Germany Itinerary

How many nights will you spend in Germany, are you flying in from the US or Canada, and are you also flying out of Munich?

We are flying in from Mumbai, India. We will be spending around 13 to 14 nights in Germany.

You could try the path along this route perhaps.

1) Munich - 3N (to explore Bavaria)
2) Gengenbach - 2N (to explore BF)
3) Bacharach - 2N (to explore Rhine)
4) Wurzburg - 3N (to explore Rothenburg od Tauber & Bamberg)
5) Dresden - 1N
6) Berlin - 3N

Thank you.
Is Eurail pass valid/applicable in all the trains running within Germany? Will it cover the regional connections too.

I seriously doubt that a Eurailpass will pay off in Germany. Check prices for each of your travel legs on the Deutsche Bahn website. If you will be able to pin down the dates and times of your long trips so that you can buy the tickets about 4 months in advance, you will probably be able to save a great deal of money. The cheapest tickets are non-refundable and non-changeable, so you must be sure of your travel dates before committing. In addition, there are good deals on regional trips, etc., that are especially attractive for small groups traveling together.

As an example of what early ticket-purchasing can do for you, the full fare between Bacharach and Berlin is 135 euros per adult. Looking at some April dates I found scattered tickets available for as little as 29 or 39 euros per person.

gaganparanjpe:

I don't necessarily agree with your destinations. But for the 4 major travel legs you have in mind, I think your order of travel is OK. Understand that there's no way to avoid extra connections for travel to/from Rothenburg, which lies at the end of a trunk line.

You should consider German Rail Passes; the 4-day flexi pass costs €209 for each adult and your child travels free.

https://www.bahn.com/en/view/offers/passes/german-rail-pass.shtml

For your "exploring" you can buy local day passes to do day trips. The cost for your family would be around €30 depending on the area you are in.

You can probably travel a little more cheaply by pre-purchasing "saver fare" tickets for the 4 major legs. But as a previous poster indicated, they are for specific trains at specific times. They actually CAN be refunded for a fee, but then you are stuck without a ticket and have to buy a new one, probably at a much higher price. A rail pass is less restrictive and very flexible. You can buy rail passes in Germany when you arrive, or in advance online.

Thank you for your replies. They are indeed helpful.
We are travelers and travel one country at a time. In past few years in other European countries we always bought the eurail passess and that was really convenient.
However, We have never done so many connections before and thats why I am wondering if eurail passess will cover the local/regional connections as well. For eg: If travelling from Munich to Gengenbach, will the pass also cover the last leg of train journey from Offenburg to Gengenbach.

"I am wondering if eurail passess will cover the local/regional connections as well."

Yes, they will. But so will the GERMAN Rail passes. Maybe that's what you refer to when you say EURAIL pass. Normally you will find the best prices for these at the DB / German Railways site.

A rail pass is very convenient. But it also locks you into paying for a certain number of days, days you may or may not wish to travel on once you're there - and none of those days is refundable for non-use. So I've suggested the rail pass only for those very certain long travel legs (4?) that you must make.

For the "exploring" days it's possible that you won't travel far enough to justify the purchase of a rail pass day. Maybe just a regular local ticket is all you need. More likely, a local day pass will suit your needs well. And on one or two days, you will travel for free anyway...

3)Gengenbach (to explore BF)

Gengenbach is a wise choice for the train traveler, both logistically speaking and monetarily. From the time you check in with your G'bach innkeeper until 23:59 on the day you check out, you will not need to use a rail pass or train tickets for any trips you take because your train transportation around the BF will be covered by the KONUS card. You can read about KONUS by clicking on the KONUS FLYER link at this webpage.

1) Munich (to explore Bavaria)
4) Bacharach (to explore Rhine)

Regional day passes are available for these travel bases from ticket machines in Germany - no need to pre-purchase. You can hop on any of the regional trains at will for day trips to places like Garmisch-Partenkirchen or Salzburg from Munich, or from Bacharach to places like Burg Eltz, Mainz, Marksburg Castle in Braubach, and others. Read about the "Regional day tickets" for Bavaria and Rhineland-Palatinate here. Using a day pass in lieu of a rail pass day for day trips like these is essentially the same experience - you use the same regional/local trains either way, and hop on/off at will. (The only day pass restriction is on weekdays, when you are asked to board trains only after 9 am.)

Our 7 year old daughter loved the boat cruise from Bacharach to St. Goar. She also really loved roaming the ruins of Rhinefels castle above St. Goar. Bring a flashlight so you can go underground. I could not get our daughter to do it. But I am sure your boy might like it.

Thank you so much for all the inputs. This surely will help me plan my train connections efficiently and economically.