I read in RS's back door book pg. 103 that there are bonuses and discounts that go along with your railpass for things such as ferry and tour bus discounts. Has anyone come across these? Please share if you have, i would love to see what other options the railpass provides.
Thanks
The best freebie that comes with railpasses is an abreviated train schedule for all of Europe. It is complete enough that you can find train connections and plan your route. Every year that I don't buy a railpass, I miss having the current time-table.
I got to take the Prague Nuremberg Express Bus for a discounted rate due to my rail pass. It was a much faster option for travel between the 2 cities.
We saved 50% on our overnight cruise ship passage from Tallinn, Estonia to Stockholm, and 30% on our Flam railway tickets in Norway.
Swan: I think abbreviated is the key word here. I bought the DB schedule CD (for all of Europe - not abbreviated - all trains) and loaded it on my Netbook. Of course when I have a Wifi connection, I can access the German Rail website.
As for the Nürnberg bus discount, it's a good deal IF you are going from Nürnberg to Prague.
"a much faster option for travel between the 2 cities."
It is faster, but I would not say "much faster". It's about an hour faster (3h45m vs 4h53m) than the train and cost only €20 for two in 2nd class with the discount vs €45 for two on the train using a Bayern-Böhmen ticket and local tickets from Pilsen to Prague.
For Munich to Praque, maybe not such a good deal. The train from Munich, using the same Bayern-Böhmen-Ticket and local tickets is still €45, €25 more than the bus from Nürnberg.
However, to use the bus, you have to get from Munich to Nürnberg. Would you use a day of your Saver pass which is probably worth more than €12,50 pP? Going by ICE would take 5h10m, Munich to Prague, vs 5h57m by train. If you don't want to use a day of your saver pass, the ICE from Munich to Nürnberg is €50 pP, €120 Munich to Prague for two, with the discount. Alternatively, you could save the rail pass day and buy a regional ticket from Munich to Prague for €31,50 pP. The trip would take longer (6h46m) than by all trains and cost more (€83 vs €45).
