Booking trains in Germany

[mackfam]

Looking for advice on getting from Hamburg to Rostock in September. Our connecting flight from Frankfurt gets us to Hamburg sometime around noon. We’re planning on taking the train from there to Rostock where we are staying the night. We embark our cruise in Warnemunde the following day. Wondering how far ahead to book the train tickets and which website is best to use.

Thanks for any advice 

[Kreuzfahrtblog.eu]

Hi, the official website of the Deutsche Bahn is www.bahn.de. You can switch it to English language. There are tickets for regional trains (RE, RB, S), which are valid the whole day. And there are tickets for faster trains (IC, ICE) - at different prices with flexibility on the day or for a fixed time only. Greetings from Germany. 

[Scottishclover]

Use Deutsche Bahn website or even better download the App and you will get all the latest information on train delays etc. if you are travelling on an Inter City (IC) or Inter City Express (ICE) you can book up to 3 months in advance. If you are on a budget up to 2 adults can travel together on a regional train (RB) or (RE)  a Mecklenburg-Vorpommern  ticket for €27. You can’t reserve seats on regional trains and they can be fairly busy due to all the locals taking advantage of the Deutschland Ticket deal. There isn’t a huge time difference between the various type of trains. The earlier you book on IC the cheaper it is. 

[Scottishclover]

Should also say that in my experience if you take the regional train cheap option ( which I always do) it really helps to be down on the platform in Hamburg about 20 minutes early to ensure you get on the train as early as possible. They are double deckers and I prefer the top deck  for the view but it can be a pain if you have a lot of luggage.

[mackfam]

Thanks so much for this information.

 

Just checked the website and it seems most of the regional trains require multiple changes unless I’m missing something.  Where do I find info about the Deutschland Ticket deal? 

Edited June 13 by mackfam
Added to post

[Hezu]

3 hours ago, mackfam said:

Just checked the website and it seems most of the regional trains require multiple changes unless I’m missing something.  Where do I find info about the Deutschland Ticket deal? 

I searched on bahn.de for tomorrow's trains between Hamburg and Rostock and I found only a couple connections that required train changes.

For more information about Deutschland ticket, see https://int.bahn.de/en/offers/regional/deutschland-ticket.

[gnome12]

If the Mecklenburg-Verpommern ticket works it is much cheaper than the Deutschland ticket, unless you need more travel within the same month. I used a regional ticket in 2022 to get to Cochem on the Moselle. That was the Rheinland-Pfalz ticket. However, when I looked I only saw ICE direct trains and regional trains had 2 changes. I would go for the ICE even though it is twice the price. 

[Scottishclover]

To be clear - you have to be a German resident to be eligible for a Deutschland Ticket. 
 

@mackfam not quite sure what is going wrong with your search but the majority of trains are direct. Make sure you are searching for Hamburg Hbf to Rostock Hbf. You will need to get the S-Bahn in from the airport and change at the Hauptbahnhof ( central/main station).

[Kreuzfahrtblog.eu]

There is an article in a German newspaper saying something different: 49-Euro-Ticket für Ausländer und Touristen (Info) (stuttgarter-nachrichten.de) The bigger problem might be to find a way to pay for it in advance - and maybe the cancellation policy to avoid having the Deutschland ticket for two months.... 

[mackfam]

I do see many more direct trains if I look at tomorrow’s schedule but when I search for September this is what I get

[gnome12]

47 minutes ago, mackfam said:

I do see many more direct trains if I look at tomorrow’s schedule but when I search for September this is what I get

You may be too far out. Try working backwards and see if you get better answers. I also think that you have mode of transport set to local transport only.  When I checked Sept 5 there were direct ICE trains listed.

[Scottishclover]

11 hours ago, Kreuzfahrtblog.eu said:

There is an article in a German newspaper saying something different: 49-Euro-Ticket für Ausländer und Touristen (Info) (stuttgarter-nachrichten.de) The bigger problem might be to find a way to pay for it in advance - and maybe the cancellation policy to avoid having the Deutschland ticket for two months.... 

There is an issue with this. I remember my daughter looked into it for her friends visiting and mentioning something. I know it is easy to cancel though as my daughter did this last month after finishing her year abroad. Really only useful if you are travelling on local and regional trains a lot. 

Edited June 14 by Scottishclover

[Scottishclover]

OP I see what you mean. Believe me when I say the route from Hamburg to Rostock has been direct for the last 30 years. I will say when I looked into visiting my daughter in May they were not and this was due to Deutsche Bahn upgrading the line but that only lasted a few weeks. It may be there are works planned during the period you wish to travel.

 

Another option if Flixbus if you are looking for a direct and convenient journey. The bus station in Rostock is directly behind the Hauptbahnhof. It’s a 2 minute walk. Worth looking into.

[mackfam]

Thanks, I’ll check out the bus too.