Germany

Getting around by public transport

Domestic air travel

in Germany is only really justified time-wise on the longest routes, such as Munich to Hamburg. The growth of the budget market however means that air travel can occasionally be cheaper than the equivalent journey by train. The first place to look is likely to be the German-based budget airlines these include:

• HLX which runs flights to Germany and further afield from Hamburg,
• Air Berlin, which runs flights mainly from the three Berlin airports (Tegel, Schoenfeld and Templehof), to other cities in Gernany, and to other destinations in Europe, mostly resorts in the south.
• German Wings, which runs from cities in the west of the country to various destinations.
• Easyjet is actually a UK based airline, but one of its major hubs is Berlin Schoenfeld airport, from where it runs flights all over Europe.

You should beware of out-of-town airports when using any budget carriers - while airports such as Berlin's Schoenfeld, Templehof and Tegel are all within easy and cheap reach of central Berlin (and each other) by public transport, Dusseldorf has one real airport with good links and one "Ryanair" airport located 20 euros away from the city itself. Check details of the stated airport on this site or on the website for the airport itself.

Also make sure you are making a fair comparison with the costs of train travel before you book. Extra charges such as cost of getting to/from the airport, and the "taxes" added to air fares after you have selected your flight which are often in excess of 20 euros, all raise the end price of air travel. Also, cheap tickets are only really available in advance, meaning that comparisons have to be made against advance purchase prices on the trains.

Coach travel

within Germany is certainly possible, and there are a number of well defined routes run by companies such as Deutsche Touring. Coach travel is not a great deal cheaper than train travel in Germany however, and since information is much more difficult to obtain and the coach can prove quite uncomfortable over long distances, you are probably better taking the train wherever possible

Train travel

. Diamonds are famously the hardest substance known to man, and that being the case seats on German trains are clearly diamond-encrusted. Nothing else could explain how they have made them so incredibly uncomfortable. And not just on the local trains - after an 8 hour journey on a normal German intercity train you won't be able to feel your arse for about a week. Happily this means that you will be more than willing to stand at the station while you are waiting, which is just as well, since the almost complete lack of benches and waiting rooms means you will basically have no choice. It is unclear whether Deutsche Bahn have created this situation because they are out-and-out sadists, or in a misguided attempt to make a fast buck (there are always plenty of cafes on stations, where you can sit down if you're willing to pay for overpriced food, and the first-class seats are at least a bit better), but either way they have managed to make taking the train a far less pleasant experience here than it need be. And all this for some of the most expensive train fares in Europe.

This is not to write off German railways altogether - compared to railways in Spain and much of Eastern Europe, they are reliable, regular and fast, and the staff are generally extremely polite and helpful, but the reputation they have for being the best railway in Europe is not really deserved. In any case, they are still by far the best way to get around in Germany, and since Germany is right in the centre of Europe, they are pretty key to most international rail travel on the continent. So here are some tips on how to survive, and even save a little money when using them:

• Plan your journey in advance, and find out the cost, using the Deutsche Bahn website. Most of it is translated into English, and it contains timetables (though not prices) for the whole of Europe.
• For travel within Germany, it is often cheaper to buy tickets either from the internet or from the machines on the station than from the ticket office. The ticket machines also sometimes offer cheaper ways to make long-distance journeys (using slower trains or different routes for example) than are shown on the website.
• The high walk-on fares, and relatively small number of supplements make Germany a good place to use an Interrail or Eurail pass. It is also worth considering buying a Eurodomino ticket for Germany if you will travelling much here.
• If you will be spending more than 200 euros on rail travel in Gernany, it may be worthwhile to buy a Bahn 25 Card. Details are on the Deutsche Bahn website. Basically it costs 50 euros, and gives 25% off all normal 2nd class tickets. For a further 15 euros, a Railplus card will extend the 25% discount to international journeys in most European countries.
• Cheap advance purchase tickets are starting to make an appearance in Germany. Currently the offer is rail travel for 29, 39 or 49 euros (depending on how many seats are available on a given train), for a journey on one of abour 20 routes throughout Germany. These can be slightly difficult to find, since the tickets are only made available one week before the week in which they are valid. If you look at prices on the website 3 weeks in advance therefore, they will not appear. Don't forget that these tickets will only be valid on the specific trains they are booked for, so it's important not to miss the train.
• It is possible to buy tickets in advance on the Deutsche Bahn website. This is mostly useful for the advance purchase offers listed above. Basically you will need a credit card and access to a printer. You book the tickets and pay for the tickets online, print out the confimation document, and then hand this over with the credit card used to the conductor on the train. This saves having to have a postal address to send tickets to.
• If you spend a day travelling around on local trains in a given lande (region) of the country, various "Lander" and "Schone-Wochender" tickets are available for unlimited travel alone or in a group of 4 or 5. Again details for each region are on the Deutsche Bahn website.