germany cheap train travel

The Man in Seat 61

A beginner's guide to

Train travel in germany.

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Deutsche Bahn (German Railways) high-speed IC and ICE trains are easily the best way to travel between major town & cities all over Germany, in comfort at ground level.  DB's ICE trains travel at up to 186 mph from city centre to city centre, and if you pre-book direct with the operator you can find some really cheap fares.

Train travel within Germany

International trains to & from Germany

Station guides, general train travel information, useful country information, how to check train times & buy tickets.

To check times & prices and to buy tickets in advance go to the German Railways website int.bahn.de ( on a mobile device, use this link ).

Anyone from any country can use bahn.de, all international credit cards accepted, you print your own ticket or can simply show it on your laptop or phone.

Tip:   I recommend registering when prompted, so you can log in, check all your bookings and re-print your tickets at any time.

Do you need to book in advance?

When does booking open.

Booking now opens up to 6 months ahead for German domestic tickets.

It was increased to 6 months from the previous 92 days in 2016.  However, the booking period is often less than this for dates immediately after the timetable changes at midnight on the 2nd Saturday in December.  Bookings for dates after the mid-December timetable change, including the Christmas period, usually open in mid-October.

Flexpreis or Sparpreis?

If you use int.bahn.de to book a long-distance train it initially shows the cheapest fare available against each train.

If you click on that fare, you'll then see a range of fares, Super Sparpreis , Sparpreis & Flexpreis .

Flexpreis is the full-price flexible fare.  A Flexpreis ticket can be bought online or at the station on the day of travel, the price in fact varies slightly on different dates, but not by a huge amount.  They are refundable, good for any train that day, just hop on and find any empty unreserved seat, seat reservation on long distance IC, ICE & EC trains is optional for a small extra charge, €4.90 in 2nd class, €5.90 in 1st class.

Sparpreis & Super Sparpreis fares are limited-availability advance-purchase fares, from €12.90, €19.90, €29.90, €39.90 and so on, the price varies significantly depending how far ahead you book and how popular that date, day and train is.  Spar is German for save .  Sparpreis & Super Sparpreis fares only allow travel on the specific train you book, although if your journey involves a connecting regional train you can use any regional train on the regional part of the route.  Prices vary like air fares, rising as departure approaches and the cheaper tickets are sold.  They disappear a few days before departure, leaving only the Flexpreis fare.

Super Sparpreis = no refunds, no changes.   Sparpreis fares are refundable (although for a DB credit voucher, not cash) up to the day before departure with a small fee deducted, no changes or refunds allowed from the day of departure onwards.

• Children go free!   On DB trains, children under 6 go free, no ticket needed.  Children over 6 but aged under 15 also go free if they travel accompanied by a fare-paying adult, a great offer.  Book your tickets at int.bahn.de and it will work all this out for you.

Only one passenger name is needed

Only one name is necessary as I.D. to support a print-at-home ticket, even if that ticket covers several passengers.

If you buy hard copy tickets at a station, no name at all is needed.

Incidentally, until 2016 you had to show the credit/debit card used for the booking when using print-at-home tickets. I'm glad to say that this changed in October 2016, all you now need is a passport or other recognised ID to support a print-at-home online ticket.  You may or may not be asked for it by the conductor.

Tips for using int.bahn.de

Stopovers .  If you'd like a stopover en route, but still want a cheap saver fare from end to end, no problem.  Go to int.bahn.de and enter your start and end point, simply click Stopover , enter the 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.

Alternatives to using bahn.de:   Bahn.de is one of the best train operator sites, but if for any reason you want an alternative site which can also book DB trains at DB prices, try these two:

Raileurope.com has a direct connection to DB's ticketing system so it sells the same trains, same prices, same print-at-home tickets at Bahn.de, but with a small booking fee.  It accepts all international credit cards so can be used by anyone from any country.  Raileurope.com also connects to the French, Italian & Spanish ticketing systems so can easily book multi-operator journeys such as Munich to Naples (which involves DB and Trenitalia) or Frankfurt to Bordeaux (which involves DB and SNCF).  Raileurope.com is also capable of splitting the booking to book some cross-Germany journeys (for example, Brussels to Poland) for which you'd have to manually split the booking at some logical point within Germany if you wanted to use bahn.de.

Thetrainline.com also has a connection to DB's system, so can sell print-at-home tickets (but not those which need to be posted) for DB train at the same prices as DB, but with a small booking fee.

Competing lo-cost operator:  Flixtrain

Almost all long-distance trains in Germany are operated by Deutsche Bahn (DB), the State-owned German Federal Railways.  But there is now one other long-distance operator worth mentioning.

Buy tickets by phone in the UK

If you live in the UK you can buy German train tickets direct from Deutsche Bahn on their English-speaking telesales line, 00 49 (0)30 311 68 29 04 .  Lines open 08:30-20:00 Monday-Friday, 09:00-13:00 Saturday & Sunday UK time, 1.5% fee for phone bookings.

Custom-made tours of Germany by train

Railbookers are a train travel specialist who can put together a tour of Germany for you as a package, including rail travel, hotels & transfers.  On their website you'll find a range of suggested tours & breaks which can be varied or customised to your own requirements.  And as you're booking a package, they'll take care of you if anything happens to one part of the itinerary such as a strike or delay.  They now have offices in the UK, USA & Australia.

Tailor Made Rail can arrange tours of Germany by train, they have suggested itineraries or they can organise a trip based on your own requirements, they welcome complex itineraries!  As it's a package, they'll take care of you if anything happens on one part of the trip, for example, a national strike.  They're TTA-protected - like ATOL, but not only for agencies that sell air travel.

Call their dedicated seat61 phone line 020 3778 1461 and quote seat 61 when booking.  From outside the UK call +44 20 3778 1461.  Lines open 09:00-17:30 Monday-Friday.  Their website is www.tailormaderail.com/destinations/germany .

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DB's discount card:  Bahncard

What are bahncards.

You get the discount on German domestic journeys, and on international journeys to, from or across Germany.

However, for international journeys the discount will not normally be the full 25% or 50% as the reduction is not necessarily applied to the part outside Germany (test it before buying a Bahncard to see what actual effect a Bahncard has - see my top tip below).

Man in Seat 61's top tip:   Before buying a Bahncard, run an enquiry for the journeys you actually plan to make, using int.bahn.de (a) as normal and (b) with a Bahncard 25 or Bahncard 50 discount added.  See what it does to prices.  If you see no difference, the discount may not apply to your particular journey.  If you see a difference, do the savings justify the cost of the card?

Types of Bahncard

Each type of Bahncard can be bought for either 2nd class or 1st class.

Check prices & buy a Bahncard

Special regional tickets.

These one-day unlimited travel passes are well worth knowing about, even though they're not valid on fast long-distance trains, only on slower regional trains.  If you want a railpass valid on all trains, including high-speed and long-distance ones, see the German Rail Pass section below .

Deutschland ticket

Unlimited travel on regional transport nationwide for €49 a month

From 1 May 2023 Germany offers unlimited travel on regional transport nationwide for €49 per month.  This is the successor to the popular (but temporary) €9 ticket created after the pandemic to address the cost-of-living crisis.  Unlike the €9 ticket, the Deutschlandticket will be a permanent product.

The Deutschland ticket is good for all regional trains run by DB and by other operators across the whole of Germany ()marked R, RE, RB, IRE or S-Bahn in the timetable) and other types of local & regional transport including local buses, city buses, trams & U-Bahn.

It's even valid on the famous Harz Railway , including steam-hauled trains, but not on the branch line up the Brocken.

It's not valid on long-distance ICE & IC trains or similar long-distance trains classified EuroCity, Eurostar, TGV, Railjet, Westbahn, Flixtrain or Snälltåget.  So yes, you could cross Germany with it if you wanted, but only using slower regional trains.

The Deutschland ticket covers journeys wholly within Germany, with a few exceptions:  For example, it's valid on cross-border regional trains to/from Salzburg in Austria, to/from Venlo, Arnhem, Hengelo & Enschede in the Netherlands, to/from Basel Bad Bf & Basel SBB in Switzerland, and to/from Zgorzelec in Poland.  But remember, only on the regional trains (marked R, RE, RB, BRB and so on), not EC, RJ, RJX, IC or ICE long-distance trains or privately-run Westbahn (WB) trains.

It's valid from the 1st of the month to the end of the month :  Unlike normal passes or season ticket which can start on any date you choose, each month's Deutschland ticket is valid from the 1st of the month to the last day of the month.  So if you bought one on 30 May, that would be a 'May' Deutschland ticket valid from 1 to 31 May and you'd only get 2 days use out of it, 30 & 31 May - but it would still cost €49!

Only sold as a rolling monthly subscription :  It's aimed at commuters not tourists, so the Deutschland ticket is only sold as a rolling monthly subscription or one-off annual payment.  However, you can cancel the monthly subscription it at any time, even after paying for only 1 month, just be aware that most vendors require you to cancel before the 10th of the month to avoid paying for the following month's €49 Deutschland ticket.  Most vendors require payment by direct debit, a few allow payment by credit card.

Children : As it's aimed at commuters, there's no child version and no provision to add children to your account.  However, a child can travel on an adult ticket (just not the other way around).  If you want to buy Deutschland tickets for yourself and your children, use RMVgo app at sites.rmv.de/en/deutschlandticket , the Rhein-Main Lander, because this (unlike other Landers' apps) allows one person to open an account and buy Deutschland tickets for multiple people including children, with a credit card in one transaction.  The catch?  It may not accept non-German addresses, my correspondent had to use the address of his German hotel but successfully bought tickets for himself and his kids.  Feedback would be appreciated .

If you only want a Deutschland ticket for one month to enjoy a one month's unlimited travel on regional trains across Germany, buy a Deutschland ticket before the 10th of that month by setting up a monthly credit card payment.  Then make sure you cancel the subscription before the 10th of that same month to avoid paying for the following month.

How to buy a Deutschland ticket:

Don't bother trying to use the German Railways (DB) website www.bahn.com to buy a Deutschland ticket as it only accepts payment by direct debit and setting up a direct debit with a non-German bank account results in an error message.  #fail!

The easiest way for foreign visitors to buy a Deutschland ticket is to buy from Bremen area transit authority VBN using their FahrPlaner app because (a) it accepts payment by credit card, (b) it's in English, and (c) it has no problem with overseas users, overseas addresses or UK postcodes.  #result!

Step 1, download the FahrPlaner app for iPhone or MFahrPlaner app for Android (please let me know if those links stop working).

Step 2, the app should open in English.  Click the menu icon top left and go to Tickets .  Then select Deutschlandticket.

Step 3, click the red PROCEED TO LOGIN button at the bottom.  Then click Sign up for free and register, it lists most countries including United Kingdom and United States and has no problem with UK postcodes.

Step 4, select Credit Card and buy your Deutschland ticket.

This is a rolling subscription which you can cancel at any time.

You show the Deutschland Ticket as a QR code in the app on your phone.  Easy!

If you only want one Deutschland ticket for one month, buy it before the 10th of the month then cancel your subscription also before the 10th of the month.  That prevents payment being taken for the following month.

To cancel the subscription , you must open the order confirmation email they sent you when you bought it and click on the cancellation link.  You cannot cancel your subscription from the app.

