Cheap way to travel within Germany?

English Open Chat
#1

Hello,

I am planning my euro trip between July~August 2010 ].I am getting lot of info by Googling but still would like to know some info about traveling in Deutschland.

-What is usually cheapest way to go to 1 city to another? Say like from Frankfrut to Berlin? Flight or train? I heard some times they have dirt cheap train tickets for an hours or so?? ] Or flight is less expensive?

-I will land in Frankfurt, from their will move to Berlin, from their Bavaria & from Bavaria will go to Wien.Or may be Wien from Berlin itself.

Any1 can give any tips which transport should I select to make it reasonable journey? :slight_smile: This is going to be my back packer + hitchhiking tour. :stuck_out_tongue: I did such trip before but only to nearby nations.

Regards,
Amey.

#2

Maybe our German members acn help you with more details (like cheap rover cards), but generaly spoken train is cheaper then air in Europe.

#3

I can’t swim otherwise I wouldn’t mind to visit Holland which has lot of water-ways :stuck_out_tongue:

#4

You are quite welcome. No need to swim, come by railway. Berlin - Amsterdam goes about every two hours. Frankfurt - Amsterdam the same.

#5

I traveled through Europe several times by car very cheaply. I booked and paid months before I picked up the car (in Munich, not at the airport.) Those deals may not be available or desirable to you now.

I would look at Ryan Air and bookmark the site.
Cheap Flights to Europe with Ryanair - Cheap Flights from UK
They are the ones with crazy pricing. My son flew round trip London to Munich for $29!!! I have seen their site when it said “if you get here in the next hour, you fly to xxx for 6 euros” or some such crazy price. Their trick is to fly to out-of-the-way airports, often abandoned military bases, that have low landing fees. If you are a hiker, that might not matter to you at all.

Good luck. I’ll look for opensuse decals on backpacks when I go there.:wink:

P.S. I just checked. London to (Berlin or Dublin or Lodz) is 5 euros one way.

#6

sco1984 wrote:
> -What is usually cheapest way to go to 1 city to another?

you can check the low fare airlines but i do not think you can beat
travel by rail…and, you sure should look at something an EuRail
Pass <http://www.eurail.com/> which are available in several cost
levels with more or less travel days and countries depending on your
needs and what you want to spend…

however! if you know exactly which dates you want to be where then
look for air tickets, i’ve seen air tickets from Copenhagen to Wein
for about $60 for the hour and a half trip, when a second class train
ticket the same day was over $250 and took like 18 hours…so, you
have to decide speed or savings!

in addition to to saving money i found travel by train to be
comfortable, safe and most important a great place to meet folks (more
so than on an airplane or in airports…

PLUS, just look out the window to get a ‘taste’ of the countryside…

but, always find a grocery store to take your water, food, fruit with
you…those are always far too expensive on the train, and the
grocery store will also beat the price of any kiosk selling food
inside the rail stations…

finally: if you do want to use EuRail, (unless the rules have changed)
it MUST be purchased in your home country…they will NOT sell it to
you once you get to Frankfurt…

same for a Hostel Card, they need to also be purchased in your home
country…

oh, you can jump on a “night train” and spend the extra for a bunk bed
and avoid a much more expensive hotel/hostel cost and wake up where
you wanna be!!

backpacking europa is a great education in itself…enjoy!!

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#7

They have a really cool car pooling scheme here in Germany that is available in most cities.

You pay part or half of the fuel bill.

A lot of people I know have used it and say it was great, sadly I can’t remember the name of it though :(.

I’m sure it was online too, you can search for your destination and work out the cost beforehand.

I only heard one negative story, where the driver failed to turn up, other than that it sounded great.

Search google for “carpool germany”, I just found tons of links :).

I would never consider doing this in any other “western” country as it is far too dangerous, but in Germany it is quite safe.

I must say, I’ve lived in many countries in my life, but have never before felt so safe and at ease as I do in Germany.

#8

It is a long time ago that i lived there, but i remember 10 years ago you could have bought a bahncard from the german bundesbahn and traveled over germany or even within europe.
There are also some studenttickets available.

Personally, if you go backpack, i would choose train since you see more and can stop at any station.
Flight is quicker of course, but it really depends how you want to travel and what you like to see.

I rarely used hostels, but there are indeed some youth hostels which are mostly cheap.
If you have time and can plan, you should seek privat rooms for rent.

I did this within germany (as a german) in munich. You can save some serious money this way and still live comfortable.
I had a nice big room in an apartement in the center of munich (shared bathroom).
Everything within the city you can do with metro. Most cities do have daypasses which will enable you to switch transportation between bus or train.
Also most cities have a certain radius for what a ticket is valid.
But its better to get a day ticket i think.

I have seen also a tv show here from national televison. It was Rick Steves Europe and it had some good tips for traveling through europe. You might want to check that too.

Rick Steves Europe Through the Back Door

#9

Hello

Some tips for travelling in germany

Hotel reservation with good deals :stuck_out_tongue:
DB for train travelling.

On weekend it’s possible to use some special tikets

Or to use lander tickets. For long distance look for Spaarpreize ticket

Kind regards

BG

#10

For air travel you might check Air Berlin, airberlin.com - Flight but the current fuel surcharges are somewhat steep. Buses are more reasonable. Berlin Linien Bus is an example at https://www.berlinlinienbus.de/index.php?lang=en and the seats are very comfortable. Search for “busreisen deutschland”. I personally prefer the trains but I found that booking through Eurorail is expensive for short trips. I prefer to buy tickets locally from DB, bahn.com - your online travel booking tool for rail journeys, holidays, city trips and car rental

#11

Legs or pogo stick?

#12

Methinks not. The Flybar 800 Pogo retails for U.S.$249.99 while a good Limmer hiking boot is around $600. Try the bus.

