Adam Grudziński

Travel ·

Over a thousand kilometres for 9 euros

In summer 2022 you could ride regional trains all over Germany for a whole month for 9 euros. In June I used that ticket to loop through a big part of the country: from the Mercedes-Benz Museum and lunch at a pig museum in Stuttgart, through Ulm Minster and Neuschwanstein Castle, to Bayern's stadium in Munich.

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The ticket was called the 9-Euro-Ticket and it ran for three months: in June, July and August, 9 euros a month let you ride every regional train, bus and tram in the country. Fast long-distance trains, ICE and IC, were not included, so a longer route took time.

In June I used the ticket for a trip I would never have planned otherwise.

The route

In order: Weimar, Würzburg, Stuttgart, Ulm, Augsburg, Neuschwanstein Castle, Munich, Regensburg and Nuremberg, and the loop closed in Halle (Saale). On the map it became a circle through Thuringia, Baden-Württemberg and Bavaria. When I added it up afterwards, it came to well over a thousand kilometres, all on one 9-euro ticket.

Adam wearing a face mask on a regional trainMap of the route through Würzburg, Stuttgart, Ulm, Augsburg, Munich, Regensburg and Nuremberg
On the train, 3 June 2022. Masks were still required on regional trains back then. The route on the map (Google Maps).
The lit Old Main Bridge in Würzburg at night with the fortress on the hill above
Würzburg at night: the Old Main Bridge with Marienberg Fortress above it.

Stuttgart: Mercedes and pigs

In Stuttgart I went to the Mercedes-Benz Museum. You walk through the history of the brand floor by floor, from the very first cars to today's.

The Mercedes-Benz Museum building in StuttgartOne of the first Mercedes cars on displayThe popemobile built on a Mercedes G-ClassA McLaren Mercedes Formula 1 car
The Mercedes-Benz Museum: the building, one of the first Mercedes cars, the popemobile and a McLaren Formula 1 car.

Lunch was a different story altogether: at the Pig Museum, which has a restaurant in the same building. I had Maultaschen, Swabian filled pasta, which is simply something you have to try in Stuttgart. Next to the museum stood an old tram turned into a pig, so a photo was a must.

An old pink tram with its front turned into a pig's headSign of the Stuttgarter Schlachthof and the Schweine Museum on the building wall
The pig tram and the entrance to the Pig Museum in Stuttgart.

Ulm

Back then Ulm Minster had the tallest church steeple in the world; the Sagrada Família only took the record in autumn 2025. When I was there, part of the tower was in scaffolding. By the Danube I took a photo with the steeple rising above the roofs of the old town.

Ulm Minster with its tower partly in scaffoldingAdam by the Danube in Ulm, the minster tower behind him
Ulm Minster, and me by the Danube with its tower behind.

Neuschwanstein

From Augsburg I headed towards the Alps to visit Neuschwanstein on the way to Munich, the castle that inspired the one in Disney's fairy tales.

A fountain with a statue in Augsburg's old townA Gothic church and tower by the tram tracks in AugsburgAdam with Neuschwanstein Castle behind him
Augsburg's old town, and me below Neuschwanstein Castle.

Munich

In Munich I toured Bayern's stadium, the Allianz Arena. From there on I was no longer travelling alone: the rest of the route, through Regensburg and Nuremberg, I did in company.

Odeonsplatz in Munich after the rain, with the Feldherrnhalle on the rightThe Allianz Arena in Munich under a cloudy sky
Odeonsplatz with the Feldherrnhalle on the right, and the Allianz Arena.

Was it worth it

At the end of May, for my thirtieth birthday, I walked 100 kilometres in 24 hours in Bavaria at the Mega Marsch München. Less than two weeks later the trains were doing the kilometres for me.

Under the photos from the trip I wrote at the time: a great trip, I can recommend travelling for 9 euros. A piece of the world seen.