Germanyfilter

November 1, 2005 2:38 AM

I'm planning on spending 4 nights in Germany next July and was hoping for advice on how to get from Frankfurt to Berlin without driving. I'd also be happy to hear about any advice/travel stories about Germany. Cheers and advance thanks.
posted by Chimp to travel & transportation (14 comments total)

According to Deutsche Bahn, it'll take you 4 hours and €95 to take an express train direct. DB trains are lovely and comfortable.

Are you really asking for advice on how to get from Frankfurt to Berlin and have fun along the way?
posted by Nelson at 2:55 AM on November 1, 2005

You can take a train. The ICE (high-speed) trains take about four hours. However if you take the regional train you'll see a bit more.

Here's a link to the Deutsche Bahn for train schedules.
posted by sebas at 2:58 AM on November 1, 2005

Take an ICE train, or fly. 4 hours by ICE. See Bahn website for details.

Flying may be cheaper, I don't know. Certainly faster, and your time is limited. There may be a bus, but that will take longer, although it might be an adventure.
posted by Goofyy at 3:04 AM on November 1, 2005

I'd recommend train (cos. I'm a train person. sometimes.) - DB (Deutsche Bahn (German Rails)). It's a 4 hour ride that'll cost you around 100 Euro.

You can also go by plane. If you're lucky you can get a flight for no more than 120 Euro. It's a one hour ride, so a bit more comfortable than train. Even though Lufthansa is a/the main carrier, I wouldn't book directly through them, but rather go to a find-me-a-cheap-flight site.

As for advice... However useful - don't break the law and get caught while you're in Germany - law enforcement can be a pain in the...

hth
posted by psychomedia at 3:25 AM on November 1, 2005

Like Nelson, I'm a little confused as to whether you're asking about the mechanics of the trip or what to do along the way. It it was me I'd stay in Berlin the four days then get the train direct to Frankfurt as already mentioned. There is plenty to do and see in and around Berlin, the remains of the wall, Brandenburg Gate, Jewish Museum, plenty of other world class museums, Reichstag, Unter den Linden, Alexanderplatz, Tiergarten, Hackescher Markt. Outside Berlin there the old Emperor's palaces and gardens at Potsdam, not far on the local train. There's a pdf map of the local train services here. A 48 hour guide to Berlin here.

If you want to be on the move then I'd suggest one of two choices, first go south to Dresden and/or Leipzig. In Dresden you could have a look at the recently reopened Frauenkirche discussed here. Then you can head west for Frankfurt.
Alternatively go west first and visit Hannover, then perhaps on to Cologne (Koln in the local money) before dropping down to Frankfurt. You can work out train times using the Deutsche Bahn link already provided.

I have never had any problem using trains or making myself understood when buying tickets in Germany
posted by biffa at 3:28 AM on November 1, 2005

Traveling in Germany is easy and, not surprisingly, quite efficient. Trains come when they are supposed to, leave when they are supposed to. As mentioned above, you could fly, but I'd recommend taking the train. A lot of the cheap carriers fly out of the less central airports, and often at hard-to-get-to-the-airport-without-a-car times (early morning, really late at night). A train ride also allows you to take in a lot of scenery, which in Germany is almost without fail quite beautiful. I have been living here for a couple of months now and I am still in love.

Have fun!
posted by liverbisque at 3:48 AM on November 1, 2005

I second going by train. The Deutsche Bahn is usually on time and connects all major and lots of minor towns and cities, and it is a very relaxed way of traveling.

Berlin has more sights and museums than you can comfortably fit into four days: go to berlin.de and pick some things you'd like to do.

Going from Frankfurt to Berlin via other cities: I've lived in Hannover for about three years, and in my humble opinion, there is not much to see besides the Herrenhäuser Gärten, which are well worth a visit if you are in the area. The rest of the city is quite ugly because so much of it has been destroyed during WW2 and rebuilt ugly-50/60s-style.

