MTheStrong
Registered
I thought it might be helpful to describe my recent experience of rail travel in Holland and Germany. As I live in Harwich the obvious way to travel to the Continent is by Ferry to the Hoek van Holland. There are 2 sailings per day. It usually takes about 8 hours. I prefer to take the overnight ferry which arrives at the Hoek at approximately 8.00am. From there I caught the Metro to Rotterdam Centraal. The ticket, which is valid for 2 hours, costs EUR5. You have to change at Beuers to reach Rotterdam Centraal.
If there are 2 or more people travelling you can purchase online a group ticket for travel in Holland. For 2 of us travelling from Rotterdam Centraal to Venlo off peak costs EUR38. The ticket appears in the Dutch Railway App on your smart phone as a QR code. The majority of Dutch Railway stations have barriers and you need to scan the QR code for entry and exit.
As we were travelling on a Sunday and also to Freiburg we decided to travel there as quickly as possible. We purchased our tickets through Die Bahn and used the DB App. The route taken was Rotterdam Centraal to Utrecht, Dutch Railway IC train, then German ICE, train originates in Amsterdam, to Frankfurt am Main and finally German ICE to Freiburg.
We purchased the Deutschland Ticket which is valid for a month of travel on Regional Trains, excludes ICE and IR, and all local public transport including trams and buses. It costs EUR58, EUR63 from 1st January 2026. It automatically renews and has to be cancelled by the 10th of the month if you do not wish to renew. You receive an invoice with payment details and you then make a bank transfer from your UK Bank Account to DB's Bank Account. You receive an email confirming cancellation as well as in the DB App. The whole process is relatively painless you need your Bank's IBAN Number to complete the transfer.
We made good use of the Deutschland Ticket for not only travelling on the trams in Freiburg but also on the Regional Trains to Konstanz, Friedrichshafen, Landshut etc as well as on our return journey to the Hoek van Holland. To give you an idea of the cost savings, travelling by Regional Train from Freiburg to Koln costs EUR85.
We began our return journey from Freiburg with changes at Offenburg, Mainz and Bad Godesberg - near Bonn. We spent a couple of days there which included a visit to the DB Museum at Koblenz and a trip to Cochem on the Moselle. The final part of the journey began at Bad Godesberg and then on to Koln HBf, Monchen Gladbach, Venlo where we changed onto a Dutch Train to Eindhoven and then onto Rotterdam Centraal.
I am particularly impressed with the DB App. It can be used not only for purchasing tickets but also for route planning. In addition to giving details of timings and platforms, you also receive notifications of any problems effecting your journey such as train delays, change of platforms etc. It is also used when your Deutschland Ticket needs scanning. One interesting thing to note that above the QR Code in the App is a moving image of a train, apparently this is a fraud prevention measure!
I would definitely recommend purchasing the Deutschland Ticket as not only does it offer great value for money but it gives you the opportunity of changing your travel plans to visit different towns and cities. Also it saves time and effort when using local public transport as you can literally jump on and off without having to purchase separate tickets.
If there are 2 or more people travelling you can purchase online a group ticket for travel in Holland. For 2 of us travelling from Rotterdam Centraal to Venlo off peak costs EUR38. The ticket appears in the Dutch Railway App on your smart phone as a QR code. The majority of Dutch Railway stations have barriers and you need to scan the QR code for entry and exit.
As we were travelling on a Sunday and also to Freiburg we decided to travel there as quickly as possible. We purchased our tickets through Die Bahn and used the DB App. The route taken was Rotterdam Centraal to Utrecht, Dutch Railway IC train, then German ICE, train originates in Amsterdam, to Frankfurt am Main and finally German ICE to Freiburg.
We purchased the Deutschland Ticket which is valid for a month of travel on Regional Trains, excludes ICE and IR, and all local public transport including trams and buses. It costs EUR58, EUR63 from 1st January 2026. It automatically renews and has to be cancelled by the 10th of the month if you do not wish to renew. You receive an invoice with payment details and you then make a bank transfer from your UK Bank Account to DB's Bank Account. You receive an email confirming cancellation as well as in the DB App. The whole process is relatively painless you need your Bank's IBAN Number to complete the transfer.
We made good use of the Deutschland Ticket for not only travelling on the trams in Freiburg but also on the Regional Trains to Konstanz, Friedrichshafen, Landshut etc as well as on our return journey to the Hoek van Holland. To give you an idea of the cost savings, travelling by Regional Train from Freiburg to Koln costs EUR85.
We began our return journey from Freiburg with changes at Offenburg, Mainz and Bad Godesberg - near Bonn. We spent a couple of days there which included a visit to the DB Museum at Koblenz and a trip to Cochem on the Moselle. The final part of the journey began at Bad Godesberg and then on to Koln HBf, Monchen Gladbach, Venlo where we changed onto a Dutch Train to Eindhoven and then onto Rotterdam Centraal.
I am particularly impressed with the DB App. It can be used not only for purchasing tickets but also for route planning. In addition to giving details of timings and platforms, you also receive notifications of any problems effecting your journey such as train delays, change of platforms etc. It is also used when your Deutschland Ticket needs scanning. One interesting thing to note that above the QR Code in the App is a moving image of a train, apparently this is a fraud prevention measure!
I would definitely recommend purchasing the Deutschland Ticket as not only does it offer great value for money but it gives you the opportunity of changing your travel plans to visit different towns and cities. Also it saves time and effort when using local public transport as you can literally jump on and off without having to purchase separate tickets.
