Well thought through and helpful to parents. rail maps, More information about See details here. You'll also find a few Most are open roughly 07:00-21:00 daily, search I recommend buying direct from Deutsche Bahn with all the cheap fares shown, no booking fees Buy online at A day ticket Children must be included on the adult's ticket. Anyone of any nationality can buy a Bahncard. but you could be asked to move if someone shows up with a reservation. 3 months, after which it is automatically renewed as a normal 1-year Bahncard 25 And as you're booking a package, they'll take care of you if that seat is reserved for people with disabilities. few days before departure, leaving only the Flexpreis & Flexpreis Plus fares. London to Paris or Brusselsby Eurostar Disclaimer, copyright, data protection & privacy But there is now one other long-distance operator worth mentioning. for visiting my site see If you see a difference, do the Train travel in Europe page about hassle-free. Yes, for longer distance in German, so use Google Chrome browser's automatic translation feature), see my top tip below). When the adult is buying their own ticket, they must specify any children/grandchildren and write their names on the ticket. You could go online at (but not those which need to be posted) for DB train at the same prices as discontinued this ticket in June 2019. Free travel for children to destinations in countries bordering Germany www.bahn.de/./startseite-topangebote-QDL_LZ01. first traveller pays 42, each additional passenger pays just 7 to be added Flexpreis & Flexpreis Plus. Frankfurt to other European cities, Trains from Munich New Zealand call toll-free 0800 000 554 or, Beginner's You won't Germany is therefore one of the countries where passes retain their gives unlimited travel on the urban bus, tram & U-bahn network in that city. Great that they have so much to keep the kids interested/occupied during a trip. On-train announcements on Tip: Register when prompted, so you can log in and check or re-print value. But imagine you there's not much in it, I prefer keeping all my bookings together in one place {Germany} X Marks the Spot The Rntgen Museum, {Berlin} Game On at the Computer Games Museum, Kruterlimonade German Herbal Lemonade. unreserved seat. or can simply show it on your laptop or smartphone. Before buying a Bahncard, run an enquiry for the journeys you actually plan a good guidebook. and proceed past the seat reservation stage. Travel tips: Luggage, food & drink, lounges How to visit the Harz steam railway & Brocken. Bahncard can be bought for either 2nd class or 1st class. ticket machines at German stations, although it costs 2 more if you buy Learn how your comment data is processed. and tick the carriage of bicycles required box. free to bring your own food and drink (even a bottle of wine, if you like) onto the regional part of the route. AirBnB is a platform actual effect a Bahncard has - train, placing them on the racks at the end of each car or amongst the seats, or above your head. To explain that a bit more, Maybe next time you are travelling around Germany, you will take your kids on the ICE too. not apply to your particular journey. Some ICE trains also have a Familienbetreuer on board, who offers family activities such as crafts, drawing, storytelling or face painting. support a print-at-home ticket, even if that ticket covers several babies and toddlers) or a Familienbereich (a family area aimed at families with children of pre-school and primary school age). Check prices & buy online at Take Youth Bahncard 25 is a of travel, but starts at just 29 upwards (meaning it could be 39, 49, 59, hosted three travellers looking for a place to stay. in October 2016, all you now need is a passport or other recognised ID to The Flexpreis Plus fare has slightly better public holidays from 00:00 use bahn.de, all international credit cards accepted, you print your own ticket How to reach Neuschwanstein reservations necessary or possible. validity starts, and you choose how many days you want to buy, either 3, 4, There are several types of ICE, for plans of Most long-distance trains have at least a bistro car serving tea, coffee, wine, beer & hesitation in recommending them. They come in a Sunday but DB My kids would love them.

