Living in Germany: Exploring with the €49 ticket, lake swimming and Verein culture

It’s been a long time coming - but the new public transport offer kicks off in Germany on May 1st. And many people are already planning trips to take  of the ticket, which allows users to travel on regional public transport all over Germany for €49 per month.

Although the ticket isn’t valid on long-distance transport, like ICE trains, people will be able to travel across the country on regional trains. We put together some journeys to show how the ticket can be used. For instance, people can take the RE5 from Rostock in the north to Elsterwerda in southern Brandenburg to get a taste of the countryside (and bring in Berlin). 

Or there’s the option of taking a tour of the southern state of Bavaria. People can use their ticket to hop on the Alex-Länderbahn (RE2) from Hof, on the banks of the Saale all the way down to the Bavarian capital of Munich. In this journey there’s a chance to stop at the university town of Regensburg.

Meanwhile, from Munich travellers can hop on another regional train to explore the rural surroundings including lakes like Tegernsee and Ammersee. Check out our explainer for more information on trips you can take with the Deutschlandticket. 

Tweet of the week

We can’t resist a tongue-in-cheek dig at German bureaucracy. And who knows, maybe it is saving marriages…

I married a German woman.

I can recommend it.

As of today it's been 20 years. We stay together because it's easier than the bureaucracy of getting divorced.

I married a German woman.

I can recommend it.

As of today it's been 20 years. We stay together because it's easier than the bureaucracy of getting divorced.

— The Comedian Drew Portnoy (@drewportnoy) April 26, 2023

Where is this?

Photo: DPA/ Karl-Josef Hildenbrand

The weather in Germany hasn’t really taken off into prolonged warmer temperatures just yet. But that hasn’t stopped swimmers from taking a dip in the many stunning lakes the country has to offer. In this photo, three women are shown braving very cold water to take an early morning dip in the Alpsee near Schwangau, Bavaria. It’s one way to wake yourself up for the day! 

Did you know?

Perhaps you’ve spotted signs for various types of clubs when out and about in Germany, whether they involve sport or board games. But did you know how popular Vereine or associations are?

According to figures from 2022 there are more than 615,700 registered clubs in Germany, with around 50 million members throughout the country. The largest number of associations is in North Rhine-Westphalia (122,222), followed by Bavaria (92,927) and Baden-Württemberg (86,903), and the fewest clubs are in Bremen (3,367), Saarland (10,530) and Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania (12,068).

Many of these clubs involve an activity like volleyball or running, while others are set up to volunteer or raise funds, such as for schools or community facilities. Some of the more quirky clubs include the Street Bunny Crew, which sees people dress up in bunny outfits and ride around on motorcycles.

There’s also the Schwuhplattler, which involves people meeting up to do the traditional Bavarian Schuhplatteln dance. The name is a play on words between the German word for gay (Schwul) and the name of the dance. Those in this club often don Lederhosen and dance at Germany’s LGBTQ celebrations with the aim of promoting tolerance towards the gay scene.