Germany Rail System Question

Which specific pass did you buy? There are different sellers of passes out there.

7 day rail pass "German Rail Pass"for three adults came to $1200 + . I'm not sure if it would be cheaper point to point but thought it easier just to get it ahead of time for the first week of December.

This might help https://www.germanrailpasses.com/en/plan-your-trip/seat-reservations/when-make-reservations

You don't need to make reservations. And without them you don't have to hunt down the "right seat" in the "right car."

A 7-day rail pass might be worthwhile if you are making at least 3-4 long-distance journeys. Generally speaking, it's very expensive "overkill" if you are making only short trips.

You are there for only a week? And you have a 7-day rail pass... is that a "consecutive" or a "flexi" 7-day pass? A consecutive pass would allow travel on 7 consecutive days - meaning that you plan to travel somewhere by train almost every day. A flexi would give you 7 days within a 30-day period; so if you were staying for 2 weeks, for example, then you could travel by train on 7 of those 14 days.

I just read this on your other thread:

"We will be visiting the Christmas Markets with our home base in nuremberg."

Nuremberg is an excellent travel base. You mention taking day trips to Rothenburg, Bamberg, and Coburg. Let's say you did NOT have a rail pass. Your cost for three persons on day trips would be as follows.

N'berg > Rothenburg > N'berg = €40.60 using two local day passes, each for 1-2 adults (VGN Tagesticket Plus)
N'berg > Bamberg > N'berg = €40.60 (same VGN day passes)
N'berg > Coburg > N'berg = €39.00 using ONE local day pass for 2 adults (Bayern Ticket)

(You also mentioned Stuttgart, but that is not a reasonable day trip - takes 6.5 - 7 hours round trip!)

So your train cost for outings with these day passes, bought at Nuremberg station, would be roughly €120. The VGN ticket allows travel on weekdays before 9 am, unlike the Bayern Ticket.

Of course you also have trips from and to the airport... the Bayern ticket might be used for these two journeys (2 x €39 = €78.) So your total for two adults with day trips would come to... about €200 or US $218.

So if you have the same travel plans as stated, there is no question that you have paid an outrageously high premium for your rail passes. Refunds for a 15% penalty are usually possible -check with your vendor - so you'd get hit for $180 on $1200 worth of rail passes. But even so, that would bring your total cost to about $400 instead of $1200!!

Feel free to share more details about your stay and your train journeys, and to ask further questions, if you like.

"You also mentioned Stuttgart, but that is not a reasonable day trip - takes 6.5 - 7 hours round trip!"
This is not correct. During the time of Stuttgart Christmas Market (Stuttgarter Weihnachtsmarkt) 11/27 - 12/23/2019 there is an IC - train every two hours from Nuremberg (Nürnberg) to Stuttgart and vice versa. It takes 2 hours and 13 minutes.
https://www.stuttgarter-weihnachtsmarkt.de/en/home/

Only a quarter of an hour away from Stuttgart by S-Bahn: https://www.esslingen-marketing.de/en

Well that's pretty fast to Stuttgart.

The day trips to Bamberg and Rothenburg will put you on the trains for 1.5 - 3 hours max per day. If that travel time to Stuttgart is correct, and if you don't mind 4.5 hours in transit to Stuttgart and back, and Stuttgart is a must, then you could look into p2p long-distance train tickets - one there and one back - at DB, for whatever travel date you have in mind. That will save you some cash over the standard price you'd pay at the counter (which would probably be around €100 per person round trip.)

The direct Regional Express train only takes a bit longer than the IC train from Nuermberg to Stuttgart (2 1/2 hr vs 2 1/4 hr). Leave at 10:36 am (week days, anytime weekends) and all 3 can go there and back for 60 EUR with a Quer durchs Land Ticket. Last direct RE back is at 6:54 pm, but there are later regional trains with connections taking longer.

I was afraid of paying too much but the rail system is confusing and with traveling with a 75 year old I was trying to make it as stress free as possible. We are in Germany for 7 days. The itinerary for the 3 of us is Munich 2 days then to Nuremberg for 5 days. From Nuremberg each day we will travel to and from Coburg, Bamberg, Rothenburg or Wurtzburg, and lastly Stuttgardt. It was very confusing to purchase different tickets on different trains and make sure I got the right ones. I'll try not to think about the cost of the rail pass I paid for. Thanks for all the advice!

@kcollinsnc. Have a great trip! We will be doing those cities in reverse order: Stuttgart with day trip to Esslingen; Nuremberg with day trips to Rothenberg odT, Bamberg, Regenberg; and 3 nights in Munich. And I am somebody's 75-year-old mother.

Laura B. Yay! We are super excited. I really hope my mom enjoys it. It's a present for her 75th birthday.