ICE4 trains for a You can make as many journeys booking opens. So cool! If you live in the UK you can buy Bahn.de is one of the best train operator sites, but if for any reason you want an Alternatives to using bahn.de: It also means you can hold accommodation while you finalise trains. Finally, the little story book in the picture, about Oli riding the train, is not actually from the ICE, its from the S-Bahn which is a local railway that also runs out of Berlin. can be taken on all German trains, sometimes free, sometimes for a small fee. Motorail to to be on the safe side and reserve. 268, that works out at 45 (51) per day. fares you can only travel on that specific train, limited refunds and no the time when putting a trip together. They are refundable, good for any train that day, Seat reservations are still chapter. wanted to make two such journeys a day, not one. need no ID. You can also ask for a free colouring activity book, which comes with coloured pencils. www.bahn.de Schwerbehinderte means You can reserve seats both the special ones and regular seats at a cost of 9 Euros for a family of up to 5 people, which saves you some money as usually its 4.50 Euros per person/seat. reserved between which stations, and which seats are free. Train seat numbering page. choose from. so on, depending on how far ahead you book and how popular that date, day and In first class on ICE you'll often be asked if you want to order food or drink, Do you know if you can bring a childs car seat on the train and use it? Children travelling by themselves get a discount of 50%. You Flexpreis (full-price) fares and 25% off Sparpreis/Super Sparpreis to Germany. The train aisle runs past the compartment, so no other passengers need to pass through. see the bicycles by train page. The Bahncard 25 is the range of cards overseas visitors should consider as savings may These full-fare tickets have a fixed price, and it will be brought and served at your seat. cities at rock-bottom prices. You can usually book with free

www.bahn.de/en/view/offers/regional/regional-day-tickets.shtml. (for example, Brussels to Poland) for which you'd have to manually split the trains (RE, RB, IRE, S-Bahn) throughout the whole of Germany. train will stop, soyou can be waiting in the right place when your Stopovers. discount can justify the cost even for one trip to Germany involving a few train You can use your Bahncard to buy discounted tickets at At one point, we had accumulated overa dozen of these, as wed have four at the end of each trip to visit the grandparents (two on the way there one per kid and two on the way back), but we recently had a clear out and now just have six one of each train per kid. another question! policy. rail maps. long-distance trains are often made in English as well as German. www.booking.com cheaper Bahncard 25 for older travellers aged 65 and over, lasting 1 year. www.thetrainline.com. any reservation fees to pay, and (unlike France) no quotas for passholders. this way, too. regional-express trains throughout the whole of Germany on either a Saturday or including rail travel, hotels & transfers. However, for international journeys the discount will not You could go online at Flixtrain offers cheap tickets, even if the competing DB

Lonely Planet website, with shipping worldwide. We will be visiting Germany and have to bring a car seat for the rental car that we will have but will also likely be taking the ice. ahead for German domestic tickets. mobile device, and print-at-home or show-on-smartphone tickets. ggf. within that city within 2 or 3 hours of your arrival. These one-day unlimited travel passes are well worth knowing about, even though reserviert - this popular that train, day or date is. They run on weekends in selected trains, and you can check on the Deutsche Bahn website which routes offer this service. Those are loads of freebies. extra' for a small fee, around 4.50. I can see why you like traveling on the ICE. www.bahn.com//en/offers/bahncard. Alternatively, feel Within Germany, you can book a bike space and buy your ticket online First-time visitors often think this will be a problem, but it hardly ever is. Undismantled bicycles are not carried on www.bahn.de has a direct connection to DB's ticketing is my favourite hotel booking site and I generally prefer booking my hotels all in one place here. reservation required. until your 19th birthday, whichever is sooner. German train tickets direct from Deutsche Bahn on their English-speaking telesales Bahn.de, but with a small booking fee. before departure with a small fee deducted, no changes or refunds allowed from which connects hosts with guests, so you can now book a room in people's homes,

the French, Italian & Spanish ticketing systems so can easily book

It was increased to 6 months from the Germany, you can buy a German function gtag(){dataLayer.push(arguments);} They cannot 'sell out'! DB's ICE Alternatively, these tickets can also be bought on the day of travel from the self-service All-Europe train times distance IC, ICE & EC trains is optional for a small extra charge, around unlimited availability and cannot sell out. And for any long journey it's best you like spontaneously with no reservation or extra fee payable. You'll find information about ICEs on the You can't use fast IC, ICE or EC trains, only slower regional trains, so a

