Germany Flexi-Pass Train Options

All depends on what those last trips are.

Sam,

Here are all the train trips.

April 1, Tues, Train FRA>Nürnberg 2h 21m (late afternoon) ICE 721 direct

Daytrips: Nuremberg>Bamberg>Nuremburg (40m), RE 14 VGN, 42m, return RE 20 (no price info)
Daytrip: Nuremberg>Open Air Museum>Nuremburg, Train RE 14 VGN, 42m
April 6, Sun, Train to Nuremburg>Rothenburg, 1h 9m, IC 2164, RE80, RB82
April 9, Wed Train Rothenburg>Fussen, 3.5-4 h, 1 transfer EC113 ,RB77
April 12, Train Fussen>Munich, 2h, 1 transfer, 9:20 am, RB77, RB74

Daytrip: Train Munich>Dachau (23m), S2 TRAIN
Daytrip: Train Munich>Augsburg (30m), ICE 610

April 17, Thurs, Train Munich>Dresden, 5h 49, 1 transfer, 8:54 am, ICE 1600, RE50
4/21/2025, Holiday, Mon, Train Dresden>Berlin, 2h2m, direct, IC2270
April 26 Sat, Train Berlin>Luceck,2h36m, direct @10:05, IC 1008
Day trip: Schwerin Castle in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern (Schwerin Hauptbahnhof station) (1h36m) (8:10 am), RE 83 / RE 1
April 29, Train Lubeck>COLOGNE, (5H12M, 1 transfer) then Train COLOGNE>COCHEM, 1h52m, 1 transfer, cost~20" "To Cologne 7:37am-12:49pm, RE, ICE 109 $31.16 To Cochem, 15:49-17:41, ICE 927, RE1, $19.35"

AFTER THE 30 DAY FLEXI-PASS
Day trip: Cochem>Burg Eltz Castle>Cochem, Train to Hatzenport bf 22m, 20m wait, then Bus to wierschem burg eltz 24m, then 12m walk, then $2 shuttle up to castle
Day trip: Cochem>Beilstein village>Cochem: 14m bus OR cruise to Beilstein one way (1 hr) and use the bus to return to Cochem
Day trip: Train Cochem>Trier>Cochem, 1 hour direct, Train RE 81, no price yet
May 3, Sat, Train Cochem>Boppard, 56m, 1 transfer, RE 11, RE2 (VRM - no price)
Daytrip: Boppard>Marksburg Castle>Boppard, train to koblenz hauptbahnhof 15m, 25 wait, train to Braubach 13m, walk 15m to Marksburg RB 26 / 10, (no price)
TRAIN BOPPARD>FRA AIRPORT: May 6, Tues, Direct train Boppard to FRA. FLY HOME LUFTHSTANSA 10:45:00 AM, 5:19am-6:33, direct 1h14m RE 2 direct

Hope that helps.

Tracy

How many people and adult or senior? You really have only 7 journeys that benefit from a rail pass. The rest can be done with regional or district passes. The last 5 days are all regional passes. If you stay in Boppard, you get a free district (VRM) transport pass.

There are two of us - both over age 60. I didn't see any discount for seniors on the Rail Pass website.

So the 7 train trips you referred to that would benefit from a rail pass are within the first 30 days. Can you identify them for me, if it's not too much of a pain?

Thanks,
Tracy

April 1, Tues, Train FRA>Nürnberg 2h 21m (late afternoon) ICE 721 direct
April 9, Wed Train Rothenburg>Fussen, 3.5-4 h, 1 transfer EC113 ,RB77
April 17, Thurs, Train Munich>Dresden, 5h 49, 1 transfer, 8:54 am, ICE 1600, RE50
4/21/2025, Holiday, Mon, Train Dresden>Berlin, 2h2m, direct, IC2270
April 26 Sat, Train Berlin>Luceck,2h36m, direct @10:05, IC 1008
Day trip: Schwerin Castle in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern (Schwerin Hauptbahnhof station) (1h36m) (8:10 am), RE 83 / RE 1
April 29, Train Lubeck>COLOGNE, (5H12M, 1 transfer) then Train COLOGNE>COCHEM, 1h52m, 1 transfer

I just wanted to make sure that you have done a price comparison with buying advance tickets for the ICE/IC trains and then simply using the Deutschland ticket for everything else. If you haven’t already done so, it might be a worthwhile exercise before purchasing to make sure the rail passes are truly the best value.

