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Trains in Germany

Travel around Germany by train with an Interrail Pass and visit the enchanting Neuschwanstein Castle, soak up the lively atmosphere at Oktoberfest and admire areas of outstanding natural beauty like the Black Forest and the Rhine Valley.


Explore top cities Berlin, Munich, Hamburg, Cologne and Frankfurt by regional, high-speed or night train while enjoying Germany's picturesque scenery on the way.

 

 

Train types in Germany

The German railways are run by Deutsche Bahn. You can check train times on the Interrail train timetable or on the DB website.

 

Map with main train connections in Germany
Map with main train connections in Germany

Your Interrail Pass can also be used on several railway companies in Germany.

 

Regional and intercity trains in Germany

S-Bahn

  • Suburban trains that run within most major cities.

  • No reservations required.


Regional Express (RE)

  • Connections between regional towns and larger cities. Frequent stops.

  • No reservations required.


Regional Bahn (RB)

  • Connections across all local towns. Slower than Regional Express trains.

  • No reservations required.


Interregio-Express (IRE)

  • Connections between Germany’s regions.

  • No reservations required.


InterCity and Eurocity (Express) (IC, EC and ECE)

  • Domestic and international connections between major cities. Frequent stops.

  • No reservations required.

     

High-speed trains in Germany

InterCity Express (ICE)

  • Connects major cities and travels at speeds of up to 320 km/h (200 mph).

  • Includes an on-board restaurant.

  • 1st class may have extra benefits, like newspapers and power sockets.

  • Reservations optional (but recommended during busy periods).

     

TGV

  • Frankfurt/Munich/Stuttgart/Freiburg to France. 
  • Reservations optional for trips within Germany. 
  • Reservations required for trips to France.

International trains in Germany

All long distance trains to/from Germany will be subject to mandatory reservations from June 1 to September 1 (except trains via Basel and Schaffhausen).

 

ICE

  • Frankfurt – Paris/Brussels/Amsterdam/Zurich
  • Stuttgart – Paris. 
  • Hamburg – Zurich
  • Dortmund/Berlin – Vienna
  • Berlin – Innsbruck
  • Frankfurt – Amsterdam
  • Frankfurt – Brussels
  • Frankfurt – Paris

TGV

  • Frankfurt – Paris/Marseille
  • Munich/Stuttgart/Freiburg - Paris
  • Frankfurt – Bordeaux. Running on Saturdays 08 July – 26 August
  • Freiburg – Bordeaux. Running on Saturdays 01 April – 02 September
  • Reservations optional for trips within Germany
  • Reservations compulsory for trips to France

Eurostar

  • Dortmund – Düsseldorf – Cologne – Brussels – Paris 
  • Reservations are compulsory 
  • Read more about special booking conditions on our dedicated Eurostar page
  • Operated by red coloured former Thalys trains

RailJet

  • Munich – Salzburg/Vienna/Budapest
  • Munich – Innsbruck – Verona/Bologna/Venice (From Spring 2024)
  • Reservations are mostly optional, and compulsory when crossing the German border

Eurocity/Railjet Brenner

  • Munich – Innsbruck – Verona/Bologna/Venice
  • Mandatory supplement if you are travelling to/from/within Italy. You can purchase it before boarding, but you can also do so on the train (for a €5 fee). 
    • 1st class: €15 
    • 2nd class: €10

EuroCity Express (ECE)

  • Munich – Zurich
  • Frankfurt – Milan

EuroCity (EC)

  • Hamburg – Zurich/Interlaken 
  • Bochum – Klagenfurt 
  • Rostock/Hamburg/Berlin – Prague – Budapest 
  • Berlin – Gdynia/Warsaw (Reservations compulsory)
  • Berlin – Wroclaw – Krakow – Przemysl (Reservations compulsory)
  • Frankfurt – Munich – Salzburg – Ljubljana – Zagreb 
  • Munich to Venice, Verona and Bologna (Italy) 
  • Mandatory supplement if you are travelling to/from/within Italy. You can purchase it before boarding, but you can also do so on board of the train (for a €5 fee). 
    • 1st class: €15 
    • 2nd class: €10

InterCity (IC)

  • Hamburg – Copenhagen
  • Berlin – Amsterdam
  • Hamburg – Zurich (part of the NightJet)
  • Amsterdam – Cologne – Frankfurt – Zurich (part of the NightJet)
  • Stuttgart – Zurich

Train stations of bordering countries

With a Eurail pass valid in Germany you can travel to the following train stations of countries that border Germany:

  • Basel (Switzerland)

  • Salzburg (Austria)

Domestic night trains in Germany

ÖBB Nightjet (these trains continue or/and start abroad)