Köln (Cologne) has lots of sights, starting with the world-famous cathedral. There are quite a few good museums, historic buildings (churches, remains of Roman Cologne and the like), and of course the Rhine. Strolling along the river and through the old town is pleasant. If you'd like to see even more museums, take a train (20 to 40 minutes) to Bonn, Germany's former capital. The old town is nice as well, and there are lots of great museums including Haus der Geschichte (free admission) about Germany's history since the end of WW2. You can also visit some of the buildings that used to house the federal government before it moved to Berlin.

Heidelberg seems to be very popular with tourists, but I've never been there. It's about an hour by train from Frankfurt.

Last but not least, Frankfurt itself is worth a visit.
posted by amf at 4:13 AM on November 1, 2005

We spent about a week in august in Germany. I flew into Leipzig for the game convention, and about 3 days later my wife flew into Frankfurt and took the train to Leipzig.

(Leipzig is about 45 mins south of Berlin).

We drove down to Munich for 2 days, drove to Rothenburg ob der tauber and then to a wonderful castle overloking the rhine called Auf Schaunberg (Near Frankfurt).

Given the areas you're going to be in, take the train to Berlin, hang in Berlin for a few days, then hit dresden for a flavor of East Germany (Much moreson than Berlin as they Berlin is a unique place unto itself.).

Leipzig was pretty cool as well, but it's very very east german. The only major thing they have there now is the convention center (which is very nice), and a huge train station.
posted by Lord_Pall at 4:59 AM on November 1, 2005

If money's an issue the cheapest option for travelling is Mitfahrzentrale. (I assume when you say "not driving" you mean not driving yourself.) They put you in touch with someone who's driving where you want to go, you typically pay 15 - 25 euro per trip and a small fee to the agency. Here's Frankfurt's Mitfahrzentrale options for today.

(Above websites seem to be only in German.)

If you prefer a more personal touch, you can walk into, or call a Citynetz office . I wouldn't imagine you'll have much trouble communicating in English if you don't know German.

Personally I prefer the train. It's very comfortable but if you're travelling at peak times I recommend you reserve a seat.

For a nice free guide to Berlin, try the In Your Pocket Instant Guide to Berlin [PDF]. They do a range of guides for central and eastern European cities, you have to pay for the more comprehensive ones (not much, and they're sometimes free in hotels).
posted by ciaron at 6:34 AM on November 1, 2005

FYI -

The World Cup will be in Germany next summer (6/9-7/9/06).

If this is the reason you're going, I'm envious.
posted by UncleHornHead at 9:19 AM on November 1, 2005

I'm just back from a month in Europe, arriving/departing Frankfurt, and this is how I got to Berlin (but I didn't allocate only four nights, way too little time; and I never bothered with Frankfurt proper). Immediately upon arrival, I rode the train from Frankfurt airport to Wuppertal, to ride the century-old Schwebebahn (a suspended monorail.) The next day, after a brief commuter-train hop over to Düsseldorf, I caught another ICE to Amsterdam, a cheap ride of €22 (since I'd bought that ticket over a month in advance). After two nights in A-dam I rode the train to Bremen (great medieval city-center) and the next day I rode the train on to Berlin, where I spent a little less than a week, before heading into the much-cheaper East (Poland and Budapest).
posted by Rash at 9:47 AM on November 1, 2005

I once had a flight to Berlin that stopped in Frankfurt. On the way there, I just got off in Frankfurt (having called the airline to determine that it was okay to not finish that leg of the journey) and had a couple of days there, then took the train to Berlin. Had a few days there, then just got on my return flight in Berlin.
posted by xo at 9:48 AM on November 1, 2005

Thanks for all the great ideas. I'm planning on spending time in other European cities as well, hence the short stay in Germany.
posted by Chimp at 3:08 PM on November 1, 2005

As UncleHornHead the World Cup is on, this will put a lot of pressure on accommodation so book ahead while it's still running.
posted by biffa at 2:55 AM on November 2, 2005