If you have children, you'll need to use the RMVgo app instead, see the paragraph about children above.

Quer-durchs-Land-Ticket

Unlimited regional off-peak train travel, €46.

The Quer-durchs-Land-Ticket ( Day Ticket for Germany ) gives a day's unlimited travel from 09:00 weekdays or from 00:00 Saturdays & Sundays, until 03:00 the following morning on all regional & regional-express trains (RE, RB, IRE, S-Bahn) throughout the whole of Germany.

The first traveller pays €46, each additional passenger pays just €9 to be added to the same ticket, up to a maximum total of 5 passengers.

You can't use fast IC, ICE or EC trains, only slower regional trains, so a long-distance journey which could be made on a fast direct IC or ICE train could be very slow and involve several changes if made using purely regional trains.  But it can be a very cheap way to go, especially if you haven't been able to book a cheap advance-purchase ticket for an ICE or IC train.

For more information, see int.bahn.de/en/offers/regional/day-ticket-germany .

To buy a ticket online and print it out yourself, see int.bahn.de/en/offers/regional/day-ticket-germany .

Alternatively, these tickets can be bought on the day of travel from the self-service ticket machines at German stations, although it costs €2 more if you buy from a staffed counter.

Lander tickets

Bayern ticket, schönes-wochenende-ticket :  discontinued, railpasses for germany, interrail germany pass:  click to check prices & buy online, german rail pass, maps of the german rail network, what are german trains like , intercity express (ice).

InterCity Express high-speed trains, usually known as ICE, are German Railways' front-rank trains, travelling at up to 200 km/h (186 mph, ICE3), 280 km/h (175 mph, ICE1 & ICE2) or 250 km/h (155 mph, ICE4).  They have 1st & 2nd class, a restaurant car, power sockets at all seats & free WiFi.  More about ICE trains .

InterCity trains (IC)

InterCity trains travel at up to 200 km/h (125 mph), usually using a locomotive and conventional carriages.  Some InterCity trains cross borders into neighbouring countries and these may be classified EuroCity (EC) rather than InterCity.  Power sockets at all seats, and usually some sort of refreshment service.  More about IC trains .

A German Intercity train at Amsterdam Centraal .

2nd class seating on an Intercity train.  Larger photo .

Regional trains

Regional trains are shown as R, RB, RE and so on, where RE is a faster regional express.  Some are operated by Deutsche Bahn (DB, German Railways), others are outsourced to private operators such as Abellio, Metronom, Erixx, but still run as part of the national network with tickets sold by DB at int.bahn.de .  They come in many different shapes and sizes, some single-deck, some double-deck.  No  catering, so bring your own food & drink.  No seat reservation necessary or possible, you sit where you like.

Sleeper trains

There are several German domestic routes where a sleeper is an option.  These are now run by ÖBB (Austrian Railways) and branded Nightjet:

Düsseldorf, Cologne, Koblenz < > Munich, see the Nightjet page .

Hamburg, Hannover < > Munich, see the Nightjet New Generation page .

Seat numbering plans : Click here

Travel tips.

Language problems?

First-time visitors often think this will be a problem, but it hardly ever is.  At stations, signs are usually in English as well as German, or they use easy-to-understand pictograms.  On-train announcements on long-distance trains are often made in English as well as German.

Food & drink on German trains

Most long-distance trains have at least a bistro car serving tea, coffee, wine, beer & snacks from a counter, with some tables nearby if you'd want to eat and drink in the bistro car rather than take it back to your seat.  See sample ICE bistro menu .  Many German long-distance trains have a proper sit-down waiter-service restaurant car.  In first class on ICE you'll often be asked if you want to order food or drink, and it will be brought and served at your seat.

Alternatively, feel free to bring your own food and drink (even a bottle of wine, if you like) onto the train, there's no rules against that on the rails.

Luggage on trains

There are no baggage fees or weight limits, and you don't check your bags in, you simply take them with you onto the train, placing them on the racks at the end of each car or amongst the seats, or above your head.  It's usually possible to keep all your bags in sight.  More about luggage on trains .

Should you reserve a seat or not?

Reserving a seat is optional on most German trains.  You can add a reserved seat to your booking for €4.90 in 2nd class, €5.90 in 1st class. 

If you don't reserve, you simply sit in any empty unreserved seat.  Small LED displays above each seat show which seats are reserved between which stations, and which seats are free.  Travelling alone, middle of the day, mid-week in February, you'll have plenty of seats to choose from.  But a family group, travelling on a Friday afternoon in July would be well advised to reserve seats.  And for any long journey it's best to be on the safe side and reserve. 

You can make a seat reservation separately (i.e. after buying your ticket) by going to int.bahn.de , clicking in the from or to field to open the parameters panel, set up an enquiry and run it by clicking Book seat only .

On the seat reservation display for each seat:

ggf. reserviert - this means the train's on-board reservation system hasn't been updated with the latest information from the main DB reservation system.  Usually all of the seats show this message if this happens.  Seat reservations are still valid, but cannot be shown on the LED displays, so you can sit in these seats but you could be asked to move if someone shows up with a reservation.

ggf. freigeben - this is a last-minute reservation seat.  You can sit in it if you like, but will have to move if someone shows up with a reservation.

bahn.comfort - travellers holding a frequent traveller BahnCard have priority for these seats. You can sit in these seats but someone with a BahnCard may show up and claim it.  Though how they'd know you didn't have a BahnCard and so ask you to move is another question!

Schwerbehinderte means that seat is reserved for people with disabilities.

First class lounges at stations

There are lounges for holders of certain types of first class ticket at Berlin, Bremen, Dresden, Düsseldorf, Frankfurt am Main, Frankfurt Main Airport, Hamburg, Hanover, Cologne, Leipzig, Mannheim, Munich, Nuremberg, Stuttgart. Follow the signs to the DB Lounge .  They're typically open 07:00-21:00 daily, search int.bahn.de for details.  The lounges offer complimentary tea, coffee, soft drinks, beer & snacks.  Unfortunately, only holders of expensive 1st class Flexpreis tickets get lounge access, you don't get access with 1st class Sparpreis or Super Sparpreis fares or 1st class Interrail or Eurail passes.

Left luggage at stations

All German stations except the smallest have left-luggage lockers in various sizes, up to suitcase-sized.  More information on left luggage lockers & prices .

Bikes can be carried on all German trains if semi-dismantled & placed in a bike bag, they then travel as ordinary luggage. 

Undismantled bikes are carried on most suburban & regional trains, you need a Bicycle Day Ticket ( Fahrradtageskarte ) which you can buy online at int.bahn.de (use the site search to find it) or at stations for a few euros.

Undismantled bikes are also carried on most InterCity trains , ICE-T & ICE4 trains for a fee as these have been fitted with bike racks, prior reservation required.  Undismantled bicycles are not carried on high-speed ICE trains other than ICE-T & ICE4 .

To find a train that takes bikes, go to int.bahn.de , click in the from field to open the details panel and select Bicycle transport possible .

To book yourself and your bike on a train in Germany, go to int.bahn.de , click in the from field to open the details panel, click on Passenger, bicycles and add a bicycle to the booking.  For more information, see the bicycles by train page .

Dogs & pets

Dogs can be taken on all German trains, sometimes free, sometimes for a small fee.  For more information, see the dogs & pets page .

Places not served by the main rail network

Neuschwanstein, Germany's fairytale castle:   See details here .

Eagles's Nest:   See details here .

Take a good guidebook.  For independent travel, the best guidebook is either the Lonely Planet or Rough Guide.  Both guidebooks provide an excellent level of practical information and historical and cultural background.  You won't regret buying one!

Buy in the UK from Amazon.co.uk

Or buy in the usa from amazon.com.

Or buy the Lonely Planets from the Lonely Planet website , with shipping worldwide.    Alternatively, you can download just the chapters or areas you need in .PDF format from the Lonely Planet Website , from around £2.99 or US$4.95 a chapter.

Tours of Germany by train

Railbookers, railbookers.co.uk.

If you want to tour Germany by train, with all your train reservations and hotels sorted for you, contact rail travel specialists Railbookers and they'll create the best rail holiday for you, hassle-free.  They take good care of their clients and get a lot of repeat business.  They have offices in the UK, USA & Australia.

Tailor Made Rail, tailormaderail.com

Tailor Made Rail can arrange tours of Germany by train based on your own requirements, they welcome complex itineraries.  As it's a package, they'll take care of you if anything happens on one part of the trip, for example, a national strike.  They're TTA-protected - like ATOL, but not only for agencies that sell air travel.

Recommended hotels

Here are my suggested hotels conveniently located for arrival by train in key German cities, all with good or great reviews.  You are unlikely to be disappointed by any hotel scoring over 8.0 out of 10 on Booking.com .

In Frankfurt

If you walk out of Hamburg Hbf's main eastern exit, you'll find a row of good hotels lined up in front of you on the opposite side of the Kirchenallee.  The pick of these is the excellent 4-star Hotel Reichshof Hamburg , across the road and to the left with art deco-based design and great reviews.  It has its own restaurant for lunch or dinner, although I'd still be tempted to try the beer & traditional German food at Nagel's bar, 150m south along the Kircheallee, restaurant-kneipe-hamburg.de .

The Hotel Europaischer Hof is another good choice and directly in front of you across the road when you walk out of the station.  Other hotels next to Hamburg Hbf with good reviews include the 5-star Hotel Continental Novum (to the right of the Europaischer), Hotel Furst Bismarck (to the right of the Continental Novum), and the Hotel Atlantic Kempinski .

If you'd prefer a hotel right in the city centre, the Henri Hotel Hamburg Downtown is 5 minutes walk from the station on the city side, and gets really great reviews.

If you're on a budget, private rooms in the A&O Hotel start at around £33 for one person or £49 for two people booked at www.hostelworld.com .  The A&O is an 11-minute 900m walk south of Hamburg Hbf, see walking map .  Also try the innovative Cab20 capsule hotel , a 550m 6-minute walk from the station, see walking map .

Affordable hotels right next to Munich Hbf with good or great reviews include the reliable Eden Hotel Wolff or the NH Collection München , both directly across the road from the station's north side exit, ideal for an overnight stop between trains.  I've used the Hotel Wolff myself.

Also consider the more upmarket 25 Hours Hotel The Royal Bavarian , Excelsior by Giesel or Mercure München City Center , all a stone's throw from the station with great reviews.

If you want to push the boat out, the luxurious 5-star Sofitel Munich Beyerpost is right outside the station's south side exit, located in the former Royal Bavarian Post Office building dating from 1896-1900.  It comes complete with a spa with massage service and sauna.

If you're on a budget, the Wombat's Hostel Munich is close to the station's south side exit with private rooms & dorm beds, with good reviews.

Booking.com for hotels

I generally use Booking.com for hotels for 3 reasons:

(1) It keeps all my hotel bookings together in one place;

(2) I've come to trust Booking.com 's review scores;

(3) Booking.com usually offers a clearly-marked Free cancellation option.

Free cancellation means you can secure hotels risk-free even before trains open for booking, and if necessary change those bookings if your plans evolve.

