If that isn’t a buzzword headline, I don’t know what is. You might be thinking, Is this really a Cee Cee tip?! But honestly, who doesn’t want to travel by train for less? (We’d happily take more punctual trains, too, but unfortunately we can’t help with that.) This rather user-friendly innovation called bahnscanner.de landed in our inbox courtesy of a Berliner and, like all our tips, was promptly put to the test. And now I’m looking forward to my train ride to Frankfurt am Main. Not only because of the people I’ll see there, but because my ticket cost less than ten euros. Thank you to founder Naman for making the long journey from northern India (Jaipur, the capital of Rajasthan, to be precise) to Berlin. While he was spared a culture shock upon arrival, there was, as he puts it, a definite weather shock. Ah, the Berlin winter… no comparison to Jaipur’s long, sun-filled days. In a way, Bahnscanner is Naman’s escape strategy. He liked Skyscanner’s “Travel anytime, anywhere” feature, but prefers traveling by train, not least because it’s the more sustainable option. When he realized there was no equivalent feature for booking with Deutsche Bahn, he built one himself. Bahnscanner helps you find inexpensive train tickets, and, more importantly, an affordable trip when you don’t necessarily have a destination in mind yet. (For those moments when you simply want to get away.) Bahnscanner is Naman’s side project, one he’s been working on for the past few months while actively incorporating user feedback. Watching user numbers climb and following the live logs gives him, he admits, a small dopamine hit. He has no plans to sell Bahnscanner for now. Instead, he’d rather collaborate with Deutsche Bahn, particularly when it comes to API access. And yes, AI has played its part. Naman says it sped up development considerably, particularly for areas new to him, such as front-end development. More than anything, though, he uses it as a sparring partner: testing different approaches, weighing one solution against another, and working through the options before deciding which way to go.
But enough tech, back to the nicer part: traveling. Since Naman is well on his way to becoming an expert on exploring Germany, I asked him for one of his favorite routes. His pick: Dresden to Schmilka, following the Elbe with views of Saxon Switzerland. Also on his list is the wonderfully named Bingen, from where he’d continue toward Koblenz — preferably on foot through the Upper Middle Rhine Valley. But of course, I couldn’t resist asking for a recommendation for really good food from closer to home. Naman’s answer: Food Haus Berlin at the Dong Xuan Center. The small, unpretentious Pakistani restaurant serves the best aloo paratha he’s found in Berlin so far. You won’t need Bahnscanner for a trip to the Dong Xuan Center. But I quite like Naman’s idea of occasionally letting the ticket price decide the destination. Perhaps you don’t always need to know exactly where you’re going. Most of the time, it’s enough just to get away.
Text: Nina Trippel / Photos: Anna Nekrashevich, Domjant, Matt Mutlu
Bahnscanner
