Save on Railway Fares with the Happy Weekend Ticket
For cheap unlimited travel on local German trains over weekends, Deutsche Bahn’s bargain Schönes Wochenende Ticket (Happy Weekend) is hard to beat.
The cheap Schönes-Wochenende-Ticket (literally Happy Weekend Ticket) is one of Deutsche Bahn’s greatest savings deals. The ticket is valid for groups of up to five traveling together on Saturday or Sunday using only local and regional trains in Germany. It is a great deal for saving on railway fares in Germany, especially when traveling only short distances or visiting sights in towns without high-speed trains.
Save with the Cheap Schönes-Wochenende-Ticket
The Schönes Wochende Ticket is remarkably cheap and thus not surprisingly comes with special travel restrictions. The most important include:
- The Schönes-Wochenende-Ticket may only be used on Saturday or Sunday and is valid up to 3 am the following morning.
- The Happy Weekend Ticket may only be used on local regional trains with the letters IRE, RE, RB, or S in the train name.
- The Schönes-Wochenende-Ticket is a group ticket for up to five passengers traveling together. The group composition may not be altered and names have to be entered on the ticket prior to commencement of the journey.
- If two parents or two grandparents are the only adults traveling on the ticket, an unlimited number of own children or grandchildren up to 14 years old may travel with. (Children under 6 years always travel for free on German trains.)
Cheap Schönes-Wochenende-Tickets vs Cheaper Länder-Tickets
The Schönes-Wochenende-Tickets and Länder-Tickets are Detusche Bahn’s saving tickets for group travel on local trains only. The two tickets have a lot in common but there are important differences too:
- Länder-Tickets have geographical restrictions while the Schönes-Wochenende-Ticket is valid throughout Germany.
- Schönes-Wochenende-Tickets are usually not valid on city buses, trams, and U-Bahn trains while Länder-Tickets are generally accepted.
- Länder-Tickets are available all week while Schönes-Wochenende-Tickets can only be used on Saturday and Sunday.
- A few states have even cheaper Länder-Tickets for singles as well as for night travel.
Buying the Schönes-Wochenende-Tickets
The Schönes-Wochenende-Ticket cost €37 when bought online
or from ticket machines. At station ticket counters, the Happy Weekend Ticket is €39 and when bought on the train itself €40.70. Train tickets cannot be bought in S-Bahn and some other local trains – failure to buy a ticket prior to boarding will result in a €40 fine per person.
In many areas, bicycles are transported for free on trains. In others, each bicycle requires €4.50 Fahrradticket (Bicycle Ticket), which allow unlimited transportation on all local trains for the day.
Dogs may or may not require a ticket – it depends on the region and the specific trains. In all cases, dogs cannot be a person on the Schönes-Wochenende-Ticket.
The Schönes-Wochenende-Tickets offer great savings over regular train fares provided traveler is on weekends and on local trains only. During the week, Länder-Tickets provide similar savings but for smaller areas. Deutsche Bahn has numerous further discount fares available on high-speed, long-distance trains as well while non-resident can also get great value out of the German Rail Pass.
Based on Save on Rail Travel in Germany first published on suite101.com.
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