On the road in Germany with Abellio.de

The biggest complain when it comes to intensive travel through Germany is the high price of the train tickets, and it may be so if you insist to be a spontaneous traveller. In the last years very cheap bus alternatives are offered, by when you travel with a small kid there might not be that convenient in terms of time and comfort.

If you decide tonight to go somewhere as far away from Berlin as Munich, the price of the train ticket could go as high as around 100 Euro. If you are lucky. However, if you try to plan everything in due time, at least two weeks in advance and you do a bit of documentation - hence the German skills are needed - you can get best prices. I will try to share more tips in the next posts. For my last trips I started to use the BahnCard 25, which offer significant discounts, plus various local travel deals. Practically, every German land has its own special day tickets and cards which can be bought for less than 30 Euro. For instance, the Abellio.de, which covers Saale/Sachsen-Thüringen area. 

The ride starts from Leipzig train station and covers beautiful cities such as Naumburg, Erfurt, Gotha or Eisenach. It matches normal Deutsche Bahn tickets, or you can buy them from the train, from the machine, chosing 'Pauschalpreisen'. One person ticket costs 23 Euro, 28 Euro for 2 persons. It is comfy, clean, with air condition during the hot days, and friendly customer service. A mobile mini-bar is offered to the travellers at a convenient price. For more than 5 minutes delays, you can get a refund, as far as I know, the only such offer among various regional train, and transportation in general, companies in Germany. 

The only big disadvantage I noticed is the slowfulness, but maybe I do have a speed-related addiction, as I am always hurrying up by nature. Another advantage, particularly if you travel in whelchair or with a pram is the lack of high stairs, as in the case of the fancy IC, so you can go up and down without any difficulty. A free of charge hotline is offered to the current and potential customers curious to find out more.