formation poster or Wagenstandsanzeiger, on a German station Thanks for an informative post. Then a pass is great Should you reserve a seat or The ICE offers some great services for families. Mannheim, Munich, Nuremberg, Stuttgart. normally be the full 25% or 50% as the reduction is not necessarily applied you pre-book direct with the operator you can find some really cheap fares. On their website you'll find a Just follow the signs to the 'DB The pass is valid on all DB But it can be a very cheap way to go, especially if you support a print-at-home online ticket. Finally, if you are lucky and they havent run out, you can collect a free little toy ICE. For example, Frankfurt to Berlin costs 120 In Germany, there are few if the child must accompany the parent/grandparent). You then 'spend' each of these unlimited travel days on any guide to European railpasses, How to check train times, fares & buy tickets, www.bahn.de/./startseite-topangebote-QDL_LZ01, www.bahn.de/en/view/offers/regional/regional-day-tickets.shtml, www.bahn.com//en/offers/regional/regional-day-ticket-for-bavaria, How to reach Neuschwanstein them with you onto the is also capable of splitting the booking to book some cross-Germany journeys 1st class or 2nd class. Virtual and sizes, some single-deck, some double-deck. It also covers most Bavarian times, fares & The Bear and the Fox is my little corner of the web where I share family-friendly craft ideas, recipes and travel tips, as well as reviews of our favourite books, apps, toys & games. Children age 6-14 travel for free if they are travelling with a parent or grandparent AND if you add them to your adult ticket at the time of booking! and clicking the Seat only (no ticket) link right at the bottom.

You can sit in it if you like, but will have Language problems: or an apartment, flat or house which people want to rent out. So book ahead! Trenitalia) or Frankfurt to Bordeaux (which involves DB and SNCF). change, including the Christmas period, usually open in mid-October. Unfortunately, since December 2019 only Left luggage at stations: Frankfurt Main Airport, Hamburg, Hanover, Cologne, Leipzig, To explain that a bit more, ICE4. If they are travelling with someone else or on their own, they pay 50% of the full ticket price. Sparpreis and enter your start and end point, simply click Stopover, enter the If you'd The Kleinkinderabteil is usually a separate compartment with doors you can close, with table seats (the ones we have travelled in always had two tables i.e. Some people hate these seats, they find ittoo noisy with lots of kids in a confined space, or the floor too dirty to put their kids down. fully-flexible standard price. online at passengers. refurbished with similar seating to ICEs. means the train's on-board reservation system hasn't been updated with the departure approaches and the cheaper tickets are sold. anything over 8.0. your bookings and re-print at any stage. savings justify the cost of the card? weekdays or from 00:00 Saturdays & Sundays, until 03:00 the following morning on all regional www.bahn.de stations: There are lounges for first class passengers at Berlin, Bremen, Dresden, Dsseldorf, Frankfurt am Main, can buy a Lander ticket online at last-minute reservation seat. The Bayern Ticket (Bavaria Ticket) two longer trips, especially if made close to departure date when fares the seating layout on IC, ICE and various other types of train in Germany see the Neuschwanstein, Germany's fairytale castle: Deutsche Bahn's ticket prices for children are based on the children's age and who they are accompanying. Trains to Germany from other European medianet_width = "300"; staffed travel against each train. Flexpreis if you buy on the day Alternatively, if you are resident outside Berlin they are valid on any train Food & drink on German trains: www.bahn.de for train sometimes outsourced to a private operator such as Abellio, Metronom, Erixx, but still run as part of the months in advance, so are now seeing higher prices, perhaps 69 or 89 fares 1st class or 2nd class. to move if someone shows up with a reservation. flexibility and convenience, unlike (say) France, Italy or Spain. Click here to check Interrail prices & buy online. Railways. Undoubtedly, the thing my kids most look forward to when we travel with the ICE, is the freebies. travelling at up to 175mph (ICE1 & ICE2) or 186mph (ICE3). Some InterCity trains cross borders into neighbouring countries and these will plastic Bahncard is posted to you at any address worldwide. online tickets or 34 for 2 people travelling together or 42 for 3 people or 50 for 4 people that day, a seat reservation isn't necessary but can be made as an 'optional See what it does to prices. other European rail network maps. Undismantled bikes are also carried on most InterCity trains, end, no problem. Small LED displays above each seat show which seats are Go to The Schnes-Wochenende (Happy Undismantled bikes are carried on Rail Pass giving a choice of 3 to 10 days unlimited travel on all major German cities, you are often offered a City Mobil add-on for a few to make, using in one of the boxes printed on the pass. (a) as normal and (b) with a Bahncard 25 or Bahncard 50 discount added. $343, roughly 200, that works out at 33 per day. First class lounges at guidebooks, Finding Tip: I recommend There's more information at validity starts, and you choose how many days you want to buy, any number To check times & prices and to buy tickets in trains. own specification, contact rail travel specialists Railbookers Mobil is available in that city, it will appear after you select your train multi-operator journeys such as Munich to Naples (which involves DB and Saturday & Sunday UK time, 1.5% fee for phone bookings. You can make as many journeys Bahncard 100 gives unlimited It gives unlimited travel on Or didn't book 3 let me know if the link stops working), Click for an alternative map of the German rail network, Advice on finding ICE page. To ensure that your children get a place on board the train, you can purchase a seat reservation for them as well. DB family ticket advance go to the German Railways website (advance-purchase) fares. euros, with choice between a single ticket or a day ticket. If you are a European They now have offices in the UK, USA & Australia.

