Tips for Train Travel in Germany 2: Getting Around

1. Plan out your route in advance. It sounds super romantic to go from town to town on a whim, living without cares or planning, but it is not feasible if you have a limited amount of time and specific goals for your trips. Train travel is not the same as car travel. A trip that may only take a short two hours driving could end up taking seven hours by rail depending on track locations, transfers, wait times, etc.

2. There are many useful resources to help you with scheduling. Google maps lets you look up specific dates and train times. This feature was incredibly useful; we used it before and during our trip to help plan. The information was reliable and provided a convenient way to check/alter our schedule from the hotel. At the station, there are several kiosks where you can enter your desired stop and pull up a detailed list of your best ways to get there. You can choose to print the schedule you decide on (for free) and then you have a portable reminder of where to go next and a great souvenir for your scrapbook. Lastly, when you choose to live on the edge and run from one platform to another in a panic, there are train schedules posted all around the station. Do you see a giant sheet with tons of tiny numbers and letters? That's it! Make sure you are looking at the departures for that station and not the arrivals.

3. Use the bathroom on the train. At most stations you will have to pay to use the restroom, and if you don't have coins handy, it can be a hassle. The facilities on the train are free and are most likely clean.

4. Make sure you are sitting in the right section of the train. If you did not pay for first class, you have to keep walking until you see the ones on the outside of the train turn into twos. Second class still has plenty of room to store luggage overhead, nifty coat hooks, and comfy chairs though, so you are not really missing out on anything. If it is an ICE train at a major station, be prepared to walk for a long time to reach the end of the train. Those things are huge.

5. If you can't get on the train because the doors are closed, push the button. There is a button on the outside of some (most?) train doors. Don't you wish the metro had those?

6. Lastly, be prepared to see some intoxicated teenagers if you are riding through large cities on a weekend. We were treated to a choir of Christmas carols when we arrived, and on the way back we saw some poor attempts at bowling with a drained keg. Yes, these kids brought a small keg onto the train along with cups and passed around drinks like it was totally normal. Ah, to be young. ; )

I hope some of this information will be beneficial to other travelers. If you choose to travel by train, soak in the views and enjoy the ride. The Deutsche Bahn provided a gorgeous ride through Germany and a low-stress experience.