How To Use Public Transport In Germany

Whether you are a tourist or an expat, you may feel confused when you encounter the public transport system in Germany.

“Complication” may be the first word you come up with when describing the system, but as long as you get used to it, you will reckon how systematic and convenient it is compared to other countries.

In this article, I will provide some information about German public transport and offer some tips on making the best of public transportation in Germany.

1. Necessary information about the public transport system in Germany

Below is the list of keywords or concepts you may find useful when reading about public transport in Germany.

Means of public transport in Germany

Bus, tram, S-Bahn, U-Bahn, regional trains (RE/RB/IRE), ICE/ICs are the main public transportation in Germany.

Except for ICE/ICs, a German high-speed train for long-distance travel, the rest is used for regional transport.

Deutsche Bahn (DB)

DB is the German national railway company that operates all railway systems across Germany.

The abbreviation for it is DB, and whenever you see the DB sign in red, it infers the central train station (German: Hauptbahnhof or Hbf).

Local transportation in Germany

Local transport association (German: Verkehrsverbund): These local companies operate local transport such as buses, trams, or U-Bahn.

Each region will have a different association, and the fare is subject to change between regions.

Zone in Germany

Big cities in Germany will have different zones whose fares are slightly different from one another.

Usually, there are 3 zones in a city, and most tourist attractions are located in the first two zones, whereas the airport is sometimes in the outermost zone.

Pay attention to the zone when buying the ticket to save money, and do not get fined when you enter an invalid zone.

public train in germany - german rail
Berlin train

Tips to check ticket price in Germany

You can check the ticket price for local transport in a region at the association’s website or app.

Also, you may google the keyword “Name of city/region” + “Verkehrsverbund” and see its site in the English language. You can download the map of all the lines or get it free at the DB Info counter at the central train station.

2. Where to buy public transportation tickets in Germany?

There are many options for you to buy a ticket in Germany:

  • At the station: the main station and some other big stations will have a ticket machine for you to buy. The DB ticket machine can allow you to purchase both local transportation tickets and long-distance tickets. Still, some other ticket machines operated by the local transport associations only sell bus or tram tickets.
  • At the DB Info counter at the station: you will receive assistance to buy the tickets, and of course, you have to pay for the service.
  • Bus or tram: you can buy directly from the driver or the ticket machine on the bus or tram.
  • DB website or app: you can buy tickets operated by DB (regional trains, S-Bahn, ICE/ICs).
  • The website or app of local transport association: you can buy local tickets (tram/bus/U-Bahn) here.
train ticket germany - german rail
S-Bahn train in Stuttgart

Tips

Don’t be scared by the German ticket machine. Just hit the button to change the language to English and start looking at the options.

The way the German display on the machine is straightforward, so you will not be confused in any way. If you still find it hard, ask anyone for help or reach the DB Info counter.

3. Ticket for local transport in Germany

There are many types of tickets depending on the region, but in general, you should know only three common types of them:

a) Single Ticket (EinzelTicket)

This ticket allows you to travel anywhere you like and by any means in the city, usually within 1.5 hours, regardless of how many stops you make, by any means of the chosen zone.

Price: 2 – 2.8 euros per person

b) Day Ticket (TagesTicket)

You can travel by any means and anywhere in the zone you choose for one day.

One day here does not necessarily mean 24 hours from the time you buy the ticket, so you have to pay attention to the ticket’s validity.

In some cities, it means 24-hour ticket whereas some cities allow you to travel only to 3 A.M on the following day.

Price: 6 – 8 euros per person

c) Group Ticket (GruppenTicket/GruppenTagesTicket)

Group ticket is, in major cases, the day ticket for a group of a maximum of five people with some restriction in age.

Note that the price for a group ticket is fixed in some regions no matter how many people there are in your group as long as it does not exceed five people.

In some other regions, the price is fixed for the first ticket and for each additional person you will have to pay extra.

Price: 12 – 20 euros per group of a maximum of 5 people

Tips:

When you are in the city and do not know where to go, it is highly recommended to buy a day ticket to save a lot when exploring the city.

Sometimes buying a group ticket is cheaper even when you travel with just 2 or 3 people than buying several single tickets.

4. Ticket for long-distance transport in Germany

You can travel long-distance in Germany via ICE/ICs with connecting S-Bahn or Regional Trains in between.

My best advice for you is to buy tickets in advance as early as possible because the price system works precisely like flight booking, which means the later you book, the higher price you get.

You can book the ticket on the Deutsche Bahn website at www.bahn.com for the English language and pay with Paypal or credit card.

You need to be aware of Flexpreis and Saving fares.

The only difference between them is that for Flexpreis, you pay a lot higher than Saving fares, but you are more flexible in the time and place.

It means you can travel any time or any route you like between your specified point of departure and destination within 1-2 days from the day your ticket is valid.

public transport in germany frankfurt
Frankfurt Central Station

Tips for long-distance transport in Germany

Buying tickets with Saving fares can save you a lot because the price can be as little as 19 euros compared to the usual 30-50 euros.

However, please remember that you cannot change or return this ticket, but you can request a new one at the Deutsche Bahn counter if there are delays in your current route.

Seat reservation is allowed on the ICE, and it is around 2 euros for one seat.

5. Promotion tickets

Promotion tickets are usually group tickets for long-distance travel in Germany. There are many types of them, but I will name only the most common ones here.