The "Germany Flexi-Pass" or Eurail German Rail pass is a big asset for DAY 1. FRA to Nuremberg by regional train would be too long, and a pre-purchased saver fare for the high-speed, long-distance trains might be useless if your flight is late. With the pass, you just go to the Fernbahnhof station and get on the first train headed to Nuremberg. Additional days for which the pass could be helpful IMO: April 17, 21, 26 and 29, all 4 of which include long-distance, high-speed trains (IC, ICE, or EC.)

Although one could pre-purchase these trips as p2p saver fares and perhaps save some money, there is real value to the railpass option....

• Saver fares are non-refundable. Saver fares require you to travel exactly as scheduled; you would need to decide your exact dates and travel times months in advance for the best prices. On April 21 2025, for example (Dresden > Berlin, current price = €57.80 each) you'd be locked into that 9:30 am departure... re-arranging your travel schedule for any reason at all to get to Berlin at a later hour that day, or on a different day, will not be possible. So if you happened to learn about some musical event or festival or whatever in Berlin that might require a change in your travel schedule, forget it. Or if you miscalculate the time required to get to your train platform from your hotel that morning, or you mistakenly leave something valuable behind that you must retrieve, and you then miss the pre-scheduled train, you're out of luck... a new ticket at the standard fare is needed.

• Saver fares mean hassling with separate online purchases - and 100% accuracy on your part, a not insignificant challenge.

Rail passes OTOH are flexible. You could change your itinerary in significant ways between now and April and probably still use the rail pass. And railpasses are refundable (for a fee) if you are unable to travel for some reason. That said, a rail pass does not have to be purchased right away... it can be purchased a couple of weeks in advance, or even after arrival in Germany, which minimizes the odds of needing a refund.

Also, a railpass insures against fines for errors like boarding the wrong train and ending up on a route not authorized by your p2p ticket. It's valid on any train.

The analysis by Sam above includes two journeys for a 7-day rail pass which do not require long-distance trains... the April 9 journey (Rothenburg > Füssen) and the daytrip to Schwerin. Both are regional-train-only journeys. (There is no EC 113 train from Rothenburg... some kind of error there.) These 2 journeys, along with all the other regional-train-only journeys and bus journeys between April 1 and April 30, could be covered by the Deutschland-Ticket (€116/2/month.) 

Thus you'd have 5 days to cover with a rail pass for @ $598/2 plus a few local journeys still hanging out there once you reach Cochem; these journeys would be the only ones you might need to purchase individually...

• April 30?? Cochem > Eltz > Cochem: no purchase required, covered by the D-Ticket.

• May 1?? Cochem > Beilstein > Cochem ("price-level 3" Tageskarte covers the round trip by bus at €10 each. Or a 1-way ticket is €5.)

• May 2?? Cochem > Trier > Cochem (€35/2 on a Rheinland-Pfalz ticket, a day pass valid after 9 am)

• May 3 Cochem > Boppard (VRM Mini-group Ticket, €29.90/2)

• May 4 Boppard > Braubach > Boppard (free with VRM Guest Ticket)

• May 6 Boppard > FRA (Guest ticket covers you to Oberwesel + €3.20 ea. DB ticket for Oberwesel to Bacharach + €14.80 ea. RMV ticket to FRA Regionalbahnhof = €18 x 2 = €36 total. Buy RMV ticket using DB app

May 1, May 3 journeys: these could be FREE with the VRM Guest Ticket if you stay in any of the 11 Cochem inns listed on P. 2 of the link below:
https://www.vrminfo.de/fileadmin/data_vrminfo/PDF/Gaesteticket/Gaesteticketvertraege_Aug_24.pdf

The Rothenburg to Fuessen can be done all-regional of course, but using IC or ICE trains along the way can shorten the travel time and make for fewer train changes, at least per the current schedule.