If you click on that fare, you'll are limited-availability advance-purchase fares, from 19.90, 29.90, 39.90 and can also upload a digital Bahncard to the DB Navigator app and start using it centre rather than online or the self-service ticket machines. www.bahn.de, A bargain worth knowing about! date you like within that 1 month validity period simply by writing the date You then 'spend' each of these unlimited travel days on any This ticket and the accompanying reservations can be booked in a DB Travel Centre or by phone from DB's travel service (+49 30 2970 - prices vary by provider). www.bahn.de travel at up to 125mph, usually using a locomotive and conventional carriages. 29, limited refunds or changes to travel plans. place where you want to stop off, enter the number of hours stopover and off you go. Maximum 2 days validity with a Sparpreis fare. Anyone from any country can many different shapes I have also come to trust their review scores - you won't be disappointed with high-speed ICE trains buses, including the bus between Fssen station and Hohenschwangau for If you see no difference, the discount may

accommodation in Germany Tours X. U-bahn information Super Sparpreis = no refunds, no changes. 2 adults and up to 3 children) via the online travel information function in the "Ticket and reservation" section of the booking process. luggage on trains. wanted to make two such journeys a day, not one. Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. Unlike some overseas travel agents, they or 58 for 5 people. anything happens to one part of the itinerary such as a strike or delay. Maps of the European rail network: could be very slow and involve several changes if made using purely regional operators Flixtrain or InterConnex. You can choose COVID-19 update: not? You cannot buy a German railpass if you are resident in reservations are included. www.bahn.de use this link). (saver) advance-purchase fares are offered if you book in advance, this DB (Deutsche Bahn), www.bahn.de for details. Children aged 15 and over pay the full fare price. Is a pass better value than surprising they get a lot of repeat business, so I have no I'm glad to say that this changed tour of InterCity train 2nd class. trains travel at up to 186 mph from city centre to city centre, and if On the train's LED seat Lounge'. print it out or simply show it on your smartphone or laptop, or you can buy at the station on the day, but it costs 2 more if bought at a medianet_height = "250"; The You can year and gives 25% off It is not possible to add children on the adult's ticket once the journey has started. Bahncard 25 lasts for 1 (use the site search to find it) or at stations for a few euros. Online im Internet; URL https://www.bahn.de/hilfe/view/pk/en/kindermitnahme.shtml can sit in these seats but someone with a BahnCard may show up and claim it. Booking.com, Hotels.com, Expedia, Accor, Agoda and many others. between 3 and 10. are full-price flexible fares. they use easy-to-understand pictograms. Booking now opens up to 6 months to book a long-distance train it initially shows the cheapest fare available cards called Bahncards. trains if you want to save money with cheap advance-purchase fares - cheap Sparpreis specialist who can put together a tour of Germany for you as a package, If you go to the dining car which is usually somewhere near the family compartment/area, you can collect a free kids magazine with stories, games and colouring pages. Is a pass better value than DB has a range of discount luggage on trains, More

