After months of discussion and Bundestag approval, German train company (and Star Alliance member intermodal partner) Deutsche Bahn has put the 9-Euro-Ticket on sale. This ticket allows the use of unlimited public transport (except long-haul buses and ICE, TGV, EC and IC trains) for one calendar month in June, July and August 2022.
This ticket is a must-have for anyone travelling to Germany in the Summer. For example, just getting from Munich Airport to the city center would generally cost more than the €9 ticket. But not only that ride is included it the ticket. Some highlights include the suspension railway in Wuppertal, the Hamburg ferries or just spectacular rail lines.
Search & Book
You can buy the 9-Euro-Ticket on the websites of public transportation authorities. Wherever you purchase the ticket, it will be valid throughout Germany.
To search for train trips, you have many options. On the DB website, you can select “Only local transport” under the “types of transport” page. Advanced train enthusiasts can use ÖBB Scotty (website, Android, Apple). You can select “Regional traffic” when searching. For some, it can be a clearer and better interface, than DB.
Example trips
We list some trips below to compare regional trains with long-distance ones. generally, taking long-distance trips with regional trains is possible, but involves many connections. That prolongs your travel time to:
- Frankfurt-Munich: ~5:20 instead of ~3:40
- Frankfurt-Düsseldorf: ~4 hours instead of ~1:50
- Berlin-Hamburg ~4 hours instead of ~2
- Munich-Stuttgart: ~3:00 instead of ~2:20
You can find more information about the German railway in this guide – though any advice we offer here is easily beaten by the immense value-for-money of the €9 ticket:
Cover Picture: © huettenhoelscher (Deposit Photos)