The Quer-durchs-Land Ticket is a day ticket allowing for unlimited travel on any regional train of Deutsche Bahn in Germany. Small groups save the most.
The cheap Quer-durchs-Land-Ticket (Day Ticket for Germany) is one of Deutsche Bahn’s greatest savings deals. The ticket is valid for solo travelers or small groups of up to five traveling together using only local and regional trains in Germany. It may be used on weekdays from 9 am until 3 am the following day or all day weekends. 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. The Quer-durchs-Land-Ticket has a base fare of €46 for the first traveler with each additional traveler up to five adding €9. It is best bought online from German Railways or at station vending machines. If traveling in a single German state, a Länder Ticket is usually better value. Travelers to Germany should also consider the Deutschland-Ticket at €49 per month but note that it is a subscription and not a regular train ticket or travel pass.
Quer-durchs-Land-Ticket works great in German but is harder to translate into English. Literally, it means “across through the country”. It tries to convey the message that is valid throughout Germany and that it is not necessary to take the shortest, fastest, or most direct route while traveling. In English, it is now referred to as the less poetic but easier-to-understand Day Ticket for Germany, (which itself is now complicated by the Germany Ticket subscription season ticket launched in mid-2023.)
The Quer-durchs-Land-Ticket is remarkably cheap and thus not surprisingly comes with special travel restrictions. The most important include:
The Quer-Durchs-Land-Tickets and Länder-Tickets are Deutsche Bahn’s saving tickets for travel on local trains only. The tickets have a lot in common but there are important differences too:
The previous Schönes-Wochenende-Ticket (Happy Weekend Ticket) was canceled in mid-2019. The Quer-Durchs-Land Ticket offers the same benefits (but is, of course, a few euro more expensive)!
By far the best bargain for public transportation travel in Germany is the Deutschland-Ticket (Germany Ticket). It is a subscription season ticket valid on all regional, local, and city public transportation throughout Germany — trains, metros, buses, trams, and ferries. It is valid all day, all year, in all cities and states throughout Germany.
The Deutschland-Ticket costs only €49 per calendar month but it is a subscription ticket — travelers need to sign up for a year but may cancel within a month. Anyone may buy it — no German residency is required. For foreigners, it must be bought online — it is never sold at stations or vending machines. It may be bought from any local transportation authority or German Railways — use the Hamburg HVV service for the easiest process in English, simple paying by credit card or Paypal, and canceling the subscription with the click of a button in the app.
See Cheap Travel on the €49 Deutschland-Ticket Germany Train Pass for details — read the fine print before signing up!
The Quer-durchs-Land-Ticket, when bought online or from ticket machines, is €46 for the first passenger and then adds €9 for each additional traveler up to a maximum of five (€82). Additional passengers cannot be added after purchase and names must be entered in ink before the first journey commences, or added online when the ticket is bought.
At station ticket counters, German train tickets are usually €2 more expensive. Train tickets cannot be bought on German trains — failure to buy a ticket prior to boarding will result in heavy fines per person.
Buy in German: Quer-durchs-Land-Ticket, or in English from German Railways (if the link has moved, look for the Day Ticket under Regional Offers).
In many areas, bicycles are transported for free on trains. In others, each bicycle requires a €5 Fahrradticket (Bicycle Ticket), which allows unlimited transportation on all local trains for the day.
Small dogs travel for free if inside a transportation container, otherwise, a dog counts as a person. Dogs do not qualify for free travel under the “children” rule and must be counted as an adult passenger — enter Hund (dog) rather than the name of the animal on the ticket.
The Quer-durchs-Land Tickets offer great savings over regular train fares provided only local trains are used. The Länder-Tickets are even better saving deals for travel in smaller areas. Deutsche Bahn has numerous further discount fares available on high-speed, long-distance trains as well while non-residents can also get great value out of the German Rail Pass.