Photo Essay: Scenes from German Train Stations

I spent lots of time on trains during my trip to Austria and Germany, using my Eurail pass yet again. I didn’t book online with vacation coupons, so using my youth train pass saved me a lot of money. For the most part, the German reputation for being neat and on time proved to be true when it came to the train system.

Before I left I read on Globotreks about the DB Bahn app, which proved itself immensely useful. I was able to see timetables as well as track our progress, especially important when I didn’t speak the language or know the stops. I’ve developed an affinity for traveling by train and watching the sun rise over the tracks.

Munich

Journey: Munich to Innsbruck, 3 hours

Nursing a painful hangover, I snapped this photo of the sun rising in the bustling Munich train station days before the craziness of Oktoberfest began.

Fussen

Journey: Munich to Fussen (Neuschwanstein), 2 hours

I joined a tour with Sandeman’s New Europe to the famous Neuschwanstein Castle. On the ride there I sat with a group of American athletes living in Innsbruck. I got very excited when the mountains came into view.

Frankfurt

Journey: Vienna to Freiburg via Frankfurt, 9 hours

I had one very long travel day when I decided to get from Vienna in Eastern Austria to Freiburg in Western Germany in one afternoon. I had to switch trains in Frankfurt before finally arriving in the Black Forest where I was met by my friend Ali.

Cologne

Journey: Mannheim to Cologne, 2.5 hours

After spending a night in Mannheim posing as a German medical student (long story) and hanging out with my friend Jana, whom I met working back in Sydney, I was off to rainy Cologne. I loved how modern the train station looked next to the oppressive Koln Dom, or Cologne Cathedral.

Hamburg

Journey: Hamburg to Berlin, 2 hours

I clearly never learned my lesson back in Munich because on the morning I was set to arrive in Berlin, I had just gotten home from a pub crawl a few hours before. I left early enough to go on a tour in Berlin at 1 pm, but ended up missing it anyway.

Frankfurt

Journey: Frankfurt to Frankfurt Airport, 15 minutes

By the time I got to Frankfurt, I was exhausted. I had been traveling nonstop for almost two months. I visited the Frankfurt Book Fair and was very overwhelmed by the size of it all. I hated the hostel I was staying at. I just wanted to go home. But I got one last glimpse and the Neoclassical Frankfurt Hauptbahnhof before I said farewell to Germany for now.