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Germany by train


Germany by train

Regular train services connect Germany with all neighbouring countries. Almost all neighbouring countries (especially Switzerland, Poland, Denmark, Czech Republic and Austria) and even some non-neighbouring countries (e. g. Italy) are quite well connected with "EuroCity" trains. They are a little bit slower and slightly less comfortable than the European high speed trains but reach nevertheless up to 200 km/h. They are a worthwhile way to travel--not only for budget travellers (although budget airlines might be cheaper) or landscape viewers (especially the Rhine valley lines). There are also several European high speed trains to cross into or get out of Germany:
  • The Thalys brings you from Cologne (Köln) to Paris in approximately four hours and to Brussels in about two hours.
  • The ICE brings you at 330 km/h top speed from Frankfurt (3h 15), Cologne (2h 30) or Düsseldorf (2h 15) to Amsterdam. The train journey from Frankfurt to Paris using the ICE will take about four hours; going from Hamburg to Paris can take eight and a half hours. There is also an ICE line from Frankfurt to Brussels via Cologne.
  • Between Stuttgart and Milan (via Zurich) the Cisalpino offers several connections and is at the moment the only direct trans alpine train connection.
  • Standard rail fares are quite high, but there's a number of special fares and discounts available - see the "Get Around" section for more information. In particular, the Bahncard reduction applies for the whole journey as long as it starts or ends in Germany.

    The Most Frequently Asked Travel Questions about Germany


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    Germany Travel Guide from Wikitravel. Many thanks to all Wikitravel contributors. Text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0, images are available under various licenses, see each image for details.

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