I have upgraded my semester ticket to Deutschland Ticket so I don’t want to waste money to high speed trains. Is it possible to travel from Cologne to Berlin? There are many transfers and it is 10hr journey(I have no rush so 10hr is okay for me). What’s your advices, should I just buy High speed train or Flixbus?

by tbcam26

13 comments

  1. I mean, you already posted the answer (though it’s Aachen instead of Cologne), sure it’s possible. People used the 49€ Ticket to travel through the whole country. It’s just a shit experience because it takes a fuckton of time, changes, and the possibility of something going wrong greatly increases.

    Whether you favor that over buying an ICE ticket just depends on how much the money vs time is worth it to you.

  2. its definitely possible (as you can see yourself on the DB app) but its a pain in the ass and takes forever

  3. 10-12h between two major cities? It’s even worse than I thought.

  4. As someone who did it once for the fun of it (I packed my own food, coffee and Kindle) – it is entirely possible. Don’t try to stick to a specific route – that’s a recipe for stress. Just trainsurf in the general direction by picking REs.

    My suggestion would be roughly – Koln to Dusseldorf. Dusseldorf to Paderborn or so. Then you might have to take a S Bahn into Brandenburg. Once you reach any city there, you will be spoilt for choice to get into Berlin.

    Patience, travel light, pack food, treat it as an adventure.

  5. You should keep in mind that, with every transfer, there’s an increased risk of delays, so 10 hours is the absolute minimum. I’d rather spend the money for an ICE ticket… But when I was still in school, I also sometimes took a so called Wochenendticket to go from Saarbrücken to Berlin. Took us only 12 hours…

  6. if your time doesn’t bring much value , then 10hrs is fine. i did 12hrs, Because i have time, and i cant make that time into money 🥲 But its tiring. so be prepared

  7. Compare against IC and ICE connections and check if you can’t significantly cut down on your travel time by going 1 or 2 stops on a faster train.

  8. There is flixbus train daily from cologne to berlin and back. I used to take it and it was good. It took around 5 hours and tickets were so cheap if you book in advance. Around 10 to 15 euros. Also, the train was rarely late and it was on time most of the time. I also used 49 euro ticket to travel from cologne berlin and it took around 10 hours and if you miss 1 train, you will be late again. My advice is to take the flixtrain. 15 euros is worth it especially the 49 euro will take around 12 hours and 6 changes

  9. I’ll go even further than others and say, you can’t do it. With the ongoing disruptions and delays, you cannot count on getting there within 12 hours. And even if, by some miracle, you did, the experience would be horrible. Those trains are not meant to be used for long distance.

    I travel a lot and please trust me, you are better off paying for an ICE. More comfort, wifi, toilets and catering.

  10. Have a look at a FlixTrain Connection. Way cheaper and way faster than DE Ticket, often without having to change trains

  11. * Possible? Yes.
    * Best option? Depends on the purpose of your trip, your budget and how flexible you are.

    I would go either with Flixbus or with an ICE with Sparpreis ticket. I find options 3 weeks from now for 18€ a trip (or 25€ 1st class). The 10h you are saving is basically an extra day in Berlin and would be worth the 50€ for me.

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