My wife, young daughter, and I will be traveling around central Europe in July and were hoping to get some advice. We will ride by train and wanted to know useful the Eurail Global Pass is. Does it allow you to use ICE trains? Are you also allowed to use regional trains, such as the S-Bahn in Berlin with the same ticket? Also, we have read about the recent stabbings and wanted to know if this is a real risk. Thank you very much for any advice.
Posted by
Glostrup, Denmark
1454 posts
Check https://www.seat61.com/ for everything about trains.
Factor in delays on the German railway. On three trips Copenhagen-London I was at least 3 hours delayd each time :-(
Posted by
Schwerin
3843 posts
Deutsche Bahn (DB) provides a pass specific info page including faq.
https://int.bahn.de/en/offers/passes/eurail-global-pass
"You need a reservation for many European high-speed trains and for all night trains. This means that you cannot travel by train without a reservation.
Please also note that a reservation including surcharge is required for high-speed trains between Germany and France and for Eurocity trains between Munich and destinations in Italy."
Page with links to Eurail Pass Guide: https://int.bahn.de/en/offers/eurail
More detailed info your will find in the Interrail Wiki for Germany.
So, yes to ICE (seat reservation recommended), regional trains and S-Bahn. But not local transport in Berlin such as subway (U-Bahn), trams and buses. Choose day tickets there from BVG. Also app. Do not forget to time stamp paper-based day tickets for validation before first journey of the day.
Heads up: S-Bahn and regional trains are separated train / connection types - both managed and operated by DB. All regional trains are indicated with RB or RE.
Recommendation: use DB Bahnhof website or app for details about every larger train station in Germany: map, track plan, live arivals & departures, info about luggage lockers, ...
Info: In July Switzerland will host Euro2025 women soccer championships (link to dates and cities). Expect well booked destinations.
The stabbing in Hamburg were caused by a woman with psychology disease background (read Hamburg's public media page) and use DeepL for best translation from / to German. In general traveling in Germany is very safe compared to other parts of the world but be aware of tricky pickpockets - they act in teams and are well trained and fast (link to brochure from Berlin PD).
Have a good and safe journey.
Posted by
Frankfurt, Germany
9373 posts
For news in English for Germany, try Deutsche Welle.
The attack is not something I would worry about for future train rides. Riding the German trains is a very safe transport option.
https://www.dw.com/en/germany-several-injured-in-attack-at-hamburg-train-station/a-72653451
Posted by
8884 posts
You plan to visit five countries in July. Even for the entire month that is a lot to cover.
We lived in Augsburg, German from 1987 until 1991 and found Germany to be very safe from crime.
However, we went back to do a Danube cruise last Summer and visited Augsburg again. We have a friend that lives in the USA near us that we knew back then. She goes back every year to visit her family. She says that Augsburg and many German cities are not so safe as decades ago. She said it wasn't smart to go out at night in some areas of the city.
Also, we found that the Germany trains don't run on time like they did decades ago. All our trains were somewhat late and we had two trains that were cancelled, almost causing us to miss our river cruise.