Trains the way to go (save time and euros)

In Europe you get cheap flights from point A to point B, but in Western Europe, it is often worth taking the train instead. They run very frequently, there is no check in time and often it will take the same amount of time. Plus you won't need to get connections. If you were going from a location 100km west of Berlin to a city 100km south of Paris, an overnight train would probably end up being the best option for example, because of the hassle of getting to the airport, checking in, waiting, flying, landing, getting bags, then getting to your new location. Better just to sleep in the train.

So how do you save money with the train?

There are the obvious ones like Eurail and Interrail, but less often used by tourists are things like the BahnCard.

The BahnCard is Deutsche Bahn's way of giving return customers a discount and there are a few of them. The one that will interest tourists will only be the BahnCard 25, which gives you a 25% discount off all fares. It is useful for people who spend more than 200 Euros a year on train travel annually.

Note that this is not the only option and you should talk to the ticket salespeople for the best ways to get to places. However, it is worth knowing about!