If I'm only staying a night or two, I look for a hotel near the station to make arrival & departure easy.  You can enter the station name (e.g. Berlin Hbf ) as search location.  If staying longer, I look for a hotel close to the sights, entering the name of a city attraction as the search location, then using map view.

AirBnB:  Airbnb.com

www.airbnb.com began in 2008 when two designers who had space to share hosted three travellers looking for a place to stay.  AirBnB is a platform which connects hosts with guests, so you can now book a room in people's homes, or an apartment, flat or house which people want to rent out.  It can be nicer than a hostel, cheaper than many hotels.

Backpacker hostels: Hostelworld.com

www.hostelworld.com :  If you're on a tight budget, don't forget about backpacker hostels.  Hostelworld offers online booking of cheap private rooms or dorm beds in backpacker hostels in Paris and most other European cities at rock-bottom prices.

Travel insurance & other tips

Always take out travel insurance.

You should take out travel insurance with at least £1m or preferably £5m medical cover from a reliable insurer.  It should cover trip cancellation and loss of cash & belongings up to a reasonable limit.  These days, check you're covered for covid-19-related issues, and use an insurer whose cover isn't invalidated by well-meant but excessive Foreign Office travel advice against non-essential travel. An annual policy is usually cheapest even for just 2 or 3 trips a year, I have an annual policy with Staysure.co.uk myself.  Don't expect travel insurance to bail you out of every missed connection, see the advice on missed connections here .  Here are some suggested insurers, I get a little commission if you buy through these links, feedback always welcome.

Get an eSIM with mobile data package

Don't rely on WiFi, download an eSIM with a European mobile data package and stay connected.  Most newer mobile phones can download a virtual SIM including iPhone 11 & later, see device compatibility list .  There's no need to buy a physical SIM card!  Maya.net is a reliable eSIM data retailer with a 4.5 out of 5 Trustpilot rating and a range of packages including unlimited data .

Get a Curve card for foreign travel

Most banks give you a poor exchange rate then add a foreign transaction fee on top.  A Curve MasterCard means no foreign transaction fees and gives you the mid-market exchange rate, at least up to a certain limit, £500 per month as I write this.  The money you spend on your Curve card goes straight onto one of your existing debit or credit cards.  And you can get a Curve card for free.

How it works:   1. Download the Curve app for iPhone or Android .  2. Enter your details & they'll send you a Curve MasterCard - they send to the UK and most European addresses.  3. Link your existing credit & debit cards to the app, you can link up to two cards with the free version of Curve, I link my normal debit card and my normal credit card.  4. Now use the Curve MasterCard to buy things online or in person or take cash from ATMs, exactly like a normal MasterCard. Curve does the currency conversion and puts the balance in your own currency onto whichever debit or credit card is currently selected in the Curve app.  You can even change your mind about which card it goes onto, within 14 days of the transaction.

I have a Curve Blue card myself, it means I can buy a coffee on a foreign station on a card without being stung by fees and lousy exchange rates, just by tapping the Curve card on their card reader.  The money goes through Curve to my normal debit card and is taken directly from my account (in fact I have the Curve card set up as payment card on Apple Pay on my iPhone, so can double-click my phone, let it do Face ID then tap the reader with the phone - even easier than getting a card out).  I get a little commission if you sign up to Curve, but I recommend it here because I think it's great.  See details, download the app and get a Curve card , they'll give you £5 cashback through that link.

Get a VPN for safe browsing.  Why you need a VPN

When travelling you may use free public WiFi which is often insecure.  A VPN encrypts your connection so it's always secure, even on unsecured WiFi.  It also means you can select the geographic location of the IP address you browse with, to get around geoblocking which a surprising number of websites apply.  See VPNs & why you need one explained .  ExpressVPN is a best buy with a 4.7 out of 5 Trustpilot ranking which I use myself - I've signed up as an ExpressVPN affiliate, and if you go with expressvpn.com using this link you should see a special deal, 3 months free with an annual subscription.  I also get some commission to help support this site.

Carry an Anker powerbank

Tickets, reservations, hotel bookings and Interrail or Eurail passes are often now held on your mobile phone.  You daren't let it run out of power, and you can't always rely on the phone's internal battery or on being near a power outlet.  I always carry an Anker powerbank which can recharge my phone several times over.  Buy from Amazon.co.uk or Buy from Amazon.com .

Touring cities?  Use hill walking shoes!

One of the best things I've done is swap my normal shoes for hill-walking shoes, in my case from Scarpa.  They're intended for hiking across the Pennines not wandering around Florence, but the support and cushioning for hiking works equally well when you're on your feet all day exploring foreign cities.  My feet used to give out first and limit my day, now the rest of me gives up before they do!

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Discount Train Tickets in Germany

Julian Elliott Photography/Getty Images

Want to explore Germany by train and travel on a budget? It is totally doable.

Trains in Germany are (usually) punctual and one of the best ways to travel the country . You can step on a train right from the center of town in the Hauptbahnhof (central train station) and cruise to anywhere in Germany and beyond at speeds up to 300km/h (186m/hour). At its best, it is comfortable and leisurely, and with a little planning, it can be very inexpensive.

All train tickets can be purchased either online, at ticket vending machines at the stations, or at ticket counters of the German National Railway (called Deutsche Bahn ) which are located in most German train stations. Here is a complete guide to finding discount train tickets in Germany.

Buy Train Tickets in Germany in Advance

Tickets are sold at sparpreise (discount prices) from 3 months to 3 days prior to the travel date. Discounts can be up to 63 percent. Outside of those times, or once all the discount tickets are sold, tickets are sold at normalpreis (standard fare).

For this lower price, there are a few restrictions. For example, they are zugbindung which means you must take the train printed on your ticket; it is not flexible.

Schönes-Wochenende-Ticket (Happy Weekend Ticket)

With the Schönes-Wochenende-Ticket , the weekend is all yours—you can take the train as often as you like within one weekend (Saturday or Sunday and is valid from midnight up to 3 am the following morning), anywhere in Germany, and on any regional (RB, IRE, RE) and S-Bahn train (no high-speed Intercity Express). The ticket costs 44 euros plus just 6 euro per person for up to 5 people. 

To give a little perspective, you can ride from Munich to Berlin on this ticket with 4 of your friends. It is crazy cheap but will cost you in time. This journey is usually only 4.5 hours but can stretch to 12 hours on regional trains. Plan your time versus money accordingly.

Länder Ticket (State Ticket)

Every federal state in Germany offers a Länderticket , which allows you to explore their Bundesland by train for one whole day. Travel anywhere within Bavaria or Saxony or Berlin - Brandenburg.

With only one pass, you can travel with up to five people and explore a German state of your choice on a shoestring budget starting at 23 euros plus 6 euros per additional traveler up to five people.

Group Travel

Group saver fares allow groups to travel within Germany for as little as 19.90 euros per person. Groups can range from 6 to 30 people in size and tickets are available up to 12 months in advance. There is also a group saver fare Europe that offers travel to more countries in Europe.

German Rail Pass

With the German Rail Pass , you can travel on all trains on the German Railway including the Intercity Express (also known as ICE) for 5 to 15 days within the period of one month. The German Rail Pass is available for both first and second class travel (as well as youth options) and for consecutive days or flexible.

Prices start at 145 euros for 2 consecutive days up to 280 euros for 7 days within a month.

An important note : This offer only applies to people with permanent residence outside Europe, Turkey, and Russia. If you are European and live outside Europe you must have left more than 6 months ago (indicated by the stamp in your passport).

The German Railway offers frequent train travelers the chance to buy a card that offers discounts on every train journey. There are three different options:

• Bahncard 25 - This card provides a 25 percent discount on flexpreis (flexible fares) and sparpreis for one year. The card costs just 62 Euros for second class.
• Bahncard 50 - This card provides a 50 percent discount on Flexpreis and 25 percent discount on sparpreise within Germany. The card costs 255 Euros for second class. Students, senior citizens, and children only pay half the purchase price. 
• Bahncard 100 - For the constant traveler, this card provides all-inclusive travel for one year. The card costs 695.52 euros for private customers.

Youth Discounts on the Eurail Pass

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Getting Around Frankfurt: Guide to Public Transportation

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10 smart tips for cheap train travel in Germany

The Schönes-Wochenende-Ticket is no more , but there are still many other ways you can travel cheaply by train in Germany - perhaps even faster and cheaper than ever before! Take a look at our top 10 tips for securing the best train ticket prices in Germany . 

1. Book as early as possible

Okay, this one might be obvious, but did you know that you can book train tickets up to 180 days before departure? Prices are calculated according to how busy the train is expected to be, so if not as many tickets are booked as expected, fares may be lowered. However, this is generally the exception rather than the rule, so early booking should be your guiding principle. 

2. Book online or at vending machine

We all like a bit of face-to-face contact. But when it costs you two euros extra? No thank you! Save yourself on “consulting fees” by booking online or via a ticket machine in the station. Often there’s a helpful soul standing nearby to help you find the cheapest fares anyway! 

3. Select less popular travel days

Mondays, Fridays and Sundays are the most popular travel days in Germany, as well as those just before and after school holidays and national holidays . Save yourself a couple of euros (and avoid the crowds!) by travelling on Tuesdays, Wednesday, Thursday and Saturdays. 

4. Deselect ICE

This one really depends on how highly you value your time. If you can afford to dawdle a little on the way, travelling without ICE connections is a cheaper alternative. If you’re a tech-whizz dependent on charging your laptop, however, you’d best stick to premium trains, as there are no power outlets anywhere else. 

5. Change to regional traffic

If you know your route well and are not afraid of changing trains a couple of times, hop off the ICE and do a stretch of your journey on a regional train. It may be cheaper, for example, on the route Berlin - Frankfurt to take the high-speed train to Kassel and then switch onto regional transport . 

6. Switch off “Prefer fast connections”

This is a tricky little feature on the Deutsche Bahn website that may elude you. If you cannot find a ticket at the price you were hoping for, deactivate the search option “Prefer fast connections.” You will then be shown some slower, cheaper options that were hidden from you before. 

7. Choose alternative route

This follows the same principle as switching to regional traffic - by breaking up your journey or travelling a slightly strange route, you can make some huge savings. For instance, if you’re travelling from Munich to Bremen , you will usually change in Hannover. If you continue to Hamburg and change there, however, the price suddenly drops.  

8. Don’t bother with seat reservations

If you don’t mind scrambling for a seat, this is a way to save a cool 4,50 euros each way. This is an especially good option if you are getting on the train right at the start of its journey, where there are still plenty of free seats to choose from in the unreserved carriage. Just be sure to arrive in plenty of time to secure a space, or you may find yourself standing. 

9. Use group offers

You might still be mourning the Schönes-Wochenende-Ticket, but there are still cheap group options available via the Cross-Country and Länder tickets from Deutsche Bahn. And the more people you travel with (up to a maximum of five), the cheaper it gets. If you’re more than five, you can get groups savings tickets, starting at 19,90 euros each. 

10. Use a third-party vendor

Deutsche Bahn doesn’t always have the cheapest options. This is especially the case if you have no choice but to book your tickets last-minute. For example, train companies sell a small amount of their discount tickets to other websites such as L’Tur . It might even be worth seeing if anyone’s selling an unwanted ticket on eBay!

