Luxembourg to Berlin---There's got to be a better way.

Try Ryanair from Frankfurt Hahn, which is an airport 10mins from Bernkastel Kues in the Mosel river area. There are shuttle busses from Hahn airport to Luxembourg vv. Ryanair connect Hahn with Berlin Schönefeld airport.

As much as I try to avoid Ryanair...that might work. Danke.

Take the train. Reduce your carbon footprint and have a relaxing ride. If you book far enough in advance (up to 90 days allowed) at www.bahn.de, you can get a Europa-Spezial Luxembourg fare as low as €39. Seven minutes is enough time to make your connection in Koeln.

Actually, Tim, I weighed the pluses and the minuses...and the train won. I would save a little over an hour by flying, but that was the only plus about taking the plane over the train.

The pluses for train travel:

--train cheaper than plane/bus trip
--train more comfortable than bus and plane
--I don't have to take a bus.
--I get to see scenery
--DB Bahn more reliable than Ryanair
--bar car

You're a wise man, Franklin. :)

That 7 min connection in Köln, according to the one Bahn schedule I saw, is from track 2 to track 3. That is a cross platform change. And the ICE to Berlin originates in Köln, so it should be across the platform from your train when you arrive.

If you book in advance, there are Spezial fares for the trip as low as €39.

I've never used the DB Bahn website to purchase tickets and reservations. Is it safe to print out my tickets at home or should I wait until I get to Europe to collect them at the originating station?

Is validating the tickets printed at home the same as with regular station issued tickets?

I'm guessing I just validate in Luxembourg and not worry about re-validating when changing trains.

In all my previous trips, I've usually stayed in one country or if going to a second country, I got to my destination without changing trains internationally.

My next trip I call my "Crazy Capitals" trip as I'm hitting six to eight capital cities and that's it.

I used Bahn Dauer-Spezial tickets last November. It was real easy. They email you a pdf file which you print out at home. You can also go to the website and get the file. You can print it out as many times as you want, 'cause you can only use it once. When the conductor asks for your ticket, you give him the pdf page. He reads the "barcode" on it. You have to show him the same credit card you used to purchase the ticket online, as identification.

These Dauer-Spezial tickets are very popular and limited in quantity, so they do sell out. It is likely that you wouldn't be able to get them if you waited until you were over there. Also, they are date and train specific and non-refundable. You can get reservations at the same time as the ticket for about half what it would cost over there.

Lee, do the pdf tickets need to be validated at the station like the others or because they are train specific it's not necessary?

One does not usually validate tickets in Germany. Especially for long distance trains. The conductor checks your ticket and that is that. Some cities require you to get your ticket stamped when you enter the subway car or tram or bus, but other cities don't. Berlin and Frankfurt for example do not have validation machines for local transportation. Cologne does.

Munich does.

You can identify tickets that need to be "validated" by the words "Hier entwerten" (cancel, take away the value) printed on the end where you insert it in the machine.

As I remember, transit tickets purchased from a KVV automat in Karlsruhe have to be canceled; ones bought from a DB machine (right beside the KVV one in the station) are too wide to fit into the canceling machine but have the time pre-printed, so they don't have to be canceled.

Most transit districts have a time limit (Gültigkeitsdauer) for using the ticket. In Karlsruhe, once canceled, a single ride ticket (Einzelfahrschein) is valid for one hour in a single zone, longer for more. In Frankfurt (RMV), an Einzelfahrschein is valid for one trip directly to your destination, with transfers, but no roundabout, no backtracking, no stopovers.

Time-stamped tickets need to be used immediately; you can buy tickets that have to be stamped long in advance, just don't stamp them until you are ready to travel.

Some places you validate, some you don't. Who can remember...I thought the EU was to unify everyone into one way of doing things?

So, instead of making the train procedure the same for everyone, they're trying to make the cheese the same.

Hello, EU, meet Congress...oh, you already know each other? Why am I not surprised?