Travelling low budget through Germany

I have been living in Germany for  10 months now and since I absolutely love travelling and discovering new places, saving up money for and during  travelling has been a priority from the very beginning. If you stick with me for 7 minutes, I will share with you some cheap transportation means you can use to travel across Germany and still have money left to spend on sweets, clothes or souvenires at the end of the trip. So here we go:

1. Länder Tickets

You may or may not know that train tickets are pretty expensive in Germany particularly and Western Europe in general, especially when you are coming from an East-European country where for the same distance you would pay half the price. Thus during my volunteering year I have been looking for travelling alternatives. This is how I came across the Länder-Tickets and Durchs-Land—Tickets.

Länder-Ticket is a ticket that allows you to travel within a German state, regardless the distance of the travel, using all the  local trasportation means (namely buses, subways, trams, regional and interregional trains) for a cheap price. The price varies depending on the state:  for example 24 euros in Baden Württemberg  or 28 euros in Schleswig-Holstein. The tickets are available between 9-3 o’clock during the week and 7-3 o’clock during the weekend and can be purchased online.The Durchs-Land Ticket is similar to the Länder Ticket, with the only difference that it allows you to travel across the entire Germany and thus it is more expensive (42 euros).

What is particularly cool about these tickets is that the more people you are, the less you pay. For each aditional person you have to pay a small amount of money (depending on the state) and the maximum number of people who can travel with just one ticket is 5. To make it more eas to understand how it works, I will give you an example: The Baden Württemberg Ticket costs 24 euros for one person. If two persons want to travel with this ticket, an additional fee of 6 euros will be added to the price of the ticket. Thus both persons will pay together 30 euros. If a third traveler wants to join, together our travelers will pay 36 euros, which means just 12 euros per person, and soo on. Cool, right?

However, if you prefer using fast transportation means, such as the Inter-City or Inter-City Express trains, the secret is to book the tickets in advance. The earlier you book it, the cheaper it is.

2. Flixtrain

Flixtrain is a train network that connects Germany’s biggest cities.  All the trains are electric and the ticket prices are much lower than a usual train ticket, especially if you book it in advance.  The prices are particularly low during the week, when a ticket from Stuttgart to Berlin can cost as much as five euros. The only disadvantage of this option is that it only takes you through Germany’s big cities and thus if you want to go hiking or camping for example, you will still need to pay for the public transport.

3. Bla Bla Car

For those who love to meet new people or simply enjoy being adventurous, I recommend Bla Bla Car. It is a car-sharing app (and website) where you can find people who drive from point A to point B and take passengers along the way in order to share the gas costs, but also to avoid boredom on the road. The transactions are made online, so you do not need to worry that you will be charged more than agreed at the end of the trip. If you have trust issues, don’t worry, there is a solution for you too: the Bla Bla Car App (and website) allow passenger and drivers to give each other feedback and comments. Thus, when you choose an offer, you have the chance to read the reviews of the driver and see if it it’s the kind of person you are looking for.

That’s it people! You are now ready to go. If you know any other cheap means of travelling in Germany, let me know in the comments, I am always open to new experiences : ) Have a safe trip!