Do I need to reserve ICE train tickets in Germany? Using Rail Pass?

-Is it really necessary to reserve tickets on the ICE trains? Or can I just show up and use the rail pass?

Only on the rare ICE Sprinter are reservations mandatory (the price of the reservation also includes a surcharge for a premium train). On all other German trains reservations are optional. So, you can just show up and use the rail pass. Some trains might be crowded, so it would be advisable to make reservations. Such trains are often noted on the Bahn website. However, you can usually make the reservation after arriving at the station. I have only once, ever, been on a reservable train that was Standing Room Only, and on that train only about half the seats were reserved; the others were just already occupied, so could have been reserved.

"-Would it be better to just ditch the rail pass idea and make individual reservations on the ICE trains?"

If you know the train you want and are going to make reservations anyway, it would be advisable to buy the tickets in advance, online, and probably save money over using a rail pass. Advance purchase tickets start at 29€. Use the Bahn Query page to find trains and look for Savings Fares. These advance purchase discounted tickets are only for connections employing a train of the Bahn (ICE, IC, EC) for a least on leg. They are trains specific (for the Bahn trains) and have limited refundability. Most advance purchase tickets are emailed as a pdf file you can print at home. You can print multiple copies for insurance against losing one, but you can only use one. You must show the conductor the credit card you used to make the purchase online.

The fact that reservations are optional on the ICE makes the German Rail Pass convenient to use. If you choose to reserve a seat, you can do so in a train station or on the DB web site for 4.50 per ride, but that is not required. The DB train schedules online will accurately reflect any (rare) departures that at "subject to compulsory reservation." Rail Europe's site does not reflect that information correctly.

If choosing the rail pass, I recommend that you order through the first link above, on our web site, for home delivery in the USA; or else you can buy it in Frankfurt airport train station. Don't order it to be mailed from Germany. If choosing point-to-point, advance-discount tickets for specific dates and times through the second link, then those will be e-tickets that you print at home on regular paper, and can reprint if necessary. Seat assignments may be included in advance tickets or may still cost extra; read the fine print when ordering.

So you are only planning on taking 2 trains but are considering a rail pass?

It is likely that you will be spending a lot more than you need to if you do.

About losing the 2 tickets. Are you likely to lose your airline tickets? Or the rail pass? But if you won't lose those, why would you be likely to lose the train tickets? Can you put them with the airline tickets and your passport?

Passes, in the rare occasions where they are money savers, are best if you have a lot of long distance journeys and can save large amounts of fare by buying expensive passes. They are unlikely to pay off in trips, one quite short and one a bit longer.

We just use rail passes unless we plan to sleep on a train then we reserve.

Keeping aside the issue of if rail passes are worth the money (in my opinion, almost never)...

I always purchase reservations when riding an ICE. Not to guarantee a seat, which you can almost always find somewhere. Rather, I reserve so that instead of fumbling around with my luggage through multiple carriages on a busy train, I know exactly which carriage to board as the train pulls up, and I can easily procede directly to my vacant seat. That small bit of convenience is worth the minimal reservation fee to me.

If you post the exact train journeys you are taking and the days you are taking them, we can give better advice.

The big advantage of the rail pass is flexibility; except for ICE Sprinter, you can hop on any train. This convenience comes at a cost; these days, if you know which trains you are taking and can commit to non-refundable and non-exchangeable tickets, you can save a fortune. To give a real example from 2012, when my mother and I went from Berlin to Dresden and back: the full fare was €38 per person each way. The advance purchase fare each way was €19 for one person, and €29 for two traveling together (which we were). So, by using the advance purchase tickets, we saved €94 on that one round trip! We also made seat reservations (€4 at the time, now €4.50), which were a very good idea. The trains were crowded, and on the return trip people were sitting in the aisle on their luggage, but we just went to our reserved seats, stowed our bags, and relaxed.

You can buy the advance tickets on the Bahn (German Rail) website http://reiseauskunft.bahn.de/bin/query.exe/en, following Rick's tutorial: http://www.ricksteves.com/travel-tips/transportation/trains/online-schedules. You print the ticket at home; it will say you need A4 paper, but 8.5 x 11 works fine. You can print as many copies as you want (one for each suitcase, money belt, etc), which covers your concern about loss (I'm a worrier about that too, so I always have LOTS of copies). To use the ticket, you need the credit card you bought it with; the conductor scans the barcode on the ticket, swipes your card, and you're set.

It really is easy, and unless you're taking a lot of rides or need total flexibility, it's the way to go.

