Hello,
6 to 8 of us will be travelling together in Germany in late April and early May. This will involve taking a train from Amsterdam to Berlin and later from Berlin to Basel.
If you’ve had experience travelling by train in this area, can you offer advice to the advantages and disadvantages of booking our train here in North America versus waiting until we get to Europe and booking it a couple days ahead of time or possibly the day of travelling . For example, are we likely to pay quite a bit more if we waited until a few days before departure? are we likely to have problems getting the train we want because it’s already booked up? Will it be hard to find seats close together? Any other things we should be considering?
Any of your experience connected to these types of questions is appreciated,
Thank you
Posted by
Paradise
7995 posts
For your travel dates you should be booking long-distance train rides like these two tickets NOW for the best prices.
The best prices are called "saver fares" (Sparpreise) - they are generally non-refundable, so book them ACCURATELY - take your time with the DB site. Prices go up as tickets sell. Prices vary depending on demand at any given time - a 6 am departure is more likely cheaper than a 9 am departure since very few people want to get up at 5 am to catch a 6 am train.
You must ride exactly as scheduled with saver fare tickets. These tickets are sold for journeys using the high-speed long-distance trains (ICE, EC for example.) So be prepared to do what you need to to in order to board your train on time.
Long journeys often mean changes of train. Some journeys require more changes than others to a given destination - so go with fewer changes whenever you can, not just for conveniences, but also because train A might be late and not arrive in time for train B's departure... the more changes you have, the greater the chance that you'll get stranded somewhere for an hour or longer. This result has become somewhat common in recent years as the ICE etc. trains have an earned reputation for being late.
Reservations are separate procedure from ticketing. If you want reservations (a good idea usually) get them soon as well.
Additional guidance: https://www.seat61.com/train-travel-in-germany.htm
Posted by
Alsenborn, Germany
2580 posts
Highly recommend you fly Berlin to Basel. That's a very long train ride. Easyjet tickets are @ $60. Flight time 1.5 hours.
Posted by
Arctophilia, Northamptonshire, England
36447 posts
to emphasise Russ's point about accuracy, if at this late date you don't actually know who will be travelling
"6 to 8 of us will be travelling together in Germany"
it would not be wise to buy too few or too many nonrefundable, non changeable tickets.
You may want to wait until you really know. Same theory as buying 6 to 8 airline tickets
and yes, Berlin to Basel is some train ride.
Posted by
Wengen
3718 posts
Regarding Train versus Plane.
Plane will be around 5-6 hours all in downtown to downtown.
The train is 7h15.
I would take the train. More options during the day, and you do not need physiotherapy afterwards.
Tip: When booked in advance 1st class is often not that much more expensive than 2nd class. I always go 1st class in Germany. You get service at your place, and 2nd class is often very crowded.
Pay attention to reservations: They are not automatically included, but I would reserve seats anyway.
Posted by
Republic of Texas / U.S.A. / Magyarország / Budapest
25587 posts
The flight is 2 hours on the front end and 1 hour on the back end plus flight time so, 4.5 and I could believe 5 hours. The train is 30 minutes on the front end and 30 minutes on the back end plus 8 hours on the train so 9 hours total. So your choice seems to be 5 hours with a flight or 9 hours with a train. But it isn’t that easy. That EasyJet flight only goes one or two days a week. The train will cost you maybe $150 which is the minimum the flight will cost you if you throw in a checked bag.
Tough decision.
As for when to buy the train tickets. Find your train on the DB site for a date next week. See the price. Now look up the same train 3 weeks from now. Same price? You can wait. More expensive next week? Maybe dont wait.