Final Destination: Frankfurt (Main)
All trains also call at: Munchen, Augsburg, Ulm, Stuttgart and Heidelberg
On the usual timetable (pre-pandemic) the RJ (Railjet) train typically departs at 18:56 on Fridays and Saturdays only
Daily = 4 x EC trains per day
*Fri/Sat only = 1 x RJ train per day
Book early and save: Yes
Online bookings usually open: 6 months ahead of the travel date
It can be particularly worthwhile comparing prices on the national ticket agents for this journey - when the cheapest tickets have sold out on the DB (German railways website), they can still be available on the OBB (Austrian railways website) and vice versa.
When making an online booking, check that you’re looking at booking info for the direct trains*
In this direction when travelling to Germany from Austria it is usually cheaper to target these direct trains, rather than the alternative journey options that involve a change of train.
On the DB Bahn booking site look for journeys that have:
Use the earlier/later buttons to search for the cheapest ticket prices.
Trains departing at different times can be cheaper than others leaving on the same day- so you may need to look through the day's departures to find the cheapest fare.
Seat reservations
Reservations are highly recommended for this journey, though If you book a First Class ticket on DB your seat(s) will be assigned, but OBB will charge a reservation fee for First class tickets, because they are otherwise optional.
You will have to pay to add a reservation when booking second class tickets, no matter which ticket agent you use.
Ticket Provider | Approximate Cost | |
---|---|---|
DB | from €29 | |
OBB | from €29 | |
Trainline | from €29 | |
SaveATrain | from €29 | |
Omio | from €29 | |
Happyrail | from €29 |
From Dec 11th a new daily direct link by Railjet will be available, though this train will be taking a longer, but much more scenic route.
This is an interesting, rather than stunningly beautiful journey, though the best of the scenery can be seen between Ulm and Stuttgart.
Though what had been the highlight of the trip, the views over the town of Gelsenkirchen, have now been obscured by barriers, which protect its no doubt grateful citizens from the sound of the trains.
The train will reverse direction on departure from Munchen Hbf and Stuttgart Hbf.
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This is one of more than 1000 journey guides available on ShowMeTheJourney, which will make it easier to take the train journeys you want or need to make. As always, all images were captured on trips taken by ShowMeTheJourney.