What a great gift! And what a great daughter!

The rail systems in Germany are in fact very complex - and inherently confusing, sometimes not just for tourists but for locals as well. Comments to the contrary should be looked at with extreme skepticism.

That said, kcollinsnc's trips are finite and well defined. The train journeys in question do not require a full understanding of all the complexities. Day trips from Nuremberg are relatively easy to ticket and to carry out, and rail passes, no matter their cost, are not especially helpful.

Does that mean rail passes are always a rip-off and should never be bought? Of course not.

I have made three fairly extensive trips around Germany in the last few years, and I did some very extensive research each time to calculate whether I was better off with or without a rail pass. I purchased rail passes directly online from DB for two of those trips. The rule of thumb for rail passes to make them pay off is that 1) you need to be taking long train trips (3 hours or more) and 2) you would prefer not to commit yourself weeks ahead to buying a train-specific non-transferable point-to-point saver fare. You just have to do the calculations.

The long distance trains (IC, ICE, EC) prices go up as they get more full. The regional train prices stay pretty much the same no matter when you buy them. (Note the qualitative differences between the long distance trains, with the ICE (inter-city express) being the nicest and fastest and the EC crossing into other countries but still valid with your pass.)

With a pass, even though you won't need to make a stop at the ticket counter or at a machine, you still need to check--preferably online--to see when a suitable train is leaving.

With reservations, the rules of thumb are: 1) they are most essential in populous northern Germany on the long distance trains (no reservations on regional trains); and 2) long trips where you care where you sit. For example, you want to be together, of course, and you can choose window or aisle seats, and most desirable when available, a table. If you have a reservation, it doesn't mean you have to sit there if the train isn't full. However, if it gets full, you can then bail and go find your reserved seats. And reservations aren't very expensive, but you will have to either go to the Reisebüro to get them or buy them online, and then of course they will be for a specific train at a specific time.

You find your reserved seat by noting which car (Wagen) you are in and looking on the large diagrams at the track to see where that car is located. It is confusing at first but everyone is in the same boat with figuring out exactly where a particular car will land.

The more prepared you are, the easier it will be for your mom. :) Have a great trip!

If you have a reservation, it doesn't mean you have to sit there if the train isn't full. However, if it gets full, you can then bail and go find your reserved seats.

That is the only aspect in your post that I think needs to be corrected: In Germany, seat reservations become invalid 15 minutes after the train departure. You should not assume your reserved seats are still available at some later time. (I still sometimes give up my reserved seat, e.g. if the train is almost empty).

Chris, thank you, that is good to know! I have not been and would not like to be in the position of having to press that issue either way.

One more note, and that is the requirement to have the rail pass stamped at customer service before boarding for the first trip. One time I had a customer service representative at the Düsseldorf airport insist that I didn't need that and he wouldn't do it for me, and when I got on the train, the conductor of course had a very strong difference of opinion. He demanded to know where and by whom I was told that, but in the end they finally accepted it.

Kate,

I too have experienced the stress of trying to get on the train as quickly as possible and then struggling to find my reserved coach/seat. I have found the DB Navigator app to be extraordinarily helpful for decreasing my pre-train-boarding angst. On ICE trains, you can look at a schematic of the train that tells you where each numbered coach/car will stop on the platform relative to the lettered signs (ABCDEF) on the platform.

How to do this (at least on an iPhone; I would expect something similar on other phones):
1. Go to "Trip Planner" in the menu
2. Search your route (e,g, Berlin Hbf --> München Hbf) and time
3. In the results, select the itinerary/train you will be taking
4. On the resulting "Itinerary" screen, you can find much information. To get to the schematic of the train, tap the icon that has a train with ABC above it (it is right below the platform number for the train)
5. The resulting screen shows where the 1st and 2nd class coaches will be on the platform (relative to the ABCDEF signs)
6. Tap on any coach/car on the train, and it will show you the coach number. You can swipe left and right to find your coach (if you have a reservation), along with the lettered sign (ABCDEF) where that coach should be on the platform.

This worked beautifully for me on my last trip to Germany. I got to the station early, checked the train schematic, went to the letter on the platform where it said my coach would be, and hopped on the train stress-free.

For people who are less enthusiastic about smartphones there is also a simple pre-digital version:
On the platform there are printed diagrams of the long-distance trains with car numbers and assigned sections of the platform ("Wagenstandsanzeiger"). But it is always a good idea to double check with the overhead displays on the platform, because sometimes the cars are in the wrong order, which usually triggers a mass migration of biblical dimensions.

Enjoy your trip and peace of mind in having your tickets settled.

@sla019... I'm going to have to look for the pre-digital option!

I love all the advice thank you so much. I really appreciate the advice and comments.