On your way!

Try out a few of these tips, and you’ll be sure to make some significant savings on your transportation ! Know any other hacks for securing a Deutsche Bahn bargain? Let us know in the comments below!

Abi studied History & German at the University of Manchester. She has since worked as a writer, editor and content marketeer, but still has a soft spot for museums, castles...

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Germany train guide – how to travel germany by train.

How to travel Germany by train — tips for buying German train tickets and advice for navigating Germany by rail.

Transportation

Germany has one of Europe’s greatest rail networks. The trains are fast, frequent, and famous for being punctual. As an added bonus, it’s very easy to book German train tickets online no matter where you’re from. So keep reading because in this Germany Train Guide we’ll cover everything you need to know about traveling through Germany by train—from navigating the system to buying train tickets for the cheapest price.

How To Buy German Train Tickets

Buying German train tickets is fairly painless since Germany’s rail system’s website is logical and it accepts payments from international credit cards without any hassle. There are also other ways to save (booking early, special tickets, etc.) that we’ll cover below.

Travel Tip: Most train tickets in Germany are now electronic so having reliable high-speed data for your phone is super helpful when traveling by train. Here are a few articles I’ve written to help you get cheap mobile data in Germany:  Guide To Mobile Data Plans and Smartphone Phones in Europe , and  How To Buy A SIM Card and Mobile Data Plans in Europe .

Where To Buy German Train Tickets

Here are a few places to buy train tickets:

Omio (Recommended)

Omio is a search engine that lets you compare and book trains anywhere in Europe. It allows you easily book tickets with your credit card at essentially the same prices as the Deutsche Bahn website — there is a very small service charge.

Additionally, Omio searches routes for multiple rail services across Europe so it’s great for international trips (since it can easily combine rail journeys of multiple countries).

Train tickets sold via Omio are electronic—simply show the conductor the ticket on your phone (you can also print the ticket if you wish).

TrainLine (Recommended)

TrainLine is another third-party booking site that connects directly to Germany’s National Rail Network and it gives you the same prices you’d find there. They also take international credit card payments without any hassle.

Additionally, it searches routes for multiple rail services across Europe so it’s great for international trips (since it can easily combine rail journeys of multiple countries).

Train tickets sold via TrainLine are electronic — simply show the conductor the ticket on your phone (you can also print the ticket if you wish).

Buying German Train Tickets via Deutsche Bahn—aka the German Rail System

You can buy German train tickets directly through Germany’s national rail system — Deutsche Bahn (www.bahn.de). It accepts most international credit cards and tickets can be sent to you electronically or printed at home.

While rare, sometimes you might encounter some translation issues when using Deutsche Bahn—which is why I prefer using Omio or TrainLine .

NOTE: German train tickets can be purchased about six months in advance.

Buying German Train Tickets At The Train Station

You always have the option to buy your train tickets from any train station in Germany. Every train station will have automated ticket machines and ticket windows. All the machines have an English-language option and most employees staffing the ticket windows will speak English.

DO I NEED TO BUY GERMAN TRAIN TICKETS IN ADVANCE?

Long-Distance Trains

Yes. For high-speed/long-distance trains in Germany, you should book early to get the best price—fares rise as the departure date approaches. For example, a ticket purchased on the day of travel can cost 3x-4x the price as one bought a month or two in advance.

These high-speed trains include InterCity Express (ICE), ICE Sprinter, InterCity (IC), Eurocity (EC).

Regional Trains

No. These trains have a fixed price based on the distance traveled. Simply show up at the station, buy your ticket, and hop on the train. These trains are obviously slower and you’ll have more connections. However, you can book them via the Omio or TrainLine app simply for the convenience of not needing to buy them at the station.

Types of German Train Tickets

There are two standard ticket types:

• Sparpreis:   Sparpreis is a budget ticket that’s valid for a specific route (i.e. it’s not flexible). There is also a first-class version that has the same limitations but you get a few extra perks like nicer seats, more legroom, and access to a nice lounge in large stations — sometimes the first-class and second-class tickets are virtually the same prices so treat yo self.
• Flexpreis: The Flexpreis is a full-price ticket but it offers a lot more flexibility — it’s valid on any train of the day and you can cancel the ticket before the day of travel. It’s also a lot more expensive.

HOW TO COLLECT YOUR TRAIN TICKETS

All digital and printed tickets have a QR code that the conductor will scan when they check tickets on the train. It’s super easy.

• Digital Tickets: You can download the ticket as a PDF and save it to your smartphone, tablet, or laptop. This is the easiest way.
• Print: You can also print the PDF.
• DB Navigator App: You can have the ticket loaded to your DB Navigator app.
• Print at the Station: Most of the time you can print your ticket at the station. You’ll be given a code that you type into the ticket machine and it will print there. You can also go to the customer service counter.
• By Mail: Yes, you can get printed tickets mailed to you at an extra cost — I think it’s around €5 and takes a while to arrive.

Tips For Using German Trains

First, we recommend getting to the train station about 20 minutes early so you can find your train platform in plenty of time — by the way, there is no check-in… you simply get on the train. Most are easy to navigate but it’s best to play it safe. Also, if you’re printing a ticket at the station you should leave more time because there can be lines to use the machines.

Once you have your tickets sorted, look at the departure board. This will tell you where to find your train. Pay attention to the board as the platform can sometimes change. Don’t worry if you don’t see your train on the board because they may not list it until it’s closer to departure time.

After you’ve found the platform, use the signs in the station to locate the train. Almost everything should be in English and most Germans speak excellent English.

When the train pulls you’ll want to find your correct car if you have assigned seats (if not, just sit in any non-reserved seat). Each train car will have a number on it so it’s easier to find the car while outside the train than to walk through the train to get to your car. From here, all you gotta do is find your seat.

There is plenty of luggage storage on the train—both above/behind the seats and in the luggage racks at the end of the cars.

Eventually, the conductor will come by to check your tickets.

Rail Passes for Germany

Another great thing about German train travel is that rail passes can actually be a pretty good deal. That’s because they don’t require rail pass users to make reservations — even on the expensive high-speed trains (the exception is overnight trains). So all you gotta do is hop on any train and go.

Check out Eurail.com for the various rail pass options.

Eurail Pass Vs Single Tickets: What’s Cheaper?

So what’s a better deal—a Eurail pass or single tickets. Well, it depends…

First, you need to look at the per day/per ride cost of the pass — i.e. divide the total cost of the pass by the number of rides it gives you. If you go to Eurail they do a pretty good job of breaking down the per-day price. So, in the image above, a pass that gives four travel days in a month costs $58 (€50) per travel day.

From here you need to estimate how much a single ticket would cost.

The price of a single ticket will vary greatly based on when you buy it and the travel distance. So let’s take a look at a Munich to Berlin ticket.

If you buy this ticket four months in advance the price is around €30-€40. So this is quite a bit cheaper than the pass.

If you buy tickets one month in advance the prices are still fairly affordable at €40-€54. This ends up being a little cheaper or about the same as the pass.

However, when you book less than a week in advance the price skyrockets to well over €50 so a pass is a way better deal.

In conclusion:

Single tickets are almost always cheaper if you buy them a few months in advance but you lose out on flexibility as you have to ride that specific train. Rail passes usually end up being a better deal if your plans aren’t set in stone as you can choose what trains you take on a whim. So we recommend visiting  Eurail  to see what passes might work for your trip and then do some simple math comparisons.

More Rail Pass Considerations

• 28 & Older: If you’re 28 and over then you’re required to buy a first-class rail pass. This does jack the price up a good amount so it’s less of a deal when compared to 2nd-class single tickets.
• German Rail Twin Pass:  When two people travel together they get a 50% discount on the second pass (this is good for both 1st and 2nd class passes). You’ll have to travel on the same train because you’re only given one pass with both your names on it.

More Tips For Riding Trains in Germany

• The Departures Board:  You’ll find your train platform via the departure board at the train station. Don’t worry if you don’t see your train because they often only display trains departing within the next 10-20 minutes.
• Self-Service Machines Are In English:  Don’t worry if you don’t speak German because the ticket machines (and train station signs) are all in English.
• DB Navigator App: Download Deutsche Bahn’s official app to book tickets, check timetables, and do other helpful stuff.
• Download The Rail Planner App:  There are a number of rail apps but we like the  Eurail App  — it essentially has the timetables/info for every train in Europe and it doesn’t require an internet connection.
• Cheap Tickets Are Non-Refundable:  One downside to cheap tickets is that they’re non-refundable and there is a fee to change (but you can’t do it on the day of travel).
• Pack A Picnic:  You’re allowed to bring your own food and alcohol on trains. It’s great for those long train rides.
• Luggage:  There aren’t any weight limits on luggage and you can bring as much as you want (well, as much as you can carry). Simply bring it on and store it above your head, behind your seat, or in the luggage racks in each car.
• Making Connections:  Your trip might require you to change trains along the journey. Don’t worry if there isn’t much time between trains as switching trains are usually fairly quick and easy (it’s not like flying).
• Get To The Train Station Early:  Train stations are usually fairly easy to navigate but they can be a little confusing.
• Changing Stations: Some routes might have you switch train stations in a city to make the journey — pay attention to this because stations are usually far apart.

More Articles About Traveling In Germany

• Berlin City Guide : What to do, see, and eat in Berlin.
• Best Hostels in Berlin : The best cheap places to stay in Berlin.
• How To Choose The Best Travel Insurance : Travel insurance will help cover those non-refundable train tickets if something goes wrong during your trip.
• Packing List For Europe Travel : Tips on packing light — which makes train travel much easier.
• How To Buy Train Tickets In Germany : In-depth guide to buying Germany train tickets.
• Recent Posts
• New York Pass Review | Is It A Good Value or Waste of Money? - May 20, 2024
• Paris Pass Review — A Good Value or Waste of Money? - May 13, 2024
• The Best Travel Backpacks | In-Depth Buyer’s Guide & Backpack Reviews - April 28, 2024

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Cheap Train Travel in Germany [6 Uncomfortable Facts About FlixTrain]

Last Updated:

Which train to choose for traveling long distances in Germany? FlixTrain vs ICE vs Deutsche Bahn

You like to travel on a budget or are low on funds. FlixTrain may seem like your knight in shiny armor.

It’s the cheapest and the fastest available option. But, don’t get blinded by its incredible price.

Here are the six factors to consider before you travel via FlixTrain.

#1 FlixTrain is seldom on time

It is very common for FlixTrain to be late by 2 to 3 hours. Sometimes, FlixBus cancels the train altogether if it’s empty.

So, plan your trip accordingly.

#2 You have to wear an FFP2 mask inside the FlixTrain the entire journey

During the Corona times, you must wear an FFP2 mask throughout your journey. It is for your’s and other passengers’ safety.

Some may find it challenging to wear a mask on a 6-hour journey during summers.

#3 It’s freaking hot to travel in FlixTrain during summers

FlixTrain does not have air conditioning. Thus, the train is very hot during summer.

Thanks to the heat, you won’t have the best travel experience. So, I recommend you carry a small fan * that runs on a battery to make your journey a bit comfortable.