#13

Mitfahrzentrale | mitfahrgelegenheit.de should be the cheapest ride from Frankfurt to Berlin. I would not fly from Frankfurt-Hahn to Berlin as it’s a long way from Frankfurt to Hahn-airport.

#14

Hi,

there are several ways to travel Germany as you can see. A list by me travelling a lot here.

  1. Bus

Cheapest way. You can get a ticket e. g. Frankfurt-Hamburg for 9 Euro. That’s the advantage. Disadvantages? First you travel by bus. I don’t like it. You cannot stand up, sometimes even the toilet is broken. In my view also the most horrible way to travel. [edit]Oops, forgot the second. The cheapest tickets are limited to the earliest and the latest buses (starting 7 am or 11pm).[edit]

  1. Get a lift via “Mitfahrzentrale”

The better way hitch hiking. :wink: You pay a part of the fuel and go by car. Normally it’s a good way but you never know who drives the car. Is it a person who talks to much? Is it a crazy man who goes 180 km/h while passing an area under construction? Does he take drugs or drinks? In my youth I was hitch hiking a lot. I will never do so. :wink:

  1. Pre booked trains

Also a very cheap way to travel around. You can get tickets from 29 Euro for Munich-Berlin with long distance trains called ICE which are up to 300 km/h fast. You only have to know when you will go and you have to know it early. Those tickets you get via internet bahn.com - your online travel booking tool for rail journeys, holidays, city trips and car rental. Select “Deutschland” “Germany” for getting the english version. If you miss the train you lost your money. You cannot use those cheap tickets for other trains than the pre booked.

  1. Cheap flights

Seems to be cheap but it isn’t. Cheap flights mostly start an land on cheap airports. We have an airport here in Hamburg which is a city airport. We have another airport called “Hamburg” which isn’t even placed within Hamburg but a city named Lübeck. The same in Frankfurt. Guess where the cheap flight goes to? So you have to add the fee for the transport to and from those places. Another disadvantage is that you have to book the really cheap flights long before you travel.

  1. Hire a car

It’s crazy but because going by train for normal prices and flights are really expensive also hire a car is a cheap way to travel. Especially at week end many hiring stations have special prices. For example about half a year ago I hired a Mercedes A-Class which is a very nice car from friday afternoon to monday morning for about 100 Euro all kilometers included. Ok, you have to add the fuel. Also you have to drive the car by yourself.

All other possibilies I wouldn’t call “cheap”. :wink:

hth

Erik

#15

Danke! to all for lot of good tips. My exam just got over today. Now I am going to work on all those options.

Primarily I want to see major cities in Germany & then Wien. From Mumbai it’s very reasonable to land in Frankfurt compare to other german cities.

My bad luck is Condor airways no longer goes to Frankfurt from Goa province of India. They just go to Lazza airport France ] and few other airports in Italy from here.

I don’t mind of crazy bus rides. I have over experience of such rides here already. lol! If bus is cheap on my traveling dates i’ll consider that. 1 person in this thread suggested Ryan air but I think if 8 Euro is 2 way price including tax I still need to pay lot of money for my 7~8 kg backpack???

My last question is >> How is weather in Germany & in Austria in July~August? I dont want to bring lot of winter cloths. :stuck_out_tongue: And will I get free OpenSuSe t-shirt if I attend monthly meeting some where in Germany? :wink:

#16

From Germany to an other country:
Europa-Spezial

In German:
Wetter-Nachrichten - Donnerwetter
Wetter-Nachrichten - Donnerwetter

I suggest no winter clothes (only on mountains) but you may need a raincoat. And if you are visiting (catholic) churches long trousers would be apropriate :wink:

The weather in German summer depends on much
mainly if there would be a stable Hight (pressure) above the Azores (then mostly sunny and about 25-32 degrees Celsius) or not (then maybe heavy rain/many clouds). I do not remember much under 15/20 C in summer days.

Have you jet an Euro/German Adapter for your electric devices?
We have DC with 50 Hertz and 230 Volt but you will need an adapter for your plugs:
Länderübersicht Steckertypen, Netzspannungen und -frequenzen – Wikipedia
Mains power around the world - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Eurostecker – Wikipedia
Schuko – Wikipedia
Schuko - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
AC power plugs and sockets - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Hope you enjoy europe!
Greetings
pistazienfresser

#17

P. S.:

Smaller cities (especially the ones with universities) may be interesting, too, e.g.:
Göttingen: Göttingen – Wikipedia Stadt Göttingen - Home
Göttingen station - Google Maps
Heidelberg: Heidelberg – Wikipedia PIROBASE ® 5
…

#18

Hi,

Gerne!

I hope you will visit Hamburg, too. For sure it is the nicest city in Germany, Europe and the whole world. :wink: If you do so just tell me when and if you like to we will meet each other.

Oh, I missed that you are from India. Well, I’ve seen some fotos of the busses there. OK, you won’t mind to ride ours. :wink: It’s just a question what you are used to.

Well, that’s what I was talking about. You have a lot of extra pay with those “cheap” air lines. Ryan doesn’t use the metropolitan air ports but the provincial ones. And you even have to pay your drinks.

The weather in Germany is as it is. No warranty! lol At the moment we have end of may. Well, we had 3°C two nights ago. No, I didn’t forget the 0! Ok, that’s unusual but you have to keep in mind that even summer could be very cold for ppl coming from tropical or sub-tropical areas. My wife is cubanian and I remember how she dressed herself the first two summers here. :wink:

hth

Bye

Erik

#19

destinations?:
Tourism: Das Deutschland-Portal
Germany Tourism - Travel, Holiday, Vacation
Information in Mumbai?:
India Pool