pass would be valid on almost all German trains, including ICEs, with no supplement or reservation necessary for most services. You would have to pay on top for buses as well as most tram and U-Bahn services, but S-Bahn services are generally included.
A Global pass may be worthwhile if you're coming over from the UK - as you can obtain a "passholder reservation" for the Eurostar for about £30 each way, thus avoiding the expensive Eurostar fares. A Global pass allows you to travel to/from a border, port or airport in the UK (as your country of residence) on up to 2 days within your pass validity. So you could use it to get to whichever airport you'll be flying to Germany from, or you could use it to get to London and then on the Eurostar (the Eurostar counts towards your 2 domestic days). There are no "peak" time restrictions so it can again save you a lot of money on the journey to London/the airport.
If you're happy to forgo the use of "Fernverkehr" (long distance trains, i.e. ICE, IC, EC) then you can get one ticket that covers all of Germany via the D-Ticket - the famous €49/month ticket. This covers all forms of local and regional public transport, including buses, trams, U-Bahn, S-Bahn and R, RE, REX etc. trains. Basically any that don't come into the ICE, IC or EC category. There are various apps you can buy your D-Ticket from, including some that will allow you to buy one for part of a month - but you need to make sure you get your timings right as many require you to cancel your subscription by a certain date to avoid it automatically renewing for another month.