#4 You may damage your ears thanks to loud wind noise inside the FlixTrain

No air conditioning on FlixTrain leaves you only one option to survive the summer heat. That is to open the windows.

Once you open the windows, you get loud noise complementary with air.

The noise gets worse when the train enters the tunnels. You may even experience severe pain in your ears till the train is in a tunnel.

So, carry earplugs * on your journey to save yourself from excruciating pain.

#5 You can’t buy food or water on FlixTrain

A long journey is tiring. But traveling empty stomach with no access to food and water can make you miserable.

Hence, carry enough food and water to survive your time on FlixTrain.

#6 There are no sockets to charge your phone or laptop on FlixTrain

Your phone may die anytime, and you are looking for a charging point. Well, you won’t find any on the FlixTrain.

Thus, carry a power bank * if you are traveling long distances. Or don’t use your phone.

#7 FlixTrain is a cheap mode of travel

The only pro of traveling in FlixTrain is that it is cheap. But, it charges you for your precious time and comfort.

It’s about expectation management. You should know what price you have to pay to travel via FlixTrain.

Of course, ICE is Germany’s most comfortable and fastest mode of travel on land. But, it costs 2 to 3 times more than the cost of FlixTrain.

However, If you can plan your travel well before a month or two, you may get a cheaper ICE ticket.

Now you are well prepared to travel via FlixTrain. I wish you a safe and fun trip.

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Saver and super saver fare europe: cheap rail tickets for europe.

Travel to European destinations starting from EUR 18.90 with the super saver fare Europe and EUR 22.90 with the saver fare Europe. Now also with the (super) saver fare Europe young for selected countries.

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11 of the best value train journeys in Europe (Starting from €9! )

The best and cheapest way to see Europe ? How about travelling by train across Europe. While it is not as cheap as coach travel, trains in Europe, if booked in advance, can offer some incredible deals. It beats flying anyway and also is the most sustainable and one of the cheapest ways to travel across Europe. While for peace of mind and ease of travel, an Eurail pass is incredible, if you do have a rough itinerary in mind and prepared to book the long distance routes 90 days in advance ( or 9 months for trains in France) , there are some incredible  cheap train tickets for Europe. Following my revised guide to the best budget bus companies to see Europe, I’ve compiled a list of the 11 best tips and hacks to find cheap trains in Europe.

1. Use the stopover feature on Deutsche Bahn’s international tickets to travel from Berlin to Prague with stopover in Dresden for €18.90

Plan a stopover at no extra cost thanks to this incredible feature from deutsche bahn.

If you are visiting Berlin for example with plans to continue to Prague, via the Deutsche Bahn website, you can add a 24 hour stopover in Dresden at no extra price.

For example, searching in March 2022, you can buy a ticket from Berlin to Prague for as little as €18.90 with a 24 hour stopover in Dresden.

Or if you are planning to visit Budapest, you can book a ticket from Berlin to Budapest for €46.90 with a 24 hour stopover in Prague.

PS: If you are planning a trip to Prague, checkout my guide to the best budget places to stay in Prague ,  Prague on a budget and also my guide to the best things to do in Prague

These are Deutsche Bahn’s Sparpreis advance-purchase cheap fares.

For an extra €19.90 you can also upgrade your ticket to 1st class where you’ll get a slightly better seat and legspace but honestly in my opinion, there is not really a big difference between travelling 1st and 2nd class on these trains.

2. Prague to Budapest- €16 and Vienna to Budapest- €9 with Regiojet

One of the best value cheap train europe deals- tick off three classic europe destinations with one incredible fare.

Formerly the Student Travel Agency which started out offering low-cost luxury bus services within Czech Republic, the agency has now rebranded as Regiojet offering incredible value low-cost train services within Czech Republic and beyond.

The best value deal of the lot, was launched last summer when Regiojet started a new train service that linked up three key European capitals that are a staple of every Eurotrip- Prague, Vienna and Budapest. Currently there are 2 trains servicing the route daily. Tickets start from as little as €16 between Prague and Budapest and just €9 from Vienna to Budapest.

A quick search pulled up a few of the €16 Prague and Budapest fares in March 2022. The basic fare includes seat reservations and WiFi. For an extra €2.30 you get a better seat, free newspaper water and access to their built-in LCD screens.

3. Prague to Budapest with Czech Railways for €21 in advance

Another slightly more expensive and alternative option is to book Eurocity train from Prague to Budapest for as little as €21 or 514 CZK. You can only book this ticket in advance only via the

Czech Railways website.

4. Prague to Munich for €15 via Czech Railways

Czech railways, portal for czech trains can sometimes offer some great deals on train travel…..

If you are travelling from Czech Republic to Germany, I would also strongly urge you to look up fares on Czech Railways website where they can be often a third cheaper than when booking via Deutsche Bahn website.

For example on 30th March, travelling from Prague to Munich on the direct train, ( 11.38am ) the fare shows up as €42 one way via bahn.de website but if you look at the Czech Railways website, same train and fare shows up as 360 CZK which is €14.76 which is a massive saving.

Promenade Anglais, Nice

5. Paris to Nice €19 with the French low cost train service Ouigo

A low-cost, high-speed train service operated by sncf .

Visiting France soon? While many are familiar with their amazing TGV trains, Voyages SNCF also has a low-cost train service called Ouigo which offers fares as cheap as €10 between Paris Marné la Vallée and Lyon or Bordeaux & €19 from Paris to Nice. These super cheap fares open 9 months in advance so you should book early to get these fares.

For example, a quick search on en.oui.sncf, I can see a bunch of fares for €10 from Paris to Bordeaux in June 2022. It is worth noting that this fare is valid from Marné la Vallée which is the TGV outpost for Disneyland Paris and is a 12 minute , €15 ride from Paris CDG airport. Or you can take the underground to Châtelet-Les-Halles from where you take the RER-line A to Marne-la-Vallée. Journey time is 35 minutes and costs €7.50.

If you are planning to travel to Paris and Nice, Ouigo also operate a low-cost service on this popular route. In June 2022, I can see fares for as little as €19. Trains leave from the more central Gare de Lyon to Nice.

Ouigo also has a few extras to keep in mind. If you want a seat with electric sockets for an extra €2 and if you want to be in the quiet carriage, there is an extra €5 fee.

Trainline’s cheap fare finder feature is a really handy feature to find out the cheapest fares in the next month

PS: Another brilliant value train deal to also keep in mind is the Milan to Paris route. Being offseason, there is a bunch of their cheap €29 fares on sale now on the route ( Trainline’s excellent low fare calendar is a very handy tool )   Journey time is 7 hours. Extra €10 snags you a seat on 1st class.

6. Barcelona to Madrid by €9 with Ouigo Spain

Low-cost, high speed rail service revolution comes to spain.

Last summer ( 2021) Ouigo brought their unique low-cost train services to Spain. From May 2021, Ouigo started offering a 5 times a day, daily return service between Barcelona and Madrid. The service also serves the cities of Zaragoza and Tarragona.

Simple search on Ouigo website, reveals a bunch of the bargain €9 fares on the Barcelona to Madrid route for dates in June and July 2021. Ouigo applies low cost airline dynamic pricing so the sooner you book, the better the fares so keep that in mind.

Worth noting that for the basic €9 fare, passengers can bring a small bag/ handbag and a carry on cabin sized luggage. If you have a rucksack or suitcase, there is an extra €5 fee.

7. Stockholm to Gothenburg with Flixtrain for €12.99

If Sweden is on your itinerary and you are planning to travel between the two main cities, Stockholm and Gothenburg, have a look at Flixtrain who offer fares for as little as €12.99/135 kronor between Stockholm and Gothenburg. To give you a comparison, main operator in Sweden SJ offer fares of 194 kronor/ €18.60 so you make a big saving.

8. Berlin to Frankfurt for €9.99 with Flixtrain Germany

Flixtrain also operates on a number of routes in Germany and is the main competitor to Deutsche Bahn. Frequency is less and they operate on a handful of routes but their fares are much cheaper.

To give you an idea, fares with Flixtrain cost as little as €4.99 from Hamburg to Berlin ( Journey time 2 hours 39 minutes ) €9.99 Berlin to Stuttgart ( Journey time 5.56 hours ) and €9.99-Berlin to Frankfurt ( 4.09 hours )

9. Deutsche Bahn Länder ticket/ Regional day tickets

Unlimited train travel across any of germany’s 16 federal states for as little as €22.

If you are visiting Germany, especially with your partner or a group of friends, another brilliant deal is the Lander regional tickets which offer you unlimited travel within the state for as little as €22. This ticket is valid only on local and regional trains and excludes the faster ICE/IC trains. You can travel with up to four fellow passengers per ticket for as little as EUR 3 per additional passenger.

The tickets are valid from Monday to Friday from 09:00 until 03:00 on the following day.

We used this ticket when visiting Munich last year for a day trip to Zugspitze, beautiful Lake Eibsee and Garmisch Partenkirchen.

The other great thing worth remembering is that you can buy these tickets on the day from any Deutsche Bahn ticket machine in the train station.

10. Paris to Vienna for €60 with Nightjet train service

Night trains in europe a great way to save money on accommodation plus time if you are on tight itinerary.

If you are on a tight budget and travelling between countries, I would highly recommend looking into booking an overnight sleeper train to help you save money on 1 nights accommodation and also you are not wasting the whole day in a train.

For example you can travel from Paris to Vienna on the Nightjet service. It leaves Gare de l’Est at 6.58pm and reaches Vienna at 10.12am in the morning.

The basic fare for a seat in a 6 seat compartment carriage is €60. From the picture above, as you can see, not the most comfortable seat to be cooped up and try and sleep.

I f you are on a tight budget, it will get you from A to B. If you splurge on a couchette , you pay an extra €20 which might be worth the investment if it means getting a decent night sleep.

I’ve taken the Caledonian Sleeper from London to Edinburgh and also the Helsinki to Kolari ( Prices start from €49 for private cabin and with shower, €69 ) overnight train on my way to the 7 Fells Hostel in Finnish Lapland- ( Read more about my trip to Finnish Lapland here ) great way to travel and the journey itself is an experience that will remember.

Other great services on Nightjet train worth keeping an eye include the Munich to Zagreb service ( leaves Munich at 23.20pm and reaches Zagreb at 8.32am) -booking in advance, you get a seat in the compartment for as little as €29.90 or for an extra €45 on top, you can get a sleeper bed.

11. Buy a Eurail pass

The first entry on my first Interrail pass from 2012: ICE 36, Copenhagen to Hamburg, The journey begins…

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48 Hours in Liepaja, Latvia’s ‘Windy City’

‘We have 5 days in the year without wind. Today is one of them. This was the city where wind was born.’ Sintija Pusaudze…

Sun 26 May 2024

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How to use Germany’s €49 rail pass to travel beyond Euro 2024’s host cities

Use the unlimited ticket to see lesser-known highlights in, and around, the country.

For four weeks from 14 June, Germany will hope to relive its 2006 Sommermaerchen (Summer Fairytale) when, as host, they finished in third place at the World Cup.

The country will become one huge festival parade ground and everyone is invited. Whether you have tickets to Euro 2024 , or are simply visiting during the tournament, you can expect a party atmosphere with cafés, restaurants and beer gardens putting up screens to show the game. From the Brandenburger Tor in Berlin to Olympiapark in Munich , there will be zones for fans to catch the game with a heavy chance of beer showers.