Deutsche Bahn trains within an overall 1 month period. valid, but cannot be shown on the LED displays, so you can sit in these seats point-to-point tickets? Regional trains are sometimes operated by Deutsche Bahn (DB, German Railways) or for 44, Lander tickets: Unlimited train travel in one Alternatively you can buy at the station on the day from the self-service www.bahn.de//startseite-topangebote. cards so can be used by anyone from any country. print it out yourself, click the 'Book now' link on TheQuer-durchs-Land-Ticket gives a day's unlimited travel Reserving a seat is optional on most German trains. Then a pass can be great also has a connection to DB's system, so can sell print-at-home tickets Wow, This is an amazing blog to read and also here I know the very interesting way to keep your children entertained. But a family group, travelling on a Friday afternoon in July to the same ticket, up to a maximum total of 5 passengers. then travel as ordinary luggage. Click for DB's own map of the German rail network, Interactive map of the German railway network (please in .PDF format For more information (but only separately (i.e. alternative site which can also book DB trains at DB prices, try these two: Raileurope.com Thats for 2nd class, by the way. It lasts 5 years, or For 1st class, its 11.80 Euros for families and 5.90 Euros for single seats, but weve never gone 1st class as the family compartments are in 2nd class. as you can cram in on each day, there is no limit (that's what unlimited Incidentally, until 2016 you had to show www.flixtrain.com, or use changes to travel plans. 09:00 until 03:00 the following morning, and all day on Saturdays, Sundays & means). And weve always found it fun to meet other families to play with. regional & inter-regional throughout Bavaria for a whole day, on weekdays from add a reserved seat to your booking for 4.50, when buying a first class ticket If you are travelling with small children, you can select the toddler section as your train compartment type. www.booking.com. Each region of point-to-point tickets? Berchtesgaden. They disappear a In 99% of cases you just write the date in your pass, then hop on any trains the credit/debit card used for the booking when using print-at-home tickets. at to other European cities, Trains from Cologne & the day of departure onwards. 03:00 the following morning. gtag('js', new Date()); not cheaper 1st class Sparpreis fares or 1st class railpasses. machines, or for an extra 2, from the ticket office. platform, showing where along the platform each car of a If you don't reserve, you simply sit in any empty current exchange rates, www.germany-tourism.de & regional-express of use to regular travellers. class for 38.50 for 1 person, 58.50 for two, and so on. high-speed IC and ICE trains are easily the best way to travel between major If you are worried about putting babies down on the floor, just bring a light blanket to put down. Wow looks like a fantastic service unlike the rubbish we get here in the uk. nicer than a hostel, cheaper than many hotels. months in advance, so are now seeing higher prices, perhaps 69 or 89 fares Weekend) ticket used to give a whole day's unlimited travel on regional and Senior Bahncard 25 is a cancellation - this allows you to confirm your accommodation at no risk before train No, for longer distance means). the child must accompany the parent/grandparent). Spar is German for save. is the Lander ticket to buy for day trips from Munich to Salzburg, Munich to Or buy the Lonely Planets from the your tickets at any time. This ticket must be booked separately. too. from 09:00 Flixtrain has taken over the one daily train Berlin-Cologne-Heidelberg-Stuttgart Hostelworld most suburban & regional trains, you need a Bicycle Day Ticket (Fahrradtageskarte) tickets by mail, as conventional train tickets have no names on them and soft drinks, beer & snacks. For more information, see the dogs & pets page. national network, with tickets sold by DB at March to last Saturday in October). 1 = approx 1.19 euros 4.50. fee as these have been fitted with bike racks, prior To find a train that will take you and you bike, use the online timetable The single ticket option At stations, signs are usually in English as well as German, or right across Europe, and they know some excellent hotels, I strongly recommend registering when prompted, so you can log in, check Wow I cant believe you get all those freebies definitely a highlight for any child on a train trip like that! Bahncards renew automatically previously run by Locomore and the Cologne-Osnabruck-Hamburg trains previously and they'll create the best rail holiday for you, www.bahn.de by the conductor. Dsseldorf to other cities, Trains from unless your subscription cancelled in writing at least 6 weeks before. www.bahn.de. medianet_versionId = "3111299"; Deutsche Bahn (German Railways)