Just jumping in to support rail passes. Every single time we go to Europe my husband prices out all the day trips we plan to make. Every single time the rail pass significantly undercuts the price of individual tickets, and because our travel is unlimited we travel a whole lot more. Add in the convenience and flexibility of being able to change your itinerary on a whim based on weather, your mood, advice from a local, or any other circumstance. Finally, there are no worries about accidentally oversleeping or late trains/missed connections. Just hop on the next train headed in the correct direction. The one and only time we were missed out by not having a reservation was on a prime-time-for- businesspeople ICE from Hamburg to Berlin. We ended up having great seats, but not together. Our usual strategy is to get on the train, look and find seats (our preference is always the compartments) that show either no reservation or a reservation for a stop after we are getting off. 99% of the time if you can't find perfect seats without a reservation you simply wait a few minutes and then the "no shows" seats are released. If you haven't been on a German train, there are digital print-outs above the seats with destinations listed. If there is nothing displayed, it is a free seat. Last thing. Since we prefer compartments our strategy is better than reservations and point-to-point tickets because in our experience the computer rarely offers you compartments. If it does, it will assign you to a compartment that is already partially occupied. I estimate that 75% of the train travel we have made using our strategy affords us a six-person compartment all to ourselves.

" I'm afraid that I will lose any tickets that I have shipped here."

If you register with the Bahn when (or before) purchasing tickets, you will have a log-on and password, with which you can retrieve your pdf tickets from the Bahn website from anywhere at any time, Should you lose them, just find a computer with a printer (at your hotel or at a cybercafe), and print a new copy.

That concern eliminated.

"Every single time we go to Europe my husband prices out all the day trips we plan to make. Every single time the rail pass significantly undercuts the price of individual tickets,"

Interesting, since that is the exact opposite experience of just about everyone on this website who uses the national rail websites to calculate train prices. What website did you use to calculate? And were you pricing first class tickets?

Wow! You guys are awesome. Thank you so much for all of your tips!! I'll have to think about what's going to work best for us, but I definitely have a much better understanding of it all.

"Every single time we go to Europe my husband prices out all the day trips we plan to make. Every single time the rail pass significantly undercuts the price of individual tickets,"...on RailEurope probably! Don't buy rail passes except for possibly Switzerland.

"that is the exact opposite experience of just about everyone on this website who uses the national rail websites to calculate train prices"

When I went to Germany in 2000, I bought a rail pass, but when I came home I looked at the price (on the Bahn website) of individual tickets for the trains I took and realized I just about broke even with the pass. Since then, Advance Purchase and Länder-Tickets have become more ubiquitous and now, every time I go I plan my trip using point-to-point and discounted tickets, then compare what I am planning with a rail pass, and a rail pass never comes close to being economically advisable.

I think I do travel differently than some people in that I carefully research where I want to go and deviating from my plan would mean missing something I know I want to see for something I might find not as interesting. However, I do often stay in the same place with only a general list of places to see using regional passes, so then I can pick and choose what to see. I assume I will return, so if I pass by something of interest in transit, I go home, look it up on the Internet, and if I find it interesting I work it into a future trip. (That's only happened once.)

I make accommodation arrangements well in advance so I can book the exact places I want to stay in, so my travel days are pretty much set, and when I have a long travel day that uses an advance purchase ticket, there is usually just one or two trains that get me there without leaving too early or arriving too late.

Hi,

Of all the train travel I've done in Germany, I don't think I've come across the ICE Splinter train, ie, as long as your Pass is activated/validated, you can hop on any ICE train. Whether you can find a seat on that particular coach (Wagen) depends on your luck and other factors. Reserving is not mandatory within Germany. But if you were to take the ICE Frankfurt-Paris direct (day), reservations are mandatory. Mostly, you can just show up and take the next ICE to your destination, say Berlin to Leipzig, Munich to Frankfurt.

If you decide to buy a Pass, it will be shipped to your address in the US...plain and simple. That's what I do, never had to pay the shipping fee either. On it being really necessary to reserve seating on the ICE, even though it's not mandatory as on the Thalys or TGV, I sometimes do reserve if it's during rush hour on routes that might be very busy, day Frankfurt-Munich, Frankfurt-Cologne.

The main question is for 2 weeks of traveling in Germany, not even ay peak season, do you find it necessary to buy a Pass? I wouldn't, but then I buy only the ten day Pass. I would suggest the point to point tickets for the ICE rides you have in mind, no need to get the reservations. That Munich-Berlin route can also be done by the CNL night train option, giving you an extra day in Berlin.

"I don't think I've come across the ICE Splinter train,"

They are rare. I've never searched to find them all, but I know there are a couple a day (morning and evening) each way between Frankfurt Hbf and Berlin Hbf. The one at 6:14 in the morning goes non-stop from Frankfurt Hbf to Berlin Spandau, the only stop before Berlin Hbf. It takes 3h37m to Berlin Hbf. There's another one in 3h42m at 18:14. It also stops in Hannover.

Most ICE connections to Berlin have stops along the way and a change of trains in Hannover; those that are direct make about 7 stops. Most of those connections take over 4 hours.

Not to hijack this thread, but is there a difference between ordering German rail passes from the Rick Steves site and here http://www.germanrailpasses.com/passes-prices ?