The Deutschlandticket takes travellers and commuters around Germany for 49 euros a month - or even cheaper as a job ticket. However, the 49-euro ticket can also be used to travel abroad: In Germany's border regions, there are routes on which ticket users can travel abroad by bus and train. Travellers can use the €49 ticket on the following routes to Germany's neighbouring countries, for example for a weekend trip, business trip or workation.
Since 1 May 2023, people have been able to use local and regional transport throughout Germany for 49 euros a month with the Deutschlandticket. The ticket is designed to make public transport in Germany simpler and more digital - the D-Ticket is only available as a chip card or mobile phone ticket. However, the tariff conditions of individual federal states make it possible for travellers to use trains and buses that travel abroad due to their proximity to a border - at least as far as the first border station in the neighbouring country.
Travelling abroad is made possible by the fact that the tariff borders of two national railways are generally not on the actual national borders, but at railway stations. This means that the fare border moves into the neighbouring country, which means that the German fare applies up to the station in question. There are such border stations in all of Germany's neighbouring countries.
Travellers can reach these countries with the Deutschandticket:
Whether the €49 ticket is valid until the first stop after the border, however, cannot be answered across the board for all border stations. Even though the Deutschlandticket has simplified the public transport fare structure, the 60 transport associations in Germany still exist and some of them have different regulations regarding their fare limits and possible journeys abroad. On the following routes, however, travellers can travel abroad safely with the 49-euro ticket without having to buy an additional ticket.
Rail travellers can get to neighbouring Austria with the Bayerische Regiobahn (BRB): you can travel from Munich to Salzburg or Kufstein with the Deutschlandticket and the BRB. You can also travel to Austria with the Austrian Federal Railways on the route from Freilassing to Salzburg with the 49-euro ticket. According to Deutschlandtarifverbund GmbH, the 49-euro ticket is also valid on the Außerfernbahn line from Pfronten-Steinach via Vils and Reutte in Austria to Griesen.
There is only one connection to Belgium with the Deutschlandticket and that is by bus from Aachen. There is no local rail connection from Germany to Belgium. The 49-euro ticket is therefore only valid in Belgium on the ASEAG bus route 24 from Aachen to Kelmis in the Belgian province of Liège.
In other border regions where there is a transition fare, such as on the lines to Heerlen (RE 18, 44) and Eupen (14), the ticket is only valid as far as the last stop in Germany, according to the Aachener Verkehrsverbund.
Travellers from Schleswig-Holstein cross the border to Denmark. The Deutschlandticket is valid on the regional train RB66 from Niebüll to Tondern, known as Tønder in Danish.
However, it is not possible to cross the border from Flensburg, the largest German city on the Danish border, with the D-Ticket. Even though Pattburg (Padborg) is only just over the border, it does not count as a border fare point, meaning that travellers with the Deutschlandticket can only get as far as Flensburg on the route to Pattburg.
Travellers can also travel to France with the 49-euro ticket. The ticket is valid on the Alsace and Wine Route Express excursion trains operated by Vlexx GmbH. These trains take travellers from Mainz or Koblenz to Wissembourg in France.
Rail travellers in Saarland can use the D-Ticket on the Saarbahn within the saarVV on the routes from Saarbrücken to Saargemünd, from Bous to Carling and from Saarlouis to Creutzwald and thus travel across the border to France. However, the 49-euro ticket is not valid on buses on route 30 to Forbach and route MS to Saint-Avold, not even on domestic services on the German side.
From Baden-Württemberg, the federal state with the longest German-French border, travellers cannot reach France with the Deutschlandticket. The rail connection to Strasbourg can only be used with special tickets. The Deutschlandticket or a TGO season ticket do not allow cross-border travel to Strasbourg. However, there is one exception: travellers may use the D tram line between Kehl and Strasbourg on Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays with a season ticket (i.e. all tickets valid for one day, one month or one week, including the D-Ticket). This exception does not apply to regional trains between the two cities or to other tram lines.
You can't get to Mulhouse from Baden-Württemberg with the D-Ticket either, as the French border town in the border triangle of Germany, France and Switzerland is not included in the Freiburg regional transport network.
Deutschlandticket users can travel to Germany's smallest neighbouring country on the buses and trains of the Trier Region Transport Association in Rhineland-Palatinate. The ticket is valid on the cross-border bus routes 410, 455 and 460 as well as on the VRT train to Luxembourg. The advantage of travelling to Luxembourg is that the journey with the Deutschlandticket does not have to stop at the first stop after the border, as public transport in Luxembourg is generally free for everyone.
The 49-euro ticket is particularly attractive for journeys to the Netherlands, where travellers have a wide range of connections from the Aachener Verkehrsverbund (AVV) and the Verkehrsverbund Rhein-Ruhr (VRR) at their disposal.
For example, rail travellers can take the RE 13 from Hamm via Düsseldorf and Mönchengladbach to Venlo or the RE 19 from Düsseldorf via Duisburg to Arnhem. From there, travellers can continue to Utrecht, Amsterdam or Rotterdam with the Dutch tariff of the Nederlandse Spoorwegen. The RB61 also runs from Osnabrück in Lower Saxony via Rheine to Hengelo.
In addition to these three popular rail connections, numerous bus connections to the Netherlands can be used with the Deutschlandticket, such as the SB58 bus route from Emmerich to Nijmegen, the SB3 from Geilenkirchen to Sittard, route 29 from Neukirchen to Venlo, route 60 from Kleve to Millingen de Gelderse Poort, line 91 from Emmerich to ‘s-Heerenberg Molenpoort, line 25 from Stolberg to Vaals, line 27 from Herzogenrath to Kerkrade Eurode Park, line 33 from Fuchserde to Vaals, line 34 from Diepenbenden to Kerkrade, line 44 from Aachen to Kerkrade Crombacherstraße, line 64 from Heinsberg to Posterholt Vlodropperweg and line 350 from Aachen to Vaals Heuvel.
People who would like to use the 49-euro ticket during their Baltic Sea holiday can even travel to Poland with the ticket. On the Usedomer Bäderbahn, they can use the D-Ticket to travel from Züssow via the classic holiday destinations of Heringsdorf and Ahlbeck to the terminus in the centre of Swinemünde in Poland.
The trains of the Berlin-Brandenburg Transport Association (VBB) also travel as far as Poland, for example the RB26 to Kostrzyn or the RB91 to Zielona Góra. However, travellers with the Deutschlandticket cannot cross the border here. If you want to cross the border, you have to buy a regular fare ticket from the last stop in the VBB area.
Even though it is not possible to travel to France from Baden-Württemberg with the Deutschlandticket, rail travellers can still travel to Switzerland with the D-Ticket. The ticket is valid on Swiss Federal Railways (SBB) trains from Zell im Wiesenthal to Basel Bad, as well as on DB Regio trains from Weil am Rhein to Basel Bad and from Erzingen (Baden) to Trasadingen, Schaffhausen and Thayngen.
On other cross-border lines, however, the ticket is only valid as far as the German border.
You can get to the Czech Republic by train from Saxony. Travellers can travel from Zittau to Hrádek nad Nisou on the Trilex line L7 with a 49-euro ticket.