The sleeper train on which you wake up to breakfast tacos - and Texas

With the action spread across 10 German host cities, it is also the perfect chance to enjoy Germany’s culture, natural landscapes and food. There is something for everyone. The capital, Berlin, has a dark but interesting history, world-class museums and incredible nightlife. Hamburg offers musical heritage and harbourside architecture. Or, in the east, Leipzig is the most alternative cultural city in Germany.

With a greater frequency of trains, dedicated routes to the stadiums (for nine out of 10 host cities) and services running later into the evening, taking the train will be the best way to travel during Euro 2024. Ticket holders will be given a free 36-hour travel pass, valid on matchday and the day after to travel within the city and on slower services within the region.

However, the Deutschland-Ticket will give fans unlimited access to all regional public transport in Germany on RB, RE and S-Bahn trains (SPNV) for one month – ideal for those who want to spend longer and see more of the country.

Priced at €49 a month, the ticket offers use of all forms of regional transport and that includes trains, buses, trams, underground routes, and ferries. However, it does not include the faster, long-distance trains such as ICE, Intercity, FlixTrain and Eurocity or night trains.

You can buy the Deutschland Ticket online via the  Deutsche Bahn website . It is worth remembering that the Deutschland-Ticket is a subscription that will automatically renew at the end of each month.

Whether you purchase it on the 1 June or 14 June , it will be only valid till the end of June. It still works out as a good deal, even if you are travelling across Germany for a fortnight. Remember, you have to cancel on the 10 of the previous month, otherwise it renews for the next month.

It’s also possible to use the Deutschland ticket to travel between some of the host cities on regional trains, for example between Dortmund and Gelsenkirchen, or Cologne and Dusseldorf (though make sure you are using regional rather than high-speed trains). But it’s also worth using it to explore before or after match days. Here are 10 highlights worth detouring for with the Deutschland ticket.

Salzburg : two hours from Munich

Just two hours away from Munich on the Bavarian RE5 is Austria’s fairy-tale city. Salzburg’s most recognisable view is that of the city’s buildings spread into the distance, with the Salzach river below, and the Hohensalzburg fortress perched on a hilltop. Visit the Salzburg Cathedral, the home of Mozart, walk along the winding streets and stumble upon innumerable picturesque city squares.

Hop on the Bavarian Regiobahn (BRB) RE5 train from Munich to Salzburg. The journey time is two hours.

Nuremberg : three hours from Stuttgart

Nuremberg is attractive anytime of the year, but it particularly shines with the buzz and excitement of the Christmas markets. It is one of Germany’s most underrated cities, with so much to enjoy – the architecture, museums, craft beer, waist-expanding gastronomic delights and friendly residents.

Take the MEX 13 regional train from Stuttgart and change in Crailsheim for the RE90 train to Nuremberg. The journey time is three hours.

Essen: 10 minutes from Gelsenkirchen

Essen is located in the heartland of the Ruhr region of Germany. Visit for its coal mine, the Zeche Zollverein, which was once regarded as the world’s largest. Now it is a Unesco site and home to the Ruhr museum. The museum has 6,000 permanent exhibits, showcasing how the use of coal changed over time.

Take the RE2, RE42 or the S2 train from Gelsenkirchen. Journey time is just 10 minutes .

Bochum: 11 minutes from Dortmund

Bochum’s beauty lies in its understated charm. This former industrial mining town is undergoing some major changes, but even in the current state of flux, visitors will find a city packed with culture, green spaces and hip hotspots such as the neighbourhood of Ehrenfeld – and Bermuda3Eck, quite possibly the Ruhr area’s leading nightlife hotspot. For football fans, Bochum is one of the few Bundesliga stadiums where you can get close to the action and feel the spirit of football.

Take the RE1 or RE6 train from Dortmund to Bochum. The journey time is around 11 minutes.

Halle Saale : 22 minutes from Leipzig

Halle is the German city that will surprise visitors. It has an appealing blend of history, music, culture and natural beauty – and it is home to the world’s largest Beatles museum. The historic centre of Halle is impressive, with the Gothic Marktkirche dominating the skyline.

With a 15.9 per cent concentration of green spaces, parks and sports areas, Halle is also one of Germany’s greenest cities. Soak up nature with a gentle stroll along the Saale river followed by a visit to the Botanischer Garten with its range of plant species and landscapes.

Take the local S5x (22 minutes ) or S3 (37 minutes ) from Leipzig to Halle (Saale) Hauptbahnhof .

Bremen: 1 hour 9 minutes from Hamburg

By the banks of the Weser, the Hanseatic city of Bremen is another lesser-visited highlight of Germany. Here, world-class museums stand cheek to cheek with picture postcard neighbourhoods, restaurants showcasing local and international cuisine and nightlife hubs. Bremen is “schon klein” – a compact place to cover by foot.

The Schlachte, Bremen’s 600-year-old harbour, is the place where residents come for long walks up the promenade, ride their bikes or go for a drink in the sun. The Market Square of Bremen is the place to catch up on a great number of stories and legends. Here you will see the instantly recognisable musicians of Bremen captured for all eternity in the form of a bronze statue. The Roland statue found in most German cities, a symbol of market rights and freedom, is the biggest in Germany and is Unesco protected.

The RE4 or RB41 run every hour from Hamburg to Bremen, with journey times varying from one hour nine minutes (RE 9) to one hour 30 minutes (RB41)

Lübbenau: 1 hour 9 minutes from Berlin  

A Unesco biosphere reserve of 400km natural and man-made waterways, Spreewald is the perfect escape from Berlin. Just over an hour by train from the capital, the lush forests and waterways feel like a world away. Lübbenau, on the outskirts of the reserve, makes for a pretty unique day out. From this “city of cucumbers” – they have been grown and pickled here since the 8th century – visitors can set off to explore Spreewald either by wooden boats with their lovingly laid tables (Spreewald’s answer to Venice’s iconic gondolas) or by canoe. 

From Berlin Hauptbahnhof, it takes one hour, nine minutes, direct on the RE2 or RE7.

Mainz : 1 hour 23 minutes from Cologne

Mainz is a picturesque university town located on the Rhine. Mostly known as the birthplace of Johannes Gutenberg (of Gutenberg Bible fame) and the host of stupendous carnival celebrations, Mainz is also a centre for wine making in the Rhineland. Be sure to visit the Romanesque Mainz Cathedral. Kirschgarten Square, with its timbered buildings, ornate fountains, restaurants, cafés and boutiques, is the place to enjoy the hustle and bustle of the old town. The Gutenberg Museum has a Gutenberg Bible on show.

T ake the t rain RB26 (MittelrheinBahn) from Cologne to Mainz.

Heidelberg : 1 hour 36 minutes from Frankfurt

The science city of Germany, Heidelberg is where the country’s intellectual glitterati reside. It has the oldest university in Germany and many research institutes and companies. But there’s a romantic side, too, found by visiting the Baroque Old Town, the Philosopher’s Walk and Heidelberg Castle. The Old Town is spread out across a long, narrow stretch that falls parallel to the Neckar River. Heidelberg Castle, which has a Gothic-Renaissance appeal, stands on the crags of Königstuhl hill, commanding a bird’s eye view of the surroundings.

The RE68 whisks you to Heidelberg from Frankfurt in just one hour, 36 minutes .

Venlo : 1 hour 4 minutes from Dusseldorf

Venlo is a small sleepy town on the German-Dutch border. But, for all its sleepiness, it played an important part in espionage activities during the Second World War. Two British Intelligence officers were arrested here in what came to be known as the “Venlo Incident” and which was later used as justification for the Nazis to invade neutral Netherlands.

These days, expect a laid back and pleasant day trip, enjoying Venlo’s cafés and restaurants, markets and friendly people in this pretty little city on the Meuse River.

With the RE13, hop across the border from Dusseldorf to Venlo in just 64 minutes .

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The 10 most scenic rail journeys in Spain

T here are few countries where train travel is as cheap , accessible and downright enjoyable as Spain . Much as the locals love to complain about state-run railway company Renfe, the truth is that the lines and rolling stock in Spain are constantly updated and the network reaches into the most remote corners of the country.

Prices are reasonable too, even for the high-speed AVE trains that connect a handful of the major cities. Government funding is generous; a scheme involving free local trains to get people moving after the pandemic has been extended to ease the cost of living crisis, and there are further subsidies on long-distance trains.  

Spain’s trains have always been within most budgets, however, and the country’s extensive rail ­network makes train travel a relaxed way to experience Spain at a gentle pace. The north-west of the country, Madrid , Barcelona and Andalucia , are all part­icularly well-served, along with the eastern coast from Murcia right up to ­Alicante, Valencia and beyond. 

Complementing this efficient ­structure criss-crossing the land is a handful of quirky and heritage side routes, often using trains made up of rolling stock from rail travel’s glory days. Some were constructed for the ­convenience of royalty and local ­dignitaries, others to transport ­produce or coal. Some are unabashedly kitsch, staffed by serving wenches and minstrels in medieval ruffs, but will nevertheless delight children as well as railway buffs.

Local tourist boards have also seized the opportunities of regular train lines to create themed routes showing the best of their regions or to access parts of the landscape that would be impossible to reach by car. 

This is all great news for the sustainable traveller, and the journeys below are unforgettable experiences in themselves.

Tren de la Fresa

Start point: Museo del Ferrocarril, Madrid

End point: Aranjuez

Madrid’s first train line was opened originally in 1851 as a way for the ­Spanish Royal Family to travel between the capital and their spring residence, the elegant Royal Palace in Aranjuez, about 30 miles south of the city. The train once cut through fields of strawberries (fresas – hence the train’s name) and this special service includes a strawberry tasting on the return leg, with servers in period costume. The rolling stock is made up of carriages from different periods, comprising wooden, open-sided passenger coaches and two 1920s dining cars. The train takes around an hour, and leaves from Madrid’s Museo del Ferrocarril at weekends in spring and autumn. It can include walking, tourist train or boat tours of Aranjuez and its spectacular palace and gardens.

How to do it:  Stay at the colourful Only You Hotel (doubles from £188 per night; 00 34 9100 52746; onlyyouhotels.com ), close to the railway museum. Plan the perfect trip to Madrid with our guide.

Tren dels Llacs

Start point: Lleida

End point: La Pobla del Segur

The “Lake Train” meanders up into the foothills of the Pyrenees from the quiet city of Lleida, known for its looming cathedral and its annual snail-eating festival. The train is a 1960s diesel locomotive in jaunty green and yellow trim, with a vintage mail carriage and dining car. It runs along the banks of the rivers Segre and Noguera Pallaresa on a single-track railway, passing the four lakes (reservoirs, strictly speaking), to the town of La Pobla del Segur. The journey takes just under two hours and the train runs on Saturdays from April to October.

