The Daily Telegraph - Saturday - Travel
See the best of Germany on a budget rail trip
Aachen to Cologne? Lübeck to Binz? Whatever your route, you can do it for just nine euros this summer, says William Cook
Travelling by train is the best way to discover Germany. And this summer it’s even better. You can buy a nine-euro ticket, which gives you unlimited travel throughout Germany for just £7.66 per month (roughly 25p a day), and it’s available to anyone, including foreign visitors.
The only restriction is that this ticket isn’t valid for the faster intercity services – trains marked ICE, IC and EC on German timetables – just regional trains (RB and RE). These aren’t quite as quick, but they often travel the more scenic routes, and they will get you anywhere you want to go.
This ticket also works on trams and buses, plus U-Bahn and S-Bahn trains (urban underground and overground), giving you the freedom to roam. So where to go? Well, here are my top 10 German railway journeys, all doable for less than £10.
1
AACHEN TO COLOGNE
If you want to travel to Germany by train, the best route is on the Eurostar to Brussels and then on a Deutsche Bahn train to Cologne via Liege (look out for its futuristic train station, built by Spanish starchitect Santiago Calatrava). Travelling this route, through the industrial heartland of Belgium, Aachen is the first German city you come to. Most people pass straight through without stopping, but it’s well worth breaking your journey here, to see its intricate cathedral and robust Rathaus, the remnants of the palace from which Emperor Charlemagne once ruled most of Europe. Aachen is renowned for its thermal springs. You can bathe in this pungent mineral water, which feels divine, or even drink it, if you are feeling brave (locals swear it’s good for you, but be warned: it tastes disgusting).
Stay at the hip Ruby Ella Hotel & Bar
(00 49 221 9999 3640; ruby-hotels. com), which has spacious lofts from
£79 per night
2
BERLIN TO DESSAU
Berlin is a magnet for international travellers, but most visitors barely stray beyond the city limits. They don’t know what they’re missing. Shut off behind the Iron Curtain for 40 years, Berlin’s eerie hinterland is easily accessible by train, yet it still feels like another world. The countryside is flat and undistinguished. What makes the journey really interesting is passing through old East German towns that still bear the scars of communism, silent relics of a bygone age. A trip to Dessau, home of the Bauhaus, which revolutionised modern architecture, takes you to a place where most coach parties never venture. The city centre is a bit rundown, but the Bauhaus buildings are spectacular and most are open to the public.
Stay at Forsthaus Leiner Berg (0163 7444135, leinerberg.de), a rustic chalet with simple double rooms with a hearty buffet breakfast from £40 per night
3
COLOGNE TO MAINZ
The regional train takes three hours from Cologne to Mainz and is a dramatic route. Unlike the intercity train, it hugs the banks of the Rhine, snaking through a deep gorge guarded by ruined castles, and the stretch between Boppard and Bingen is the most arresting part of the entire river. Before you board the train in Cologne, take time to visit the magnificent cathedral, which towers over the station, and break your journey in Koblenz, a bustling little city where the Rhine meets the Moselle.
Stay at Me and All (00 49 6131 894 460; mainz.meandallhotels.com), a groovy modern high-rise hotel, with doubles including breakfast from £101
4
DRESDEN TO MEISSEN
Reduced to rubble by the RAF in 1945 and miraculously restored since reunification, Dresden is now besieged by sightseers, but few of them go beyond the baroque Altstadt (old town). In fact, the surrounding countryside is a big part of Dresden’s appeal, and it’s easy to reach by train. Within a few miles of the city limits, you are out into vineyards. Half an hour away is Meissen, where they make the eponymous porcelain, and boasts a spectacular medieval citadel. Break your journey at Radebeul and board a steam train to Moritzburg, a grandiose hunting lodge.
Stay at the smart four-star Dorint Parkhotel Meissen (00 49 3521 72250; dorint. com), on the banks of the River Elbe. Doubles from £80
5
FRANKFURT TO HEIDELBERG
Frankfurt’s reconstructed Altstadt is a pleasant place to wander and its “Museum Mile” in leafy Sachsenhausen has some of Germany’s finest museums. By train, it’s about an hour and a half to Heidelberg, Germany’s most romantic city. Built of pink sandstone, surrounded by wooded hills, you can see why generations of visitors have fallen in love with Heidelberg.
Stay at Arthotel Heidelberg (00 49 6221 650 060; arthotel.de), a stylish modern hotel within an antique building in the historic Altstadt. Doubles from £133
6
FREIBURG TO BADEN-BADEN
The Black Forest has always been a big draw for tourists, but it’s easy to dodge the crowds. Freiburg is the best starting point. From here, it is half an hour on a local train to the hilltop lake of Titisee or an hour and a half to Baden-Baden, Germany’s grandest spa town. Here you will find the world’s most beautiful casino (according to Marlene Dietrich) and a seductive array of thermal baths. Stay at the Maison Messmer (00 49 7221 30120; hommage-hotels.com), a five-star hotel. Doubles from £195
7
LEIPZIG TO ERFURT
Since the Berlin Wall fell, Leipzig has enjoyed a remarkable renaissance. Today, it is one of the most dynamic cities in the former GDR. The hometown of Bach and Mendelssohn, it’s a classical music hotspot, and the palatial Hauptbahnhof (main station) is an attraction in its own right. Take the train to Erfurt, a historic city. The journey takes you through Thuringia, the historic heart of Germany, passing through Weimar,
Germany’s cultural capital, en route. Stay in the middle of Erfurt’s medieval Altstadt at the four-star Hotel Krämerbrücke (0049 361 674 00; hotel-kraemerbruecke.de). Doubles from £156
8 LÜBECK TO BINZ
Germany’s Baltic coast boasts hundreds of miles of sandy shoreline and dozens of charming seaside towns. The train trundles along the coast, passing through woods and meadows, handsome Hanseatic ports and oldfashioned beach resorts: the Hanseatic ports of Lübeck, Wismar, Rostock and Stralsund are all well worth a visit. The train terminates in Binz, a jolly bucketand-spade resort on Germany’s largest island, Rügen, with its bewitching forests and vertiginous chalk cliffs.
Stay at the palatial Travel Charme Kurhaus Binz (0049 30 42 43 96 50; travelcharme.com), in a prime spot on the seafront. Doubles from £250
9
MUNICH TO MURNAU AND
OBERAMMERGAU
A local train from Munich’s Hauptbahnhof runs alongside the Starnbergersee, one of Bavaria’s many lovely lakes, and takes just 55 minutes to reach Murnau, in the foothills of the Alps. Change trains here and take an hour or two to visit the Schlossmuseum, with its superb collection of German expressionist paintings. From here, it is 40 minutes along a bucolic singletrack branch line to Oberammergau, famous for its archaic Passion Play. Stay at the Hotel Post (00 49 8841 48780; hotel-post.murnau.de), a homely hotel on Murnau’s cosy cobbled high street. Doubles from £135, including breakfast
10
MUNICH TO OBERSTAUFEN
AND LINDAU
The Regionalbahn from Munich climbs up to the pretty Alpine town of Oberstaufen and then winds down through the rolling hills and lush green fields of the Allgäu, ending up in Lindau, a quaint little town on an island on Lake Constance, aka the Bodensee, one of Europe’s largest lakes.
Stay at the elegant Bayerischer Hof
(00 49 8382 9150; bayerischerhoflindau.de), in a superb location overlooking the harbour and the lake. Doubles from £154