What is a "Länder Ticket" in German Rail?

The different Länder-Tickets allow unlimited travel with almost all regional trains within a specified area for a whole day.

The tickets are (with very few exceptions) not valid in inter-city services (train numbers starting with ICE, IC, EC, TGV, THA, RJ, EN, CNL, HBX, X). DB regional trains generally accept the tickets. Also the tickets are valid for most but not all private operators in the area. Where not specifically noted the tickets are not valid for local transport (e.g. buses, trams, U-Bahn), only trains (including S-Bahn).

Monday through Friday tickets are valid from 9am to 3am the next day. On weekends and public holidays they are valid from midnight to 3am the next day. The tickets are only available until midnight the same day, even though they are still valid for three more hours.

The details depend on the ticket you choose. The prices listed here reflect the time of writing and are given as 1/2/3/4/5 persons. Most tickets have a surcharge if bought at a counter.

Also included are similar tickets but not all special tickets (night tickets, first-class tickets, special border tickets, etc.). Many regions smaller than the ones listed below also have day tickets which are usually cheaper.

Most passenger rights in case of delays are not applicable to these tickets (e.g. covering taxi or hotel costs in case of missed night-connections).

Note to mobile users: Many of the links go to huge PDF files.

Schleswig-Holstein-Ticket
28/31/34/37/40€, covered routes

The ticket is valid in the states of Schleswig-Holstein, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, and Hamburg. Additionally on a few select routes in Lower Saxony, Denmark, and Poland. Also valid on U-Bahn, ferries, and buses (not Schnellbus) in Hamburg (rings A and B).

There is also a daily ticket of the Schleswig-Holstein-Tarif which costs 30.90/36.90/36.90/36.90/36.90€ and is valid for trains and local transport in Hamburg and Schleswig-Holstein (except Sylt-Bus).

Mecklenburg-Vorpommern-Ticket
23/27/31/35/39€, covered routes

The ticket is valid in the states of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern and Hamburg. Additionally on a few select routes in Schleswig-Holstein, Brandenburg, and Poland. Also valid on U-Bahn, ferries, and buses (not Schnellbus) in Hamburg (rings A and B).

In the following trains between Szczecin Glowny and Pasewalk the ticket is valid even before 9am: RE 5350, RE 5351, RE 5352, RE 5353, RE 5354

Niedersachsen-Ticket
23/27/31/35/39€, covered routes, map

The ticket is valid in the states of Lower Saxony, Bremen, and Hamburg. Additionally on a few select routes in North Rhine-Westphalia and Hesse. Also valid on U-Bahn, ferries, and buses (not Schnellbus) in Hamburg (rings A and B). Additionally valid for all local transport in the GVH region (main city: Hanover), VRB region (main city: Braunschweig), VBN region (main cities: Bremen, Oldenburg), and VSN region (main city: Göttingen). In Osnabrück valid on buses (VOS zone 100).

The ticket is also valid on all IC trains on the route between Bremen Hbf and Augustfehn. On December 24 and December 31 valid from midnight until 3am next day.

Brandenburg-Berlin-Ticket
29/29/29/29/29€, covered routes, map

The ticket is valid in the states of Brandenburg and Berlin, including all local transport (except the SRS tram in Rüdersdorf/Schöneich). Additionally on a few select routes in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Saxony-Anhalt, Saxony, and Poland.

Also valid on a few IC and EC trains.

If traveling alone a VBB Gesamtnetz ticket for 21€ is cheaper, but it has different conditions.

Schöner-Tag-Ticket NRW
29/42/42/42/42€, covered routes, map

The ticket is valid in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia and the city of Osnabrück, including all local transport (except night buses in Bielefeld). Additionally on a few select routes in Lower Saxony, Hesse, Rhineland-Palatinate, and the Netherlands.

Hessenticket
33/33/33/33/33€, covered routes, map

The ticket is valid in the state of Hesse, including all local transport. Additionally on a few select routes in North Rhine-Westphalia, Lower Saxony, Thuringia, Rhineland-Palatinate, and Baden-Württemberg.

Sachsen-Anhalt-Ticket, Thüringen-Ticket, Sachsen-Ticket
23/27/31/35/39€, covered routes, map

Those tickets are basically the same.

The ticket is valid in the states of Saxony-Anhalt, Thuringia, and Saxony. Additionally on a few select routes in Brandeburg, Hesse, and the Czech Republic.

The ticket is also valid for local transport in the following areas: marego region (main city: Magdeburg), MDV region (main cities: Leipzig, Halle), VMS region (main city: Chemnitz), VMT region (main cities: Erfurt, Weimar, Jena), VVO region (main city: Dresden), VVV region (main city: Plauen), and ZVON region (main cities: Görlitz, Bautzen, Zittau). Also valid in Saxony-Anhalt on <O> buses.

Rheinland-Pfalz-Ticket, Saarland-Ticket
24/28/32/36/40€, covered routes

Those tickets are basically the same.

The ticket is valid in the states of Rhineland-Palatinate and Saarland, including all local transport. Additionally on a few select routes in Baden-Württemberg, North Rhine-Westphalia, and France.

If only traveling in Saarland one can use the cheaper SaarVV tickets for 18.40/31/31/31/31€.

Baden-Württemberg-Ticket
23/28/33/38/43€, covered routes, map

The ticket is valid in the state of Baden-Württemberg. Additionally on a few select routes in Bavaria, Hesse, Rhineland-Palatinate, and Switzerland.

The ticket is also valid on almost all local transport, except buses between Ulm and Neu-Ulm and ferries on Lake Constance.

Bayern-Ticket
25/31/37/43/49€, covered routes, map

The ticket is valid in the state of Bavaria. Additionally on a few select routes in Baden-Württemberg, Thuringia, and Austria.

The ticket is also valid on almost all local transport, except buses on this list.

Quer-durchs-Land-Ticket
44/52/60/69/76€, covered routes

The ticket is valid in all of Germany. Additionally on a few select routes in Austria, Switzerland, and the Czech Republic.

Schönes-Wochend-Ticket
40/44/48/52/56€, covered routes

Only available for Saturday and Sunday.

The ticket is valid in all of Germany. Additionally on a few select routes in Denmark, the Netherlands, Austria, Poland, Switzerland, and the Czech Republic.

In many areas the ticket is also valid for local transport, see the covered routes link.