How to do it:  Stay at the stately Parador de Lleida (doubles from £83 per night; 00 34 9730 04866; parador.es ), set in a 17th-century convent, with rooms around the former cloister

Start point: La Tor de Querol

End point: Villefranche de Conflent

The jolly little “yellow train”, also known as the Canary, is a French/Catalan concern, beginning at the station of La Tor de Querol on the border between France and Spain and running up through the eastern Pyrenees through 63km of mountainous landscape and over vertiginous viaducts and a dizzying suspension bridge. It runs between four and nine times a day and is best taken in summer, when you can sit in one of the open-topped carriages. Passengers can embark from any one of its 22 stations, or settle down for the full three-hour route from La Tor de Querol to Villefranche-de-Conflent.

How to do it:  Stay in nearby Puigcerdà for a wider range of eating and sleeping options. Try the smart Villa Paulita (doubles from £63 per night; 00 34 9728 84622; villapaulitahotel.com )

Mr Henderson’s Railway

Start point: Algeciras

End point: Ronda

The train that runs from Algeciras to Ronda might not be historically interesting in itself, but the story behind the line is a fascinating one. It took place in the late 19 th century, when bored British officers garrisoned at Gibraltar were frustrated with the difficulties of travelling into Spain and a British financier, Sir Alex Henderson, stepped in. With the help of a British engineer they created a single-track line through difficult terrain and bandit country. Regular Renfe (the state-owned railway) trains still run along here today, through magnificent scenery – described by Michael Portillo as “one of the most picturesque train journeys in Europe”.

How to do it:  Stay at one of the luxury hotels specially constructed to house the passengers at the time: the Hotel Reina Cristina (doubles from £50 per night; 00 34 9566 02622; globalesreinacristinahotel.com-hotel.com ) in Algeciras, or the Catalonia Reina Victoria (doubles from £127 per night; 00 34 9528 71240; cataloniahotels.com ) in Ronda

Ferrocarril de Sóller

Start point: Plaça de Espanya, Palma de Mallorca

End point: Sóller

Built in 1912 to transport fruit from Sóller’s citrus groves, this narrow-gauge line now serves to carry daytrippers to and from Palma de Mallorca in a wooden train with mahogany panels and brass fittings. The train runs several times a day and connects with the similarly picture-book tram from the town of Sóller to its port. The hour-long journey takes passengers north out of Palma past olive plantations and oak forests, through tunnels and over viaducts, into the heart of the Serra de Tramuntana.

How to do it:  Stay at the Sóller Plaza (doubles from £123 per night; 00 34 8712 01 188; hotelsollerplaza.com ) overlooking the café ­terraces of the town’s main square. Plan the perfect holiday in Palma de Mallorca with our guide.

Tren de Felipe II

Start point: Príncipe Pío station, Madrid

End point: El Escorial

Named for the fanatically devout Philip II, who built the vast and austere monastery at San Lorenzo de El Escorial, this handsome green 1960s diesel locomotive with yellow art deco “speed whiskers” is one of Spain’s finest, and pulls a series of 1940s carriages patrolled by actors in period dress. It leaves Madrid once a day at weekends, and cuts through the Sierra de Guadarrama to the town of El Escorial (the ticket includes entry to the monastery). The journey time is 50 minutes.

How to do it:  Stay at the Exe Victoria Palace (doubles from £65 per night; 00 34 9189 67066; eurostarshotels.co.uk ) in El Escorial. It is set in an 18th-century palace close to the monastery. Plan the perfect trip to Madrid with our guide

The Rack Trains

Start point: Ribes de Freser/Monistrol

End point: Vall de Núria/Montserrat

Catalunya has two rack trains; one at the monastery of Montserrat and the other in the foothills of the Pyrenees at the Vall de Núria. The first was opened in 1892, created to whisk pilgrims from the town of Monistrol up the mountain to the sacred Montserrat monastery, and is still used to this day, though mostly by daytrippers. The train at Núria slices up through glorious scenery from the pretty little town of Ribes de Freser to the mountain resort of Núria, set around an impressive lake. Both run frequently, every day.

How to do it:  Stay in Barcelona for Montserrat, taking a train out from Plaça d’Espanya, but in Ribes de Freser try the cosy,  family-run Els Caçadors de Ribes (doubles from £64 per night; 00 34 9727 27006; hotelelscacadorsderibes.com-hotel.com ). 

Trenes Turísticos de Galicia

Start/end points: Various

14 routes, traversed by small, modern trains, are a stress-free way to see the best of this uniquely verdant corner of Spain. The rides come with guides and are loosely themed around traditional Galician sights: lighthouses, monasteries, gardens, wine and of course the Camino de Santiago pilgrims’ route. There is even a route based around fishing and the lamprey, a gruesome prehistoric-looking creature that resembles an eel and tastes surprisingly good. Tourist train ticket holders are eligible for the Galicia Rail Pass, which allows unlimited further travel through the region for a period of three days.

How to do it:  Stay at the Parador Hostal dos Reis Católicos (doubles from £261 per night, including breakfast; 00 34 9815 82200; parador.es ) in Santiago de Compostela.

Tren del Vino

Start point: Chamartín station, Madrid/Segovia

End point: Valladolid

The “Wine Train” is actually a series of trains running between Madrid or Segovia and Valladolid, an undervisited city in the northwestern region of Castilla y León. The trains on this occasion are gleaming and modern, whisking visitors through the different wine provinces entitled to the protected label of ‘ denominación de origen’ : Ribera del Duero, Rueda, Toro and Cigales. The routes run through vineyards and past winemaking bodegas , and the price includes wine tastings, guided tours and lunch. Join departures on the first Saturday of the month from February to November.

How to do it:  Stay, if you can, in the fairy-tale town of Segovia, at the atmospheric La Casa Mudéjar (doubles from £84 per night; 00 34 9214 66250; lacasamudejar.com )

Tren de Arganda

Start point: Estación-Museo del Tren de Arganda, Arganda del Rey

End point: Laguna del Campillo

“The Arganda train whistles more than it moves” as the saying goes. Straight from the pages of a children’s book, these two century-old steam locomotives pull vintage passenger carriages along a four-kilometre track from Arganda del Rey to the Laguna del Campillo, a short train ride south of Madrid, crossing the wrought-iron bridge that was at the centre of the infamous Battle of Jarama during the Spanish Civil War. The train runs four times a day, on the first Saturday of the month and every Sunday in spring and autumn.

How to do it:  Stay in Madrid at the NH Madrid ­Atocha (doubles from £85 per night; 00 34 9153 99400; nh-hotels.com )

Need to know 

Spain’s extremes of ­temperature mean that some of these services, particularly those with open-topped carriages, do not always run at the height of summer or in the depths of winter, but otherwise do not require too much forward-planning.

The Spanish train system

Renfe is the national train operator, with a network of long-distance, regional and local commuter trains (known as Cercanías) covering every region of the country. Trains are comfortable and generally punctual, with WiFi and sockets on most longer routes. For medium and long-distance trains it’s wise to book in advance, online or at a station. Cercanías rarely cost more than a few euros, but you can also buy 10-journey tickets, which reduce the price further.

Those planning an extended stay in Spain might investigate the Renfe Spain Pass. Available to non-residents, it is valid for four, six, eight or 10 medium or long-distance journeys and lasts for a period of a month. See renfe.com .

This article was first published in July 2022, and has been revised and updated.

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General election latest: Farage challenged over 'offensive' comments; Labour vows to reignite one of PM's policies

Nigel Farage was challenged on Sunday Morning With Trevor Phillips about "offensive" comments about British Muslims, as he campaigns for Reform UK at the general election. Also on the show, the home secretary outlined a Tory proposal to reintroduce National Service.

Sunday 26 May 2024 12:10, UK

• General Election 2024

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General election called for 4 July

• PM vows to introduce National Service  | But no threat of jail time
• Labour pledges to reignite Sunak's proposed smoking ban
• Farage challenged on 'offensive' comments about British Muslims
• Starmer confirms support for extending voting age to 16
• PM agrees to take part in Sky News leaders' event on one condition
• Live reporting by Tim Baker and  Brad Young

Expert analysis

• Tamara Cohen: Farage's incendiary claims a question for Reform
• Adam Boulton: Why PM's big bet on security likely won't pay off
• Deborah Haynes : Next PM will have no time to play politics with defence
• Sam Coates: Gove stepping down shows political winds are shifting

Election essentials

• Trackers: Who's leading polls? | Is PM keeping promises?
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By Deborah Haynes , security and defence editor

The prime minister appears to have had a belated epiphany about the critical importance of defence - and now even National Service.

It was just four months ago that Rishi Sunak's spokesperson slapped down the outgoing head of the army for advocating the need for civilians to be trained to fight given the dangers of living in what the defence secretary has called "a pre-war world".

General Sir Patrick Sanders had simply been using a speech to state a blunt reality - war and preparing for war is a whole-nation effort as demonstrated daily by Russia's invasion of Ukraine, where Ukrainian citizen soldiers are fighting and dying on the frontline.

Rather than support him, a Downing Street spokesperson at the time said that "hypothetical scenarios" involving possible wars were "not helpful" and ruled out any move towards a conscription model for the military.

Admiral Sir Tony Radakin, the chief of the defence staff, and David Williams, the top civil servant at the Ministry of Defence (MoD), apparently even summoned General Sanders for a dressing down over the remarks.

But the army chief had not been suggesting conscription then - just as the prime minister is not doing so now.

He had simply been talking about the need for civilians to be ready to serve.

Given that context, Mr Sunak's sudden announcement that he would introduce a new form of National Service for 18-year-olds, including the chance to spend 12 months serving in the armed forces, sent eyebrows within the MoD soaring skyward.

"Deeply cynical," was the verdict of one insider.

Another told Sky News: "This is a policy surprise to me. I haven't seen it discussed in the Ministry of Defence."

Read more from Deborah here :

As every, people from across the spectrum are commenting on the most recent announcements in the general election.

One interesting take comes from Chris Wilkins, who was a strategy director and speechwriter for Theresa May when she was in Downing Street.

Writing on X, he panned the National Service plan - saying that "the cynicism of selling a sop to older voters as some kind of pro young person policy is simply breathtaking".

A former Tory cabinet minister has warned Rishi Sunak he will hand the election to Labour if he makes "any more gaffes".

The senior Conservative told the Telegraph the prime minister needed to sharpen up and show "humility, not arrogance" on the campaign trail.

"We can't afford any more gaffes like the ones he's had, standing in the rain and getting in a muddle with the football," they told the newspaper.

"He's just got to sharpen up, his team has got to sharpen up."

The prime minister launched his campaign by calling an election in the pouring rain on Wednesday, leading him to joke he hadn't caught pneumonia and did not know what state his suit was in.

To make matters worse, protestors disrupted the announcement by blaring the D:Ream's hit single Things Can Only Get Better, widely associated with Labour's 1997 landslide victory.

The next day, Mr Sunak asked workers at a Welsh brewery if they were looking forward to "the football" - even though their team had not qualified for the European Championships.

A visit to the Titanic Quarter in Belfast invited a "sinking ship" comparison with his party's fortunes from a reporter.

And an image taken of him standing beneath his campaign plane's exit sign also drew derision from some commentators.

"We can't afford any more slip-ups, that's just handing it to Starmer," the Conservative minister told the Telegraph.

"He really needs to get out there, all guns blazing, very professionally but also get out and talk to real people, and not staged events. I want humility, not arrogance, and a sense that we're moving forward."

