Cheap Länder-Tickets Gives Top Savings on Regional Railways

Cheap Länder-Tickets give big savings on rail fares when traveling only on local and regional trains of Deutsche Bahn (German Railways) in Germany.

photo credit: Matthew Black

Cheap Länder-Tickets (State Tickets) are often the best deal when sightseeing in a limited area of rural Germany. These cheap tickets are only valid on local and regional trains of Deutsche Bahn (German Railways) and only for limited geographical areas. Usually, travel is restricted to one Land (or federal state) but that limitation is not a problem, the savings on standard German train fares and tickets can be enormous.

• Germany has 16 federal states (Länder) but as some states are very small, only 13 different Länder-Tickets are sold as smaller states do not have their own Länder-Tickets.

Using Cheap Länder-Tickets in Germany

Länder-Tickets are much cheaper than standard railway fares so not surprisingly they do come with severe restrictions.

• Only German local and regional trains (Nahverkehr) may be used. Local buses, trams, and U-Bahn trains are often, but not always, included as well. Only second class wagons may be used, although a few states now also have first class tickets.
• Local trains have the letters IRE, RE, RB, or S in the train name and number.
• Länder-Tickets have time restrictions. On weekdays, Länder-Tickets may be used from 9 am to 3 am the following day, on weekends and vacation days from midnight to 3 am the following day. For journeys starting earlier, buy a ticket to the first station reached after 9 am and use the Länder-Ticket from there onwards.
• Up to five persons may travel on a Länder-Ticket. Some states have single tickets as well but for two traveling together, a standard Länder-Ticket is usually cheaper than two single-tickets.
• The person going to travel the furthest distance, or board earlier, should write his name on the front of the ticket. The group composition may not change so adding the names of the whole group on the back of the train ticket as well can help to avoid later disputes over group composition.
• If two parents, or two grandparents, are the only adults on the ticket, an unlimited number of their own children or grandchildren up to 14 years old may travel with on the one Länder-Ticket. In contrast to standard tickets, children 7 to 14 do not travel for free with their parents when using Länder-Tickets. (Children under 6 always travel for free on Deutsche Bahn.)
• Länder-Tickets are usually valid to the last station in the state but occasionally the first station in the bordering state is the limit. Similarly, when traveling from a bordering state, addition tickets need to be bought to / from the first station where the Länder-Ticket is valid.

Cheap Länder-Tickets for Saving on German Railways

Deutsche Bahn currently offers thirteen different Länder-Tickets:

1. Baden-Württemberg-Tickets may be used in Baden-Württemberg as well in the Swiss city Basel. The group ticket is €27 and the single ticket €18. A first class single ticket is €28. A night ticket (Nacht) is €20 – same conditions as for Bavaria.
2. Bayern-Tickets are valid in Bavaria on all trains and on most city buses, trams, and U-Bahn trains as well. The group ticket is €28 and the single ticket €20. The Bayern-Ticket Nacht cost €20 and is valid for up to five traveling together from 6 pm to 6 am (7am on weekends) the following morning.
3. Brandenburg-Berlin-Tickets are valid in Berlin (on all trains and buses), in the state of Brandenburg, as well as on some routes outside the state. (This includes traveling to Lutherstadt-Wittenberg, a popular day-trip from Berlin.) The ticket may even be used on some IC and D long-distance trains. The Brandenburg-Berlin group ticket is €26 while a Nacht ticket is €19 – same conditions as in Bavaria. First class tickets are €46 and €39 for first class night tickets.
4. Hessentickets are valid in the state Hesse including all trains, trams, and buses in Frankfurt am Main. The group ticket is €30.
5. Mecklenburg-Vorpommern-Tickets are valid in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Schleswig-Holstein, and Hamburg. The group ticket is €28. A single ticket is €18 while a first class ticket is €46.
6. Niedersachsen-Tickets are valid in Lower Saxony, Bremen, and Hamburg. The group ticket is €28 while the single ticket is €20.
7. SchönerTagTickets NRW is valid in North-Rhine Westphalia. It cost €34 for the group ticket and €25 for a single ticket.
8. Rheinland-Pfalz-Tickets are valid in Rhineland-Palatinate and Saarland. The group ticket is €27 and the single ticket €19.
9. Saarland-Tickets have the same conditions as the Rheinland-Pfalz-Ticket.
10. Sachsen-Tickets are valid in Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt, and Thuringia. The group ticket is €28 and the single ticket €19.
11. Sachsen-Anhalt-Tickets have the same conditions as the Sachsen-Ticket.
12. Schleswig-Holstein-Tickets have the same conditions as the Mecklenburg-Vorpommern Ticket.
13. Thüringen-Tickets have the same conditions as the Sachsen-Ticket.

Travelers can save even more by buying the Länder-Tickets (or any German train ticket for that matter) from ticket machines or the internet. Buying tickets from ticket counter windows at station usually have a service fee of €2 to €5.

When using only local trains on weekends, the very popular Schöne Wochenende Ticket (Happy Weekend Ticket) may be an even better savings deal. In contrast to Länder-Tickets, the Schöne-Wochenende- Ticket is valid for travel nationwide. Many other savings options are available for traveling on German trains especially for advance reservations and return journeys.

Based on Save on Local Trains in Germany originally published on suite101.com.