10 days with D-ticket in Bavaria: feedback, please

Are all days with transport in May?

Hope you are aware that in this case you have to cancel the ticket until May 10 to avoid paying for June?

Alternatively I could skip Regensburg, Nuremberg and Bamberg,

Axe the best of the entire bunch? That would be sad.

Your plan looks just fine to me.

1). Yes, all the days are in May. And the subscription was cancelled two hours after the D-ticket was purchased.

The coaching on this forum is very thorough. ;-)

2). Interesting that you think the upper loop (Nuremberg etc) is better than mountains. Can you explain why? Thanks.

You seemed most concerned about the D-ticket and the logistics in your post - my "just fine" comments meant that it's all doable in that regard.

For further refinement... I might ask what else you have in mind for your time in G-P besides the Zugspitze, and the same for Berchtesgaden. The mountain scenery in Berchtesgaden is wonderful. You might consider fitting in a lift ride there - or two... the Jennerbahn for example, and the Obersalzbergbahn are Berchtesgaden's answers to the Zugspitze.

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g198481-d6131066-Reviews-Jennerbahn-Schoenau_am_Koenigssee_Upper_Bavaria_Bavaria.html

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g187299-d7624470-Reviews-Obersalzbergbahn-Berchtesgaden_Upper_Bavaria_Bavaria.html

In other words, IMO the Zugspitze is not essential, not your only option. And if you are making the long round trip there and you're on a budget and shelling out the cash and staying over in G-P essentially just for that, well, maybe you don't need to dedicate those Days 4 & 5 and the extra journeys for the Z-mountain. Maybe an extra outing to Berchtesgaden (with an extra night in Bad Reichenhall) would be appropriate.

What makes the destinations north of Munich worth keeping?

Bamberg and Regensburg: Not sure if you know that these are Germany's most heralded medieval towns. Both have UNESCO World Heritage status. There really is nothing like these places anywhere further south in the mountains. There's a ton of history to be had there and in Nuremberg as well. And I'm not equating history just with WW II history. On top of that, you will be not just in Bavaria, but in FRANCONIA once you are in Nuremberg and Bamberg, and this is a special place with its own history and strong cultural identity. Food and beer take the path less traveled here.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Franconia#/media/File:Franconia_details.png

So I'd recommend moving a day saved from the G-P stay (if you drop that) to your Nuremberg stay so you can get in a bit more time there. An additional day trip from Nuremberg could take you to Bad Windsheim, a town of half-timbered buildings on the Franconian loop of the German Half-timbered-House Route. Such old buildings aren't typically found in the German alpine resorts, but they abound in Franconia. The awesome Franconian Open-air Museum there is terrific as well.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WqCUq_5o-FA

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g198421-d284746-Reviews-Frankonian_Open_Air_Museum-Bad_Windsheim_Middle_Franconia_Franconia_Bavaria.html

The world's most dense concentration of beer breweries is in Franconia:
https://www.bierland-franken.de/brauereien/

Biking between them is popular, but you won't have time for that.

The Bad Windsheim museum has its own brewery. And the Dobler Brewery is right in town.
https://s3-media0.fl.yelpcdn.com/bphoto/-IRfSCidZCuhO2fzG3kiBw/l.jpg

Hope this explains my comments to some degree.

Franconian wines are famous too.

Gosh, thank you so much for the detailed and informative reply. To clarify, I’m not particularly concerned about logistics and the D-ticket (simplicity is why I bought the D-ticket) but rather if the longer days of travel on regional trains (all rail line seem to go through Munich) have hidden gotchas. I have already discovered one relating to engineering works.

But — because travel planning is always written in Jell-O — .G-P is now off the list. I just learned that the cogwheel train does not operate the week I would be there: that is the spring maintenance week. So your suggestions for adding to Burchesgsrden are very timely and welcome indeed.

Regarding the northern towns, I am of course aware of the UNESCO designations. Although I have more interesting mountains and beer than cities and wine, you make a very compelling case for adding one more day up in that area; thank you. On this trip I will also be scouting for a cycling trip next spring.

Let me reiterate: THANK YOU so very much for taking the time and effort to make your detailed reply; this is exactly why I value the RS (and Fodor) forums.

Not to be a spelling nanny here, but... Sometimes getting the pronunciation right can help with the spelling - and with being understood. Germans might not understand what your saying if you pronounce it the way you spelled it.

Try repeating beark-tess-gah-dun a few times in a row, with "bear" sounding the animal. There is no "r" or "r" sound in the "gah" part. And there is no English "ch" sound in the first syllable.

Best wishes for a good trip, whatever you choose.

Be aware that you won't be able to get out to the high point of the Zugspitze as the path is still covered in snow and closed. I doubt it will clear before mid-June; it didn't last year. And if the weather looks even slightly cloudy, don't go. You'll get to the top and just wonder when the fog is going to clear, and it won't.

Day 10 train toward Pilsen and Prague. Perhaps via Dresden?

Via Dresden? Only if you really want to see Dresden and have a lot of extra time. That is a rather round about way to get to Prague from Nürnberg and doesn't go through Pilsen. Pilsen is beyond Prague when you approach it from Dresden. Plus, I think a lot of travel from Nürnberg via Dresden to the German/Czech border at Ústí nad Labem is by long distance (express) trains and wouldn't be covered by your Deutschland-Ticket.

There is a much faster, more direct route using the regional train (in Germany), RE 25, that runs every couple of hours from Munich to Prague; it goes through Regensburg, crosses the border at Furth im Wald, and goes through Pilsen on the way to Prague. It doesn't go through Nürnberg, but you can take another regional train to Regensburg to board RE 25. RE 25 runs as a regional train to the border at Furth im Wald, then as an EX to Prague, so you'll need a separate ticket from Furth to Prague. You can find the Furth im Wald to Prague ticket on the Bahn website, but you can probably get it for less from Czech Rail, where it is subsidized.

It doesn't go through Nürnberg, but you can take another regional train to Regensburg to board RE 25.

Please don't get angry, but that would be a time-consuming detour. You either take the RE from Nuremberg to Schwandorf and change there to RE 25 (ALEX) from Munich, or you take the RE from Nuremberg to Cheb and change there to the train to Prague. Both trips covered by the DT until the border station (Furth im Wald or Cheb, resp.). And yes, in both cases it' advisable to book the ticket for the Czech section on www.cd.cz (much cheaper than with DB).