I will be travelling around Germany in December.
Frankfurt > Cologne $Euro111
Cologne > Nuremberg $Euro159
Nuremberg > Munich
Munich > Vienna
I find that the Eurail pass seems cheaper at 2 pax for USD $500.
Whereas the DB train ticket price is as above.
Are there any cheaper options out there still?
Would also like to check is it a must to do seat reservation?
Best answer by eurocity101
I would go with a Eurail pass.
The cheapest non-refundable/non-rebookable fares can be found on the DB website. With the pass, you keep all the flexibility: You’re able to decide which train you want to take as soon as you are in the station.
Reservations are not necessary. If you want a reserved seat, you pay the same extra fee no matter which type of ticket you have.
I would go with a Eurail pass.
The cheapest non-refundable/non-rebookable fares can be found on the DB website. With the pass, you keep all the flexibility: You’re able to decide which train you want to take as soon as you are in the station.
Reservations are not necessary. If you want a reserved seat, you pay the same extra fee no matter which type of ticket you have.
+8There are much cheaper options if you don’t mind taking slower trains. You can buy the Deutschlandticket (€63 for a calendar month), which gives you unlimited travel in Germany on local and regional trains (and also local city transport - something which is not included in a Eurail pass).
You wouldn’t be able to use the fast trains though (such as IC, ICE, EC). Cologne-Frankfurt is around 1 - 1.5 hours on the fast train, or 3 - 3.5 hours on regional trains.
It would cover you up to the Austrian border, but you would probably better to buy a separate ticket from Munich to Vienna.
Good details here: https://www.seat61.com/train-travel-in-germany.htm#Deutschlandticket
Deutschlandticket is even just €58 in December (higher price from 2026 on). Just be aware that it’s a subscription you need to cancel, for instance, immediately after purchase if you want to use it for just one month. Buying it on the Mopla app is easiest for non-German citizens. Cologne to Nürnberg is about 7 hours with just regional trains.
If you want to use fast trains, I agree that a pass is probably the easiest and most flexible option, but you can also get cheaper tickets than the prices you list. Easiest to plan is the DB Navigator app. In a search result list, it has a button at the top right “Show best prices” which gives you a comprehensive list of options sorted by price. It can also be worth it to add a stop over of three hours en route and buy a ticket for the full distance instead of two individual ones, in case you want to check out Nürnberg only for an afternoon or so.
Enter your E-mail address. We'll send you an e-mail with instructions to reset your password.
