train travel in Germany

The ONLY advantage is the early purchase discounts which can be substantial. However, that locks you into a set schedule with very limited refund options should you want to change or miss the train.

IF you buy tickets online, buy them from the German Rail (Bahn) website. Tickets for Germany from RailEurope are markedly more expensive, and equally or more difficult to cancel or exchange as German Rail advance purchase tickets.

If you limit yourselves to regional trains and depart after 09:00 on weekdays (anytime on weekends), you can buy a Bayern-Ticket at the station in Munich and you'll pay €26.00 total for the two of you for Munich-Nuremberg. If you limit yourselves to regional trains and depart after 09:00 on weekdays, you can buy a Quer-durchs-Land-Ticket at the station in Nuremberg and you'll pay €48.00 total for the two of you for Nuremberg-Dresden. If you make that trip on a weekend, buy a Schoenes-Wochenende-Ticket for €40.00. You can depart at any time of day, but you are limited to regional trains. If you book today on the German Rail site and pick the right departure time, you can get a Sparpreis fare as low as €29.00 total for the two of you for Dresden-Berlin.

Booking ahead saves significant money, and to me that's a pretty big advantage. Yes, it locks you into a schedule, but so does air travel and nobody thinks that's odd. But for a few of your specific trips, you're best off buying the "special" tickets mentioned above. In your case, I'd buy a Bayern ticket mentioned above for the Munich - Nurnberg leg, because the fastest regional train is only about half an hour slower than the fast, more expensive train and gives you the ability to use the S bahn (suburban trains) in Munich and Nurnberg for that day as well. Nurneberg to Dresden, there aren't any ICE trains available, so you are best off with the Quer-durchs-Land-Ticket OR if you are traveling on a weekend, a Schoeneswochende ticket for 40 Euro. Both are valid on the IRE and RE trains. Dresden to Berlin I'd buy in advance, for a specific time, because the fast EC train will save you over an hour and multiple changes compared to the regional trains you could take with a Quer-durchs-Land-Ticket. and is only 19 euro when bought in advance. The standard fare is 38 euro, so you'd save 40 euro for both of you by being willing to commit to a certain train. I'd also consider getting a reservation for that last leg, it's cheap if you're in second class (you have the option when you buy the ticket on bahn.com) and you don't have to worry about being left standing or sitting apart. Otherwise, enjoy, train travel in Germany is easy and fun.

How long do you plan on spending in Dresden? If you book one ticket from Nürnberg to Berlin you can use the stopover function to spend some time in Dresden and then go to Berlin by an express train and get a Sparpreis ticket for as low as €29 for the first person, €49 for two people. For instance, you could leave Nürnberg at 6:42, get to Dresden at 10:56, spend 6 or 8 hours in Dresden, and get to Berlin at 7 or 9 PM. You could even book an overnight stopover of 18 hours, as long as you got to Berlin before 10 AM the next morning (there is an IC from Dresden at 7:48 to Berlin at 9:14). That would still give you a Sparpreis fare as low as €49 for 2 (I see that fare for Aug 16-17, leaving Nürnberg at 6:42, arriving Berlin at 8:14 the next morning, or €69 for two with the 7:48 - 9:14 connection). With advance purchase, you can still get a Sparpreis fare on some ICE from Munich to Nüernberg for as low as €29 for two, only €3 more than the Bayern-Ticket, which is now €26 for 2 people. However, it won't include local transport in Munich and Nürnberg. Just FYI, last month I took that same IRE that goes from Dresden to Nürnberg but got off in Hof and took another regional train, ALX, to Freising. Because those are both regional trains, that would have been a QdLT fare (€42), but I started in Bad Schandau, half an hour east of Dresden, and started my trip with the EC that goes from Prague to Berlin via Bad Schandau and Dresden. Because that leg was via a Bahn train (EC), I got the Sparpreis fare of €29.

Everyone, Thank you SO much for all of this great advice! I feel like an expert, thanks to all of you! Lee, We are staying a night in Dresden, but I get your point! Thanks so much. Safe travels!
Ellen