  • Düsseldorf – Cologne – Frankfurt – Nürnberg – Munich/Passau
  • Hamburg – Hannover – Nürnberg – Munich/Passau
  • Hamburg – Hannover – Frankfurt – Freiburg – Basel
  • Berlin – Leipzig – Frankfurt – Freiburg – Basel
  • Dresden – Leipzig – Frankfurt – Freiburg – Basel

 

International night trains in Germany

Snälltåget night train

  • (Dresden –) Berlin – Hamburg – Copenhagen Örestad – Malmö – Stockholm

SJ Euronight (EN)

  • Berlin – Hamburg – Copenhagen Airport – Malmö – Stockholm 

ÖBB NightJet (NJ and EN)

  • Munich – Florence – Rome
  • Munich – Verona – Milano – Genoa – La Spezia 
  • Stuttgart – Munich – Udine – Venice 
  • Hamburg – Basel – Zürich 
  • Hamburg – Linz – Vienna 
  • Hamburg – Munich – Innsbruck 
  • Hamburg – Nuremberg – Vienna 
  • Amsterdam – Düsseldorf – Linz – Vienna 
  • Amsterdam – Düsseldorf – Cologne – Innsbruck 
  • Amsterdam – Düsseldorf – Cologne – Basel – Zürich 
  • Vienna – Munich – Paris/Brussels
  • Berlin – Hale – Erfurt – Paris/Brussels
  • Prague/Berlin – Leipzig – Basel – Zürich

EuroNight Metropol (EN)

  • Berlin – Dresden – Prague – Bratislava – Budapest 
  • Berlin – Dresden – Prague – Vienna – Graz

Euronight Chopin (EN)

  • Munich – Salzburg – Vienna – Krakow – Warsaw

EuroNight Kálmán Imre (EN)

  • Stuttgart – Munich – Salzburg – Vienna – Budapest

EuroNight Lisinski (EN)

  • Stuttgart – Munich – Ljubljana – Zagreb

EuroNight Opatija (EN)

  • Stuttgart – Munich – Opatija – Rijeka

European Sleeper (ESL) 

  • Prague – Dresden – Berlin  – Amsterdam – Rotterdam – Den Haag – Antwerp – Brussels
    •  Prague and Dresden from 25th March

Scenic train routes in Germany

Black Forest Line

  • Offenburg to Konstanz, through the Black Forest and small villages.

 

Rhine Valley Line

  • Koblenz to Mainz, through the German wine country.

 

Elbe Valley Line

  • Dresden to Czechia, along the Elbe river in Saxon Switzerland.

 

Neckar Valley Line

  • Stuttgart to Heidelberg, along the picturesque Neckar river.

 

Mosel Valley Line

  • Koblenz to Trier, small towns and wine along the Mosel river.

Private railway companies in Germany 

Your Interrail Pass can also be used on several railway companies in Germany.

 

Popular connections

Compare train travel times for popular routes in Germany. We'll show you the travel times for high-speed ICE trains in Germany:
 

Route

ICE

Berlin to Cologne 4h 30m
Berlin to Frankfurt 4h
Berlin to Hamburg 2h
Berlin to Munich 4h 30m
Frankfurt to Cologne 1h
Frankfurt to Munich 3h 30m
Hamburg to Cologne 4h
Hamburg to Frankfurt 4h
Hamburg to Munich 6h
Munich to Cologne 4h 30m
Route Which train? Travel time Reservations
Berlin to Amsterdam (Netherlands) InterCity 6h 20m Optional (Required June 1st till September 1st)
Berlin to Prague (Czechia) EuroCity 4h 30m Optional (Required June 1st till September 1st)
Berlin to Warsaw (Poland) Berlin-Warsaw Express 5h 30m Required
Berlin to Zurich (Switzerland) ÖBB Nightjet 12h 15m (overnight) Required
Dresden to Wroclaw (Poland) trilex regional train 4h Not required
Düsseldorf / Frankfurt to Amsterdam (Netherlands) ICE 2h 15m / 3h 55m Optional (Required June 1st till September 1st)
Frankfurt to Brussels (Belgium) ICE 3h 05m Optional (Required June 1st till September 1st)
Frankfurt to Paris (France) TGV / ICE 3h 55m Required
Hamburg to Zurich (Switzerland) ICE / ÖBB Nightjet 7h 35m / 10h 55m (overnight) Optional / Required
Hamburg to Copenhagen (Denmark) IC train 4h 40m Optional (Required June 1st till September 1st)
Munich to Innsbruck (Austria) EuroCity / Railjet Brenner 1h 45m Optional (Required June 1st till September 1st); Supplement required
Munich to Paris (France) TGV 5h 40m Required
Munich to Rome (Italy) ÖBB Nightjet 11h 30m (overnight) Required
Munich to Venice (Italy) EuroCity / Railjet Brenner / ÖBB Nightjet 6h 50m / 8h 40m (overnight) Optional (Required June 1st till September 1st) / Required
Munich to Vienna (Austria) RailJet 4h 10m Optional (Required June 1st till September 1st)
Stuttgart to Zagreb (Croatia) EuroCity / EuroNight 10h 45m / 14h 10m (overnight) Required
Stuttgart to Budapest (Hungary) EuroNight 12h 50m (overnight) Required
Berlin – Stockholm (Sweden) EuroNight / Snälltåget 15h 20m / 17h 15m (overnight) Required
Berlin – Budapest (Hungary) EuroCity / EuroNight 11h 30m / 13h 30m (overnight) Required
Frankfurt – Milan (Italy) EuroCity Express 7h 45m Optional (Required June 1st till September 1st)

