Not 'from' or 'to' but through

mini-rant

Ok, I'm going to start with mini-rant, well if not a rant then a froth - or perhaps a frothette.

Have a look at these three rail travel sites - what do you notice about them?

They all want to know where do you want to go from and to?

Now, that's not unreasonable for functional travel. If you want to buy a ticket to get you to a conference then this is fine - but, as the pictures on the websites suggest, travelling is also a pleasure.

And one of the greatest pleasures of travel, particularly by train, is not the from and to but the through.

Not to but through

Switching from planes to trains means we have a new freedom. We can hop off at places we used to fly over. Travelling for fun, also known by some as holidays, no longer has to be a day of endurance to reach a destination where we can finally relax. Instead we can wend our way somewhere distant, but actually relaxing on the way.

Glancing up from a book to watch some scenery pass by is pretty good for an hour or three, but then (at least for me) comes the itch. The urge to explore, go for a wander, have a nosey - its a primal urge that travelling by train bestows on us. But satisfying that urge comes at a price - the price of a ticket or three.

It's usually cheaper (at least for fast trains going a long way) to buy tickets in advance, so it you want to travel a long way and stop off at a couple of places, then you have to buy a series of tickets in advance. Each ticket is a separate contract. If one train is late, it's your problem if you miss the connection.

A way around this is an Interrail pass which gives you more flexibility, but they come at a price and level of commitment that's more suited to those on a gap year or in retirement. What about everyone else?

What we're looking for is a through-ticket. A single ticket between two (usually) distant places that may involve more than one train operator and allows you to stop off at some places on the way. So where can you do this?

Welcome to Germany.

Two-day Sparpreis

Thanks to the flexibility of the Deutsche Bahn Sparpreis tickets, it's possible to travel grand distances and spend time in some great places.

I tried this out in a two-day journey from Lübeck to Brussels and hopping off in Hamburg, Cologne (overnight), Aachen and Verviers all for €44.50.

However, it does take a level of effort to get a journey to suit you (I think this is in need of a hackathon to make someting more interactive) but you can have fun anyway.

Examples

Anyway, grumbles aside, here are some examples I looked at while writing this:

Brussels to Copenhagen with Hamburg and Cologne stopovers

Let's go to Copenhagen, on the way, why not overnight in Hamburg and spend the morning wandering around the Planten un Blomen and on the way, let's have a look at Cologne Cathedral.

Brussels to Munich, with a strategic spa-break

Let's go to the Oktoberfest!

We'll look for journeys from Brussels to Munich (one month from when we're searching), but let's prepare ourselves by have a mini spa break at the Carolus Thermal Baths in Aachen first - let's add a stopover of 17 hours.

Brussels to Berlin (with a play on an upside-down railway)

On this trip, let's go to Berlin, but have a play on the curious railway that runs through Wuppertal.

As before, we change at Welkenraedt (or could try the previous stop of Verviers instead) before heading to Aachen and then on Wuppertal. The next morning catch a train to Belin via Cologne - all for €34.50.

Paris to Berlin overnight in Leipzig

If you'd rather start in Paris, how about this?

The Paris train goes to Stuttgart, but we make a brief stop in Karlsruhe - we could extend this, but let's crack on to Leipzig instead. In the morning let's find out more abou this gem before heading to Berlin. 

Conclusion

There are real bargains for travelling around Germany - including neighbouring countries using this ticket.

It requires a bit of fiddling with on the website and a willingness to keep an open mind about where you go and how you do it.

But, I've found it to be quite fun. Let's hope more of these types of ticket become available across Europe.