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Travelling from Germany to the UK

  • 8 September 2022
  • 7 replies
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S

Hi!

I have been travelling on interrail passes a few times and I'm still left with questions at times. I am currently living in Germany and I would like to travel to the UK and travel around England. I would like to take the train to the UK - preferably via Paris and the Eurostar. What kind of interrail pass will I need? Do I need a global pass or is a one country pass sufficient? Will the one country pass allow me to travel from Germany to the UK in one day?

Many thanks for your help and I look forward to hearing from you,

Sarah

 

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Best answer by Yorkie 8 September 2022, 14:34

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Y
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Firstly you will need a global pass.

Have you considered Brussels for E*?. ICE from Frankfurt or Cologne but booking advised for that one.

Allow at least 2 hrs for E* transfer in case of ICE delay.

S

Thanks so much for your quick response, @Yorkie . I have travelled via Brussels before but could get a direct train from my place of residence to Paris. Is there a specific reason why you’d recommend travelling via Brussels? Because I’m always open to recommendations and suggestions how to improve my journeys.

M
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1country is -as it clearly says- ONLY in 1 country-and that cannot be your home country. €* does not even accept 1-country passes to cover pass-fare-has to be global.

There are in this forum every other day people who did not read properly and got the idea that with an ultra-cheap pass for say GReece or PT=Portugal, you can go all over EUR to get there included. It should be obvious this is not the case.

It all depend on where you live in DE what is best route-but do be aware that many ICE-since many monthes-to BRU are cancelled at last notice. Those TGV/ICE to PAR generally require a substantial and hard to get surcharge-now toss a coin what is less best.

IF youre ID/passpt is from UK you need to be able to show-when challenged-evidence by some official govt. paper that you do live in DE (aufenthaltsbestaetigung) if you travel extensively in GB

S

Hi @mcadv , thanks so much for your response. The reason why I was asking is that previously you could actually use a one-country pass in order to get to that country. When I was still living in the UK I used a Germany-pass to travel from the UK to Germany and around Germany as well as back to the UK. This was before Brexit and before the various pass options had been updated most recently. Which is why I was confused despite having used Interrail before (since 2004 actually)…

And yes, both my husband and I have the required paperwork to travel to the UK and within the EU.

edit: I should also add that I’ve travelled this route on ordinary one-way or return-tickets but am considering Interrail this time as we’d like to travel around a bit (instead of just visiting family in one place)

Y
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Thanks so much for your quick response, @Yorkie . I have travelled via Brussels before but could get a direct train from my place of residence to Paris. Is there a specific reason why you’d recommend travelling via Brussels? Because I’m always open to recommendations and suggestions how to improve my journeys.

Not knowing where you were in Germany it seemed that Brussels was in a line towards Paris and Bru would save quite a few euros on TGV.

As for the reliability of the ICE from Fra to Brussels I travelled it last week with no problem, other than a rerouting because of an issue on the line and a 60 min delay. Also there are no station changes in Bru. Also it was rammed full from Cologne so res essential.

OOI we stayed overnight in Bru to avoid stress and allow a full travel day for return to North of England.

S

@Yorkie I hadn’t considered the price difference. That’s a good point. Last time I travelled UK - GER - UK on an Interrail pass I did go via Brussels as I had to go via Frankfurt anyways. Last time I took a train from the UK to Stuttgart I travelled on a one-way ticket (moving day) and went via Paris to spare myself any changes within Germany. I did not find walking from Gare du Nord to Gare d’Est too troublesome, however. I think connections via Paris were also more frequent, but I could be wrong there...

R
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Hi @mcadv , thanks so much for your response. The reason why I was asking is that previously you could actually use a one-country pass in order to get to that country.

No you definitely couldn't, with very few exceptions.

When I was still living in the UK I used a Germany-pass to travel from the UK to Germany and around Germany as well as back to the UK.

The German Rail Pass was valid in the ICE from/to to Brussels and maybe Interrail Germany as well.  They have both been merged into the current Interrail German Rail Pass, which is also valid in the ICE from/to Brussels.

But that's an exception to the rule that one country passes are valid in 1 country only.

Please ask questions in the community and not via a private message. That's the quickest way to get a response. I don't work for Eurail/Interrail.

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