from Amsterdam to Bacharach

If you have the discipline to commit in advance to a specific train and buy your tickets on the German Rail website, you can get a Savings Fare ticket for Amsterdam to Bacharach for as low as 29€/person, lots of tickets for 39€.

Barbara,

As Lee mentioned, you can pre-purchase tickets for that route at substantial discounts, which will save you some money. Considering the distance you'll be traveling, €88 doesn't seem expensive at all.

Where did you get the reference to Emmerich? You can check all the departures and other train details using the German Rail website. You may find it helpful to have a look at THIS video and THIS video.

The station in Bacharach is very small, so you may not recognize it when you arrive there. Be ready to disembark at the scheduled arrival time. There's no rail staff there any longer, so the only option for buying tickets is a Kiosk.

"Where did you get the reference to Emmerich?"

Ken, Emmerich is a town in Germany, just over the border from the Netherlands, and at one time major trains from the Netherlands stopped there, so that was the first place you could start using a German Rail pass. You could buy a Dutch ticket to Emmerich and use the German Rail pass from there.

I think today, most express trains go through Emmerich without stopping, and the first stop in Germany (at least on some routes) is Oberhausen.

At the Amsterdam train station, buy the ticket to Emmerich for about $20, or whichever is the designated the border crossing point for your route (shown when you view details on DB schedules). Ask that agent to activate your German Pass and then fill in your travel date, too. With both ticket and pass in hand, you're covered for the whole ride and only get off the train at the scheduled connection points. No need to make an advance reservation.

Barbara,

Coming from Amsterdam if you are on a regional train, your first stop in Germany is Emmerich. If you are on the ICE train, then your first stop in Germany is Oberhausen Hbf.

oh my, thank you all so much. All your information is very helpful. I can now do a little more research and decide!

@Lee et al,

Thanks for the additional information concerning Emmerich. I rarely look at intermediate stops or border crossings when planning rail journeys, but tend to focus more on trip duration and number of changes.