Dresden – Berlin to Brussels (Belgium) via Amsterdam (Netherlands) 

European Sleeper 11h 30m (overnight)  Required
Dortmund / Cologne to Paris (France) Eurostar 5h 10m / 3h 20m Required
Berlin to Paris (France) ÖBB Nightjet 14h Required

 

Reservations

Interrail reservation self-service system

  • Interrail
  • IC, EC, ECE, ICE, TGV, RailJet, Eurostar, Nightjet, EuroNight, European Sleeper

Administration costs when booking through Interrail self-service

  • € 2,- p.p.per train
  • Additional € 9,- per order (for paper tickets)

With railway carriers

  • DB (German railways): Domestic and international trains 
    • Toggle on ‘Book seat only’ for most trains
    • Leave ‘Book seat only’ switched off for:
      • ICE and TGV to France
      • ‘Brenner’ EC/Railjet direct trains to Italy

Other platforms

By calling Deutsche Bahn

  • By clicking the link above you'll find yourself on the DB contact page. There are phone numbers for English, French, Danish, Italian, Dutch or German speaking customer service representatives.

 

An explanation of how each booking platform works can be found here: How do I book my reservations

 

Locally at the train station in Germany

  • At the DB ticket machines at the station

Good to Know

Which trains in Germany require reservations?

  • No reservations: Regional (RE, RB, IR).

  • Optional (but highly recommended during busy periods): InterCity (IC) / ICE / EuroCity (EC) / ECE (Eurocity Express). €5,20 2nd class and €6,50 1st class.

  • Required: All international IC, EC and ICE trains to and from Germany during summer season (1 June until 1 September). 
    • Exception: To Switzerland, only trains Munich-Zurich have mandatory reservations. 
  • Required: All night trains, fees depend on destination and type of seat/bed booked.
  • Required: Supplement Eurocity (EC) trains to/from/within Italy. Optional for routes that don't start, end or run through Italy.

The ICE Paris-Frankfurt train has a limited amount of seats for Interrail Pass Holders. Our advice is to book this train well in advance, especially if you plan to travel in high season (May to September).

 

Eurostar trains are popular and therefore, usually sell out quickly. Make sure to get your seat reservation in time. Alternatively, find trains without seat reservations in our timetable by toggling on the ‘no reservation needed’ button.

Reservations for Thalys trains cannot be made through the Deutsche Bahn website. You can instead make them via the call center, a DB agency or at the ticket desks at German train stations. Find out how to make your Thalys reservations.
 
 

Get your Pass for Germany

Interrail Germany Pass

 
  • Explore all of Germany by rail.

  • Youth discounts, as well as family and senior discounts.

  • Benefits include FREE travel on the S-Bahn in major cities and 50% off ferries to Finland and Sweden.

  • Prices from € 170

 

View Germany Passes 

Interrail Global Pass

 
  • Travel by train in up to 33 countries in Europe including Germany.

  • Discounts available for youth, seniors and families.

  • Prices from € 212

 

View Global Passes 

 

Tips and tricks in Germany

The main German train stations

The main stations in Germany are very well connected to local and international cities. These stations are:

  • Berlin Hbf

  • Köln Hbf (Cologne)

  • München Hbf (Munich)

  • Frankfurt Hbf

 

German train stations are often well-maintained and have modern facilities:

  • Lockers

  • Cash machines and a foreign exchange desk

  • Restaurants and cafés

  • Restrooms

  • Tourist information offices

  • Elevators, escalators, and access for disabled passengers

Spelling of names in Germany

Sometimes the German spelling of cities is different to what you're used to. You'll see the local spelling when you arrive at the train stations or when you look up routes on the timetable.

Good to know:

  • Köln = Cologne

  • München = Munich

  • Nürnberg = Nuremberg

Ferry travel and other discounts

Free and discounted ferry travel is an extra benefit of the Interrail Germany Pass. Get discounted ferry travel between Germany and:

  • Denmark

  • Finland

  • Poland

  • Sweden

 

See all Interrail benefits in Germany

 

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