Train reservations for Germany

Thanks so much Lee! Based on your recommendation, we will book online.

We are going from Frankfurt to Cologne, staying the night in Cologne, then 4 nights in Munich before traveling back to Frankfurt. Is it possible to build a fare for such a trip on DB online? I have not figured out how to. Those stopovers on DB online don't allow you to stay a whole day/several days, do they?

Online tickets from the Bahn are no more than the counter price, and often you can get significantly reduced prices online (although you will have to commit to a specific day and train). The German Rail query page will give you the option of purchasing a round trip, and if you purchase three days in advance and stay over a Saturday night, you can get a SparPreis 50 ticket, which is half the standard price for the first person and half that for the next four "Mitfährer" (co-travelers). If you include your own children under 15 on the ticket, they are free.

If you build the stop in Cologne into the ticket, it might not increase the cost of the ticket.

After reviewing the website, the lowest SparPreis fare would be €190,50, but six Dauer-Spezial fares (Frankfurt-Koeln-Munich and Munich-Frankfurt for three - children are full price on a Dauer-Spezial ticket) could be as low as €174. That's assuming you complete the Frankfurt-Koeln-Munich leg by 10 AM the day after you start. If you are going to stay longer in Koeln, you would have to book three legs.

You could probably put it all on one ticket, but the fare would still be for two or three legs.

For a single leg Dauer-Spezial fare, it's possible to start the trip one day and finish it by 10 AM the following day, but you'd have to get up awfully early in Koeln to get to Munich by 10:00. So, you are probably looking at three legs (Frankfurt-Köln, Köln-Munich, and Munich-Frankfurt), at a minimum of €29 for each of you per leg, €261 total.

You could book a SparPreis 50 trip from Köln to Munich and back, and get off in Frankfurt on the way back. No one is going to check to see if you went all the way to Köln. I just saw SparPreis tickets for January for €168 for 2 adults, 1 child. Then go from Frankfurt to Köln via Koblenz on regional trains using a Quer-durchs-Land ticket (weekday) for €44 or a Schönes-wochenende-Ticket (weekend day) for €37. It would take a little longer but allow you to see the scenic Mittelrhein (castle, vineyards) on the way.

I just noticed that you are doing this next week, sorry. Many of the discount fares sell out well in advance. This might be a challenge. I'll send you my email address so we can work this out off-line.

However, you should be able to book the entire trip online on one ticket, but it is not necessary. As long as you are not trying to get discount fares, individual tickets are just as good.

Another possible advantage of online booking could be to get reservations. They will sell an unlimited number of ICE tickets, you just might not have a seat. I don't usually go by express trains, but when I have, advance reservations were not normally necessary. Only one ICE was SRO; all seats were occupied but many were not reserved. I could have bought reservations a few minute before train time, at the counter, and had a reserved seat. The rest of the time (at least 4) there were plenty of seats.

Thanks Lee! Given that our trip is next week, it looks like most of the discounted fares are no longer available, so I guess we will have to book the trip in 3 separate legs as you suggest. Thanks again.