We will be traveling for 18 days in Bavaria and Austria in mid to late June. We are starting out in Munich and then heading to Rothenburg, then on to Nurnberg and then to Innsbruck and then back to Munich to fly home. We also plan day trips to Neushwanstein Castle, Tegernsee, Garmisch-Partenkirche and Wurzberg. Given the above, is a Germany Rail pass a better and more cost effective option than point to point tickets? Thanks in advance for any assistance.
Because your trips are limited in terms of time and distance, you should not require high-speed, long-distance (ICE, EC, IC) trains; you can use the regional trains exclusively. And the Deutschland-Ticket is in essence a month-long rail pass for €49 each. Read about it here:
https://int.bahn.de/en/offers/regional/deutschland-ticket
Pre-purchase this product by subscription at DB or one of the transit authority sources, which are supposedly much easier to use. There's a long thread about this deal somewhere on the forum... do a search... It's valid for more than trains btw... buses, trams, subways... a complete package. (Private mountain lifts and tourist trains are excluded.)
You will need either a day pass or p2p ticket for Innsburuck. But that journey from Garmisch-Partenkirchen is easy by regional train too, and there's a day pass for that as well - the Regioticket Werdenfels - which might be useful.
https://www.oebb.at/en/regionale-angebote/tirol/regio-ticket-werdenfels
This ticket is available at ticket machines on the day of travel.
The overpriced German Rail pass that Eurail offers is valid only on trains and would be very wrong for your circumstances.
People are reporting success getting the Deutschland Ticket from the Munich Transit Authority.
https://www.mvv-muenchen.de/en/tickets-and-fares/frequent-travellers/deutschland-ticket-d-ticket/index.html
You don't really give us much to go on, like how many days, how many people (We=2?), what class, etc. However, I see four change of venues (Munich -> Rothenburg -> Nürnberg -> Kufstein -> Munich) and four day trips, eight trips total. Even assuming you don't take advantage of the D-Ticket, you can still use a regional pass (Bayern-Ticket) instead of point-point tickets. Neither the rail pass nor a Bayern-Ticket will cover Kufstein to Innsbruck and return, but that connection will cost the same, with a pass or with a Bayern-Ticket.
So it looks like eight days of travel; assume 2 people in 2nd class. I don't see an eight day rail pass, so compare 7 days, 2 people, 2nd class. A 2 person, 2nd class Bayern-Ticket is 39€/day, 273€ for 7 days, $294 at today's exchange rate. A 2 person, 7 day, 2nd class rail pass is $678.
Game, set, and match for regional passes.
The D ticket is very easy to get and use. The MVV app is the way to go for ease of purchase.. It is good on all regional public transport in Germany which means trains, buses, trams. High speed, long distance trains are not covered. It will also cover to Salzburg.
The D ticket is offered as a monthly subscription by calendar month at 49 euros .If your trip is in late June, buy it the first of June. If you only want the ticket for June, cancel your subscription about 5 minutes after receiving your confirmation email using the link in the confirmation email. You will have a QR code on the app good for June. If you want it for both June and July, save that email carefully and use link to cancel July 1st (must be done by July 10).
I loved the price and convenience of the D ticket. The MVV app is also quite convenient for navigating around Munich.
It will also cover to Innsbruck. The information in the first post was incorrect. I confirmed the validity to Innsbruck at the train station in Munich.
Sorry, that' s unfortunately wrong. The DT is valid up to the first common border station with the neighboring railroad company, in the case of Austria up to Salzburg or Kufstein (there is no common border station on the Mittenwald-Innsbruck route). I think you are confusing this with the "Werdenfels plus Innsbruck" day ticket.
@ sla. Thanks for correction. I had mixed up Innsbruck and Salzburg in my mind. Edited my post to reflect. Thanks again.