9 x trains per day
Book early and save: Yes
Online bookings open: 6 months ahead of the travel date
Finding tickets
When looking for tickets from Köln on DB Bahn type ‘K‘ or 'COLOGNE' into the ‘from‘ box and not ‘Ko‘.
Check that you’re looking at booking info for the direct trains.
On the DB Bahn booking site look for journeys that have:
Also use the earlier/later buttons to also search for the cheapest ticket prices, trains leaving at different times during the day can be more expensive/cheaper.
There can be gaps of more than three hours between the departures of these direct trains - so it can be a good idea to look for 'earlier' or 'later' trains, you may need to sort through multiple other options to find them.
The overwhelming majority of the options that DB Bahn sells for this journey involve a change of train
Reservations:
Book 1st class ticket journey tickets and your seat reservation is included, but they're optional when booking 2nd class tickets, or if you will be travelling with a 1st or 2nd class rail pass
Ticket Provider | Approximate Cost | |
---|---|---|
DB Bahn | from €17.90 | |
Omio | from €17.90 | |
Save A Train | from €17.90 | |
Happy rail | from €17.90 |
After Bonn there are some fabulous views of the Upper Rhine Valley from the LEFT of the train, when facing the direction of travel; if the train takes its usual route along the west bank, but if its switched to the east bank, the railway line is still right by the river.
The best of the views occur when the trains travel through The Rhine Gorge between Koblenz and Bingen.
The journey is a delight, you can't miss the endless parade of boats travelling up and down the river and look out for the multitude of castles perched on top of the hills.
As the video clips and images show, this is a journey which can be worth taking for the sake of making the trip, even if the weather isn't absolutely perfect.
Then after Mainz the train will cross the river; this video was taken from a train travelling in the opposite direction.
This second version of ShowMeTheJourney is exciting and new, so we are genuinely thrilled that you are here and reading this, but we also need your help.
We’re striving not to let anything get in the way of providing the most useful service possible, hence a facility has been set up with DonorBox which can be used to support the running costs and make improvements.
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This is one of more than 100 train travel 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.