News: Do mention the fares war

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Germany's no-frills airline war is getting fiercer - and forcing the national rail network to slash its prices between now and the Christmas holidays.

Germany's no-frills airline war is getting fiercer - and forcing the national rail network to slash its prices between now and the Christmas holidays.

Low-cost airlines are competing vigorously on domestic routes in Germany; Hapag-Lloyd Express and Germanwings have frequent flights from, respectively, Cologne to Berlin and Stuttgart to Hamburg for under €60 (£43). In response, Deutsche Bahn is putting 1.2 million seats on sale for a flat €29 (£21), for one-way travel between 1 November and 11 December.

The promotion is called "Summer in November", and has only a three-day advance booking requirement. Tickets can be booked easily online at www.bahn.de, which has an excellent English-language site and allows you to print your own tickets. Alternatively, you can book through Deutsche Bahn's UK office, on 08702 435363 or www.bahn.co.uk, but fares are slightly higher.

The tickets can be used to create a low-cost city-hopping tour; for example, you could fly on easyJet from Liverpool or Luton to Basel, which has fast bus links to the fine city of Freiburg. From here you could travel by rail to Berlin for the flat fare, then take a train across to Cologne for a wide choice of flights to UK airports.