That would make 6 trips, but the German Eurail Pass only comes in 3,4,5,7,10, and 15 day varieties. The Schwerin day trip is shown starting at 8:10 am, so would need a separate ticket in using a regional pass on a week day, although not with the Deutschland Ticket.

The Rothenburg to Fuessen can be done all-regional of course, butI
using IC or ICE trains along the way can shorten the travel time and
make for fewer train changes, at least per the current schedule.

For Traveling Tracy's specific travel date of April 9, DB, which shows the fastest connections, is not showing anything with IC/ICE connections for this route. Only 4+ hr. regional connections appear to be available.

I have assumed the Deutschland-Ticket in light of the numerous other regional journeys that will happen in April, including of course the Füssen and the Schwerin trips. The D-Tickets cover regional trains but also cover other means of transport, and at €116/2 persons/month, they become financially advisable with only 3-4 days of travel as an alternative to the day passes. With 13 journeys in April, 5 of those by IC/ICE, T-T has 8 days planned for regional travel.

The 5 IC/ICE train trips that are uncovered by the D-Ticket can be handled by the 5-day railpass option (to be compared with p2p ticket purchases for the same 5 journeys.)

I would note also that for the Lübeck > Cologne > Cochem journey, the rail pass has a hidden advantage... it allows flexibility for the final Cologne > Cochem leg using the ICE trains out of Cologne. Stay longer, or leave early, depending on your wishes on that particular day. A p2p saver fare for this day will NOT have this same flexibility; the length of your layover in Cologne would be fixed several months in advance at the time this ticket is purchased.

Thanks everyone for the great info. I'm busy checking out all the different Ticket passes that Russ mentioned - there are so many - I thank you for educating me on all of this!

Thanks again,
Tracy

I'm busy checking out all the different Ticket passes that Russ
mentioned - there are so many

Some guidance...

May 1, VRM search page (for 1-way ticket, Cochem (Mosel) > Fähre, Beilstein (Mosel)
https://www.vrminfo.de/en/timetable-info/

(You can search any journey within the VRM zone at this next link to find schedule and pricing.)

May 2, Rheinland-Pfalz Ticket info for your Trier outing.

May 3, Cochem (Mosel) > Boppard Hbf (VRM Mini-group Ticket, €29.90/2)
https://www.vrminfo.de/en/tickets/tickets/leisure-tickets/minigroup-ticket/

Trains out of Boppard with Free VRM Guest Ticket provided to all who book there, valid throughout stay:
https://www.vrminfo.de/en/tickets/tickets/leisure-tickets/vrm-guest-ticket/

(Same ticket is provided in Cochem but only at 11 different lodging establishments)

Final travel leg on RMV ticket from Bacharach to Frankfurt(Main) Regionalbahnhof:
https://www.rmv.de/c/en/homepage

Don't try to purchase these tickets in advance. Any of the tickets you must pay for can be purchased on the day of travel, just like you would purchase a municipal bus ticket back home. Some (like the RMV ticket) should NOT be bought until just before boarding because they are only valid for a certain period of time.

The bus VRM tickets to Beilstein can be bought from the bus driver. The others are available at station ticket machines or using the DB, VRM (Handyticket) or RMV app.

To be honest I have not calculated the total cost of these May tickets for you. It might in fact be easier and/or cheaper to just get/use two D-Tickets for the month of May as well.

Thank you Russ. I really appreciate your help. I'll look into your info over the next week and hopefully it will all make sense! I may be contacting you again (here) - hope you don't mind!

Thanks,
Tracy