Since Rishi Sunak called the election on Wednesday, pollsters and surveyors have been taking the temperature of public opinion.

One example of this is by YouGov, who asked 2,072 people on Thursday and Friday for their thoughts on the upcoming vote.

They discovered that a greater proportion of people would be "disappointed" or "dismayed" with the prospect of a Conservative victory under Rishi Sunak than a Labour victory under Jeremy Corbyn in 2019.

Some 59% of those quizzed said they would be unhappy with Mr Sunak winning.

In 2019, 52% felt similarly about Mr Corbyn.

And in further bad news for the current prime minister, only 38% of people who voted Tory in 2019 would be happy to see them reelected.

Once again, immigration was the subject of election debate this morning, with James Cleverly claiming Labour plans to scrap the Rwanda scheme were "reckless".

Millions of pounds has been spent on the Rwanda deal without any deportation flights getting off the ground – and Mr Sunak has admitted they won't before the election.

We've since had updated figures on people arriving on small boats, after they surpassed 10,000 this year on Friday.

Another 227 arrived yesterday on four boats, government data shows, bringing the total to 10,397.

Shadow immigration minister Stephen Kinnock has said if Labour was elected the party would "take the action required to tackle this chaos".

Amnesty International warned the figures were a "stark reminder that the government's flagrant attack on the rights to refugees is not only unlawful and immoral, it is ineffective even on its own terms", demanding the prime minister make safe routes available to tackle crossings.

Rachel Reeves, who is Labour's shadow chancellor, has ruled out increasing the two main levies on income.

Speaking to the BBC, she says that everything in her party's manifesto will have an explanation for where the money to pay for it will come from.

Ms Reeves added: "What I want and Keir [Starmer] wants is taxes on working people to be lower and we certainly won't be increasing income tax or national insurance if we win at the election."

The Labour Party has said it will raise some tariffs, with Ms Reeves saying: "We've made those commitments so VAT and business rates on private schools, private equity bosses being taxed properly on their bonuses, an extension of the windfall tax so the energy profits are properly taxed, ensuring non-doms pay their fair share of tax in the country they live in, and also cracking down on tax avoidance – which is costing our economy billions of pounds every year." 

Our political correspondent Tamara Cohen   has been giving her reaction to Nigel Farage's appearance on Sunday Morning With Trevor Phillips.

He was challenged by Trevor about his comments about British Muslims, having suggested there's a "growing number" of young people in the UK who don't subscribe to British values.

He pointed to pro-Palestine protests as an example.

You can read more of the pair's exchange in our 9.42 post .

Tamara says there will be "a lot of pushback" against Mr Farage's "highly incendiary claims" this morning.

But she says it's also a question for the leadership of his party, Reform.

Mr Farage isn't standing in the general election but has said he will campaign for the party, led by Richard Tice.

Sky News will be asking the leadership if Mr Farage's position is one it agrees with.

With the general election campaign officially under way, what better time to keep a close eye on the latest polling?

Trevor ends his show with his panel by discussing how parties like the Greens and Reform are faring.

As you can see, Reform is currently polling higher than the Liberal Democrats.

Meanwhile, the Greens have stayed pretty much level for the past view years.

Of course, it is hard to use these headline figures to projects seats won due to the quirks of our first past the post system - but it does help paint a broader picture.

The Sky News live poll tracker - collated and updated by our Data and Forensics team - aggregates various surveys to indicate how voters feel about the different political parties.

See the latest update below - and you can read more about the methodology behind the tracker  here .

Nigel Farage has revealed his "true colours as a nasty, race-baiting character", says Labour's Baroness Hazarika, following his interview with  Trevor Phillips .

"I am a proud Indian, Scottish, British, Muslim. I just swore my allegiance to King and country on the Quran.

"The idea that he perpetuates that Muslims can't be trusted, that Muslims are somehow dangerous, is so divisive."

She says he doesn't want to run for parliament because he would get called out.

"Nigel Farage is a political influencer. He has got no political solutions."

She says he got everything he wanted in Brexit and "things have only got worse".

The Conservative Lord Finkelstein says that as the son of a refugee family, he is "very nervous about people who think that they are in charge about what the values of the country are, rather than something that is subject to an argument".

"Dismissing an entire ethic group or religious background as being un-British is a really dangerous thing to do."

He said it is "good for the debate" that Mr Farage's impact has been "massively reduced" by the election being called before he could run.

Trevor Phillips  asks Nigel Farage why the Reform UK director is not running again to be an MP.

Mr Farage says he had a "six-month plan" to come back and campaign "full-time".

But the announcement of an election left him "wrong-footed" - and he came to the decision that he could not start from scratch and campaign in the six-week period allowed. 

Mr Farage denied he would need to back one of the two main party leaders, and instead wants to reshape the "centre right" of the UK's political scene.

He claims while Labour will end up in government, the Tories will not be the true opposition - instead pointing to Reform.

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U.S. Seeks to Join Forces With Europe to Combat Excess Chinese Goods

Treasury Secretary Janet L. Yellen warned that China’s industrial strategy posed a global threat that requires a united response.

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By Alan Rappeport and Liz Alderman

Alan Rappeport is traveling with Treasury Secretary Janet L. Yellen in Germany and Italy this week. Liz Alderman is the chief European business correspondent.

Treasury Secretary Janet L. Yellen said on Tuesday that the United States and Europe needed to work together to push back against China’s excess industrial capacity, warning that a wave of cheap Chinese exports represents a grave threat to the global economy.

Ms. Yellen’s remarks, delivered during a speech in Germany, highlighted what is expected to be a central topic of discussion when the Group of 7 finance ministers meet in Italy this week.

“China’s industrial policy may seem remote as we sit here in this room, but if we do not respond strategically and in a united way, the viability of businesses in both our countries and around the world could be at risk,” Ms. Yellen said at the Frankfurt School of Finance and Management, where she received an honorary doctoral degree.

China’s excessive production of green energy technology has become a pressing trans-Atlantic concern in recent months. Officials in President Biden’s administration have grown increasingly worried that his efforts to finance domestic manufacturing of clean energy and other next-generation technologies will be undercut by China, which is churning out steel, electric cars and solar panels at a rapid clip.

The Biden administration is now looking to Europe to help the developed world prevent the kind of China shock of the early 2000s, which helped decimate manufacturing in exchange for cheap goods. Last week, Mr. Biden increased tariffs on some Chinese imports, including levying a 100 percent tax on electric vehicles. He also formally left in place levies on more than $300 billion worth of Chinese goods that President Donald J. Trump had imposed.

The United States hopes that a united front will convince China that its largest trading partners are prepared to erect trade barriers that will prevent Chinese electric vehicles, batteries and panels from dominating Western markets.

Ms. Yellen emphasized on Tuesday that the United States was not trying to carry out an anti-China policy, but said China’s actions posed a threat to the global economy that warranted a coordinated response.

She pointed to China’s push to dominate clean energy technology and other sectors, saying that ambition “could also prevent countries around the world, including emerging markets, from building the industries that could power their growth.”

The trend toward protectionist policies is likely to become another point of contention between China and the world’s most advanced economies. Liu Pengyu, a spokesman for the Chinese Embassy in Washington, derided Mr. Biden’s decision to impose new tariffs on Chinese goods last week as a “political maneuver.”

“We hope the U.S. can take a positive view of China’s development and stop using overcapacity as an excuse for trade protectionism,” Mr. Liu said.

The new U.S. tariffs could put additional pressure on Europe to erect trade barriers of its own to prevent China from redirecting more of its exports there. Europe’s officials are already considering additional levies on Chinese cars, which pose a particular threat to Germany.

About 37 percent of all electric vehicle imports to Europe are produced in China, including Chinese brands and ones made by Tesla and German automakers with plants there. Europe is the world’s second-biggest E.V. market, and imports there skyrocketed last year to $11.5 billion, from $1.6 billion in 2020.

The European Commission is investigating whether Chinese state subsidies intended to help the country’s companies make cheap cars are damaging Europe’s auto industry. The sector provides nearly 14 million direct and indirect jobs in Europe, and the six million cars that it exported last year generated a trade surplus of more than 100 billion euros.

Europe’s investigation could result in preliminary duties on Chinese electric vehicle imports as soon as July, though any tariffs are likely to be far lower than the 100 percent imposed by the Biden administration. But unlike Europe, which is already importing cars from China, the United States has erected several barriers to prevent Chinese E.V.s from coming to its shores.

Europe’s investigation into China’s subsidies and whether they merit tariffs has aggravated a political divide. Some countries, such as Germany, which is Europe’s biggest maker of electric cars, have been against an investigation. German officials are wary of pressing penalties that might incite Beijing to shut out German carmakers such as BMW and Volkswagen.

Chancellor Olaf Scholz said in a speech in Stockholm last week, “We should not forget: European manufacturers, and also some American ones, are successful on the Chinese market and also sell a lot of vehicles that are produced in Europe to China.” He added that at least half of electric vehicles imported to Europe from China were Western brands.

Ursula von der Leyen, the European Commission president, has been pushing for “de-risking” Europe’s relationship with China. Her approach is backed by President Emmanuel Macron of France, who hosted his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping, this month and has urged Brussels to step up protection against what his administration sees as unfair Chinese competition.

The Brussels investigation has focused less on whether China is dumping large numbers of cars into Europe and more on how subsidies have allowed E.V.s made by BYD, Geely and SAIC, the three biggest Chinese E.V. makers, to offer cut-rate prices. The Chinese government has criticized the European Union for not investigating Western brands with factories in China — including Tesla, which exports more E.V.s from China to the European Union than any other producer.

The Rhodium Group , an independent think tank that focuses on China, said that to compensate for Chinese state subsidies, the European Commission would have to impose duties of up to 50 percent on Chinese E.V.s. But the group suggested that such a move would be unlikely in Europe unless officials took a more “drastic” review of World Trade Organization rules, and suggested that tariff rates of 15 to 30 percent were more realistic.

In the meantime, Chinese electric vehicle makers, including BYD and Great Wall Motor, are setting up factories in Hungary to build cars that would be viewed as European-made products, which could raise trade issues eventually with the United States.

The Biden administration is watching with similar concern as Chinese car companies invest in factories in Mexico, which could potentially be used to enter the U.S. market.

Following her speech, Ms. Yellen told reporters that the United States and countries in Europe have different concerns when it comes to commerce with China and, as a result, they could use different tools to address them. But she added that because many of the concerns about China’s heavy subsidization of exports are broadly shared, it is “more forceful to communicate to China as a group.”

The approach by the United States and Europe to work together to confront China does pose the risk of retaliation, inflaming trade tensions that could weigh on the world economy. Chinese officials said last week that they would respond to the new trade measures imposed by the United States.

In an interview with The New York Times this week, Ms. Yellen argued that the new U.S. tariffs were targeted and that she did not believe that China wanted to escalate tensions.

“I anticipate some response on China’s part, but my hope is that it’s moderate and proportional,” Ms. Yellen said.

Alan Rappeport is an economic policy reporter, based in Washington. He covers the Treasury Department and writes about taxes, trade and fiscal matters. More about Alan Rappeport

Liz Alderman is the chief European business correspondent, writing about economic, social and policy developments around Europe. More about Liz Alderman