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I'm going to Germany, I found out that train travel will be cheaper with Quer-durchs-Land-Ticket for 44 EUR.

My question is: can I travel with this ticket by ICE and OE trains? I need to go through whole country at once. If not, is there any option to search only regional trains at DBahn(DB) site?

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    During the week-end, the Schönes-Wochenende-Ticket offers essentially the same (actually a bit more as it's valid for local transit trains – S-Bahn – and also includes some trips to neighbouring countries, which is not the case for the Quer-durchs-Land-Ticket) and is cheaper.
    – Relaxed
    Oct 14, 2016 at 8:51
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    On the other hand, you don't really want to go the whole way non-stop with only regional trains. That's hardly possible in a day. I just checked Munich to Kiel with only Nahverkehr, and it takes about 18 hours.
    – simbabque
    Oct 14, 2016 at 9:21
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    @simbabque some people have a lot more time than money, or just like trains.
    – phoog
    Oct 14, 2016 at 9:38
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    One final remark, where have you seen a train marked OE? If that's an ODEG train, then the Quer-durchs-Land-Ticket is indeed valid on that train. It should show up as "local transport" in search results on Bahn.de.
    – Relaxed
    Oct 14, 2016 at 9:48
  • @phoog: Time has a natural upper boundary of 23 hours (in practice, less than that, because there is much less service during the night). Beyond that, you'll need an extra ticket for the next day, which somewhat compensates for the financial advantage. As for liking trains - indeed, but when comparing what traveling is like on long distance trains and regional trains, respectively, one could say "not all trains are equal" ;)
    – O. R. Mapper
    Oct 14, 2016 at 19:47

1 Answer 1

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No, you cannot take an ICE and yes, there is an option to search only regional trains on Bahn.de (checkbox "Nur Nahverkehr" – in the new version, it only appears after clicking in one of the boxes of the search form – or "Local transport").

A few other tips:

  • During the week-end, the Schönes-Wochenende-Ticket offers essentially the same (actually a bit more as it includes more trips to neighbouring countries and is also valid for local commuter trains – S-Bahn – and before 9 AM, which is not the case for the Quer-durchs-Land-Ticket) and is cheaper.
  • If you are on your own and planning a one-way trip, do check the Sparpreis Finder too, you can sometimes find cheap ICE fares that are similar or not much higher than the Quer-durchs-Land-Ticket, for a much higher comfort. For a small group or a day trip (return on the same day), nothing comes close to the Quer-durchs-Land-Ticket, Schönes-Wochenende-Ticket or Länder-Ticket, pricewise, but for one person it's not always the case.
  • Finally, travelling long distances by chaining regional trains can take a long time. If you mostly care about saving money and would consider something else than the train, long-distance buses and ride sharing (Mitfahrgelegenheit) can also be cheap and would not necessarily be slower (but slightly less comfortable in my opinion).
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    Use this reiseauskunft.bahn.de/bin/query.exe/en for english user interface
    – Bodo Thiesen
    Oct 14, 2016 at 11:14
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    The *Schönes-Wochenende-Ticket * has another very useful property: it is valid before 9:00 (which is not the case for the Ländertickets and Quer-Durchs-Land-Ticket)
    – Chieron
    Oct 14, 2016 at 13:10
  • @Chieron I forgot about that, good tip, I added it to the answer, thanks!
    – Relaxed
    Oct 14, 2016 at 13:11
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    I agree with the buses. but somtime they can come late. it happens very often. but i take the bus everyweekend Hannover to göttingen, it takes a little longer. maybe 10 minutes longer!! :) ( let me know if this comment doesnt belong here i will delete it)
    – OmamArmy
    Oct 14, 2016 at 13:12
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    The busses depend on traffic, so they are usually never 100%ly on time. They are either too early or too late. Additionally I feel like companies like FlixBus are raising their prices drastically so that there is less to none difference in price compared to train.
    – Marv
    Oct 14, 2016 at 14:39

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