Regional day ticket (Länder-Ticket)

A group ticket for 4-5 people to travel across one of 16 federal states in Germany for one day. The average price is around 25 euros for the first person and 4 euros for each additional person.

Some states like Baden-Wuerttemberg will have a different type of regional day ticket for young people (mostly younger than 23) with a more reasonable price.

Note that the validity of this ticket is from 9 A.M to 3 A.M the next day, and you can use all of the public transport except for ICE/ICs.

Weekend ticket (Schönes-Wochenende-Ticket)

It’s a group ticket for traveling anywhere in Germany on either Saturday or Sunday.

The price is 44 euros for the first person and 6 euros for each additional person (maximum four fellows).

The ticket is valid from 0 A.M to 3 A.M the next day, and you can use all of the German public transport except for ICE/ICs.

Day ticket (Quer-Durchs-Land-Ticket)

This one is a perfect combination of the two previous tickets such that you can travel across Germany on any day you like.

The price is 44 euros for the first person and 8 euros for each additional person (maximum 4).

The only difference here is that you can only travel by regional trains and S-Bahn operated by DB and other railway cooperating undertakings.

The valid usage time is from 9 A.M to 3 A.M the next day during the weekdays and the entire day at the weekend.

Promotion tickets

Apart from all of these, you can have promotion tickets at a different time of the year.

DB has many promotion programs throughout the year, especially in the summer, and you can get cheap tickets to travel individually.

public transport in germany - german train

Tips

The only disadvantage of this ticket is that you can only travel by local German trains and therefore it usually takes longer and many connecting trains in between.

Given this, you should plan your journey, especially time and destination, very carefully by searching for the route at the DB website or the ticket machine.

Make sure you select “Local transport only” in the extended search options to remove all the routes with ICE/ICs.

The very last thing you should know is buying at the DB info counter costs you two more euros for service, so you should buy it online or from the DB app and save the ticket for ticket controlling along the way.

You can buy and find more information here.

About the author

Tuan is currently a senior in the major of biomedical engineering in Vietnam. He lived in Reutlingen, Germany as an expat. Besides his study, he loves reading books, hanging out with his friends, and traveling.

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Click here to read advice and tips on using public transport in Germany. You can find how to use train in Germany, how to buy train ticket,bus ticket, how to use bus in Germany and make use of promotion tickets and long-distance-travel tickets. You will definitely want to save it to your German Travel Board so you can apply these tips when you travel!

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19 Comments

  1. Hi Tuan, Really great explanation of the German public transport. If I wasn’t German myself and not used to the way it works, I would have certainly learnt a lot! (Just a tiny thing: some bigger cities actually use “zones” for ticket prices so saving that with a “Einzelticket” in local public transport you can go as far as you want is not always correct. Sometimes you have to buy a ticket depending on how many zones you are traveling through which affects the price).

    Also, Ha, I just wanted to let you know that I love your blog – I’ve been reading quite a few of your articles and thought they were great!

    Kind regards,
    Lisa

    1. Ha Truong says:

      Thank you very much, Lisa. I forgot to include the fact that zones can affect ticket price in big cities. It’s great to have feedback from a real German like you.

      All the best,
      Tuan

      P/S: I’m really happy that you enjoy reading my blog (from Ha)

  2. Even as a German I must say that your overview and provided service information about German public transport is really great!
    It is even for Germans themselves sometimes such a struggle to find the right information or the best tariff. I most cases especially for tourists I would recommend the app, makes things much easier. And yes, long distance you do best with the ICE. My personal recommendation is to take first class. Costs just a bit more but the service and comfort is far better.

  3. What a nice guide to the German transportation system! It’s always good to have a good overview before arriving, especially since each country’s system varies. This one does look pretty efficient and easy to use once you get he understanding of what each ticket does.

    1. Totally! It becomes easy when you understand how the system works!

  4. What a lovely guide to Germany’s transport system. I am sure after reading your guide one would not have any confusions going around Germany. I really like the fact that they have so many options that would suit variety of travelers and their needs.

  5. Denny George says:

    All this sounds incredibly confusing for someone unused to the German system, like me. Your explanation does significantly help reducing the complexity here. This post would be very useful for anyone visiting Germany

  6. This is an excellent guide to demystifying the local transportation in Germany. Good to know where to get the tickets and how to get the best deals. Also heartening to know that the machines can switch to English

  7. I fell in love hard with the German rail system when I was a student in Germany. One of my favorite things to do was to purposefully get myself “lost” and then figure my way back home. I loved how efficient everything was and user-friendly. I guess studying German also helped navigate. I took advantage of a lot of Regional trains to get places. It was a slower way to travel, but fun.

    1. Ha Truong says:

      Thank you, Rachelle, for sharing :)

  8. Nicole Anderson says:

    I am amazed at good the public transports system is European countries and obviously Germany is no different. Everything looks clean and modern and efficient. Not to mention affordable. I lived in Japan when I was younger and you could get anywhere on public transport. A good public transport system that is affordable for everyone makes life easier.

  9. I’ve only visited Germany twice and this would have helped me a lot in those trips. We didn’t know which ticket is the most valuable to us until the end of our trip. Thanks for sharing, It’s very informative and useful! Hopefully, when I get to go back to Germany, I would be able to use these tips!

  10. Your blog is beautiful and very helpful. I love your photography too!

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