trains - the ones marked IC, ICE, EC and so on in the search results on When reserving seats, please indicate the full number of children accompanying you. don't forget about backpacker hostels. Well, an adult 6-day 2nd class pass costs www.bahn.de/en/view/offers/regional/regional-day-tickets.shtml and which you can buy online at I never book hotels non-refundably. journey involves a connecting regional train, you can use any regional train on Buy a rail pass online. online, I recommend registering when prompted, so you can log explained here. Both types of family areas Kleinkinderabteil and Familienbereich are almost always near a train entrance and near a toilet. Treat them as you would a city metro: Or simply want flexibility, and don't want to commit to specific trains with Trial Bahncard 25 lasts for Deutsche Bahn trains within an overall 1 month period. Weve never managed to catch one of those trains, but we have met other families along the way who have.

requirements.

would normally be expensive. - taking your car, Beginner's Children aged 6 to 14 travel for free if accompanying their own parents or grandparents. See Raileurope.com One time, they had run out of toy trains and we were given a Little ICE memory game instead, and on our last trip we lucked out and got the whole lot: magazine, colouring book and pencils, card game and toy train!

Regional trains have one fixed price with unlimited availability and no information on left luggage lockers & prices. InterCity Express in, check your bookings and re-print at any stage. from the Lonely Planet Website, from around 2.99 or US$4.95 a (on a Adults with a ticket for cross-border travel to Switzerland or Austria can take a child/grandchild aged 0-5 free of charge (i.e. range of suggested tours & breaks which can be varied or customised to your own 2-3 months ahead and buy a long-distance train ticket in advance from just

in 2016. See sample ICE bistro Free travel for children to destinations in countries bordering Germany Sparpreis & Super Sparpreis fares Eurostar times & fares Berlin Lines open 08:30-20:00 Monday-Friday, 09:00-13:00 regret buying one! After you buy, a hard-copy run by HKX. to other European cities, Trains from Hamburg Flexpreis & Flexpreis Plus just hop on and find any empty unreserved seat, seat reservation on long Or go 1st Bahncard 50 lasts 1 year It may justify the price even for one or It's usually possible to keep all your bags in sight. the bistro car rather than take it back to your seat. trains are more frequent and faster. off-peak travel discounts on normal fares for (in most cases) 1 year. train. No ID is necessary if you select travel for a year, this costs thousands of euros. More However, you be classified EuroCity (EC) rather than InterCity. Different terms and conditions may apply for people using regional tickets. It accepts all international credit Though how they'd know you didn't have a BahnCard and so ask you to move is really do know all about train travel in Italy and Check You holding a frequent traveller BahnCard have priority for these seats. You buy a card and it gives No, for regional trains - Travelling Railbookers are a train travel They can be You can make a seat reservation multi-operator booking site GMT+1 (GMT+2 from last Sunday in

HotelsCombined.com is a price comparison site which compares hotel prices on castle from Fssen station & how to reach Eagle's Nest & the Berghof from www.airbnb.com began in 2008 when two designers who had space to share gtag('config', 'UA-2191308-1', { 'anonymize_ip': true }); Germany by train.