Transport and Travel

With all the great transport links in Germany, most people prefer to use the public transport as opposed to driving as trains are the most common and fastest way to get around. With high-speed rail links between the main cities and European countries, and reliable tube, tram and bus services people end up leaving their cars at home.

Expats that live in the major cities will not need a car to travel and when they do require a car, they have the option of hiring a car for a few days.

Buses

Expats will find that Germany has many intercity bus routes which travel to or from Berlin. Prices on the buses are reasonable and cheap.

Intercity buses can be booked in advance and one of the most popular ones is Neun-Euro Bus which allows passengers to travel on services connecting to Kassel, Frankfurt, Mannheim and other cities at set prices.

Trains

The railway system in Germany is reasonable priced and well efficient with it covering most of the country. This is one of the most popular ways of getting around the country and generally takes less time when travelling in between cities.

Deutch Bahn is one of the railway operators that run long distances and regional trains in the country with other services available for expats to travel around the cities.

The major cities are linked by an ICE (Intercity Express) train which is operated at high speeds of 250mph, however, this may prove more expensive than the local train operators.

Another operator includes the Regular Intercity (IC), this is known to be more affordable than the ICE but are not as modern.
The IC and ICE trains are run every hour on all of the popular routes.

Reservations are not always necessary but you may save a good amount of money when booking on the weekends and public holidays.

The ticket prices vary on all the trains depending on location, time and route. However, for expats who will be using a train on a regular basis for travelling to work or when wanting to view the attraction sites, a Bahn card is available for one year which offers discounts.

Domestic Flights

Many people prefer to use the train when travelling, however the option for taking a domestic flight is available. The budget airlines can be quite expensive and smaller airports are used which are not located in convenient areas.