Need help deciding how to get from Munich to Frankfurt on a Saturday in August with a stopover at Neuschwanstein. We will have tickets to tour the castle booked for 2:30 pm. This is for a family of 5.
CAR OPTION
We could rent a larger car for 90 euros with one-way fee and taxes included and take it all the way to Frankfurt and then the FRA airport the next morning, cost with fuel and parking overnight at the hotel in Frankfurt plus parking near the castle, about 180 euros. It is not possible to return the car in the evening in central Frankfurt without getting a walk around and release from the rental agency staff, and would really like that to happen. Also not clear if a 35 euro fee would apply for leaving the car at an unmanned lot after hours-- it is mentioned in the terms and conditions but not in the contract.
Question 1: Is parking an issue at the castle on a Saturday in the summer?
Question 2: Sixt.com does not say what happens if you go over your rental period by a bit: say 30 minutes or 2 hours. In the USA the first 30 minutes late are always free, then the contract states the overage charge, say $8/hour. All the Sixt terms and conditions says is that keeping the car after the reserved time period is breaking the contract and that’s it. So what is the charge, a whole extra day or what?
RAIL OPTION
We could also go by rail and bus. The cost of a day Bavaria pass for 5 is 38 euros with one child under 15 riding free.
Question 3: does the child riding free need a ticket, and if so how do I purchase the ticket online for the free rider?
Question 4: Assume we leave Munich by 9:30 am and have a castle tour at 2:30 pm -- that should work fine time wise for the trains, bus, picking up reserved tickets, grabbing lunch, and then walking up to the castle?
Then we would book discounted fast rail from Fuessen to Frankfurt leaving at 5 pm. Total cost for those rail tickets, plus 15 euro group rail ticket to FRA airport the next day, 142 euros. I see that there is a cheap national group ticket for regional rail for weekend days for about 56 euros, but it takes at least 2 hours longer to use only regional rail getting up to Frankfurt so not worth it-- then again it would be nice to not have to worry about catching the 5 pm train to Frankfurt.
Question 5: Will these two tickets, the Bavaria day pass and the one way rail ticket, cover all the transportation required that day?
Question 6: If bahn.com says “train cancelled from X to Y” what does that mean? Does it mean there will be no stops between these points due to construction? It can’t really mean that the train is canceled because they are selling tickets for it.
So, looking for answers to questions and general advice whether car or train is the better option.