Germany Trains - DB vs German Rails

DB (Deutsche Bahn) is the German national railway (railroad) company. German Rails is a reseller. They will put their extra cut on top of the price of a train ticket. I would prefer to use Deutsche Bahn myself (www.bahn.com) for the cheaper price unless you have a credit card problem with that site, and only then would I use German Rails.

Make sure you use the right spelling - either Nuremberg or Nürnberg (German name of this city).

Lavandula

Rothenberg to Neumberg

Assuming you mean Nuremberg, this is a local network ticket on the VGN (Greater Nuremberg Transportation Authority). No reservations available because it is like reserving a ticket on the BART. There are ticket deals for multiple passengers, day tickets. You can buy tickets with the VGN app or out of a ticket machines

Munich to Rothenburg

You can use ta Bayern Ticket, also from an app or ticket machine, that is only a bit longer than using one of the DB mainline trains. There are time restrictions, like only after 9 am weekdays. Also deals for multiple passengers.

DB and german rails

DB = Deutsche (German) Bahn (Railway System)

"German Rail", when followed by "Pass", refers to the multi-day pass which Eurail sells for travel in Germany.

If these are the only train trips you have in mind, a German Rail Pass is not a good idea.

1.) Munich... does that mean the Munich airport? Munich's main station?

There are two basic train types in Germany - REGIONAL trains and LONG-DISTANCE (ICE, IC, EC) trains. Reservations are only possible for long-distance trains. For trip #1, you can either travel by regional train only or use a combination of regional and long-distance trains.

Regional train only: The Bayern Ticket day pass will work and be cheap:

https://int.bahn.de/en/offers/regional/regional-day-ticket-bavaria

To find travel schedules for this trip using only regional trains, be sure to change "All" to "only local transport" under the "mode of transport" heading; this move excludes all the long-distance train options. It's normally a sequence of three trains from Munich's main station, but you will also find SOME journeys that use only two trains - the less often you change trains, the better, right? Any trip that is "regional-only" is time-flexible. The Bayern Ticket, though it can be used only from 9 am if it's a weekday, allows you to travel to Rothenburg at any hour using any regional trains you like that same day. The Bayern Ticket should NOT be bought in advance, as it is always available and always the same price - and because it is non-refundable if your plans change.

Choosing "All" will provide journeys that include long-distance trains but also include 2-3 regional trains to complete the journey. There is no way to get to Rothenburg without these additional regional trains. Again, the only trains you can reserve seats on are the long-distance trains. You CAN pre-purchase discounted saver fares for any journey which includes a long-distance train; the catch with the discount ticket is that you must ride the long-distance train exactly as scheduled.

2.) The standard route uses regional trains only - and here's a link to the VGN Tagesticket Plus day pass. Buy on the day of travel. The price is €26.50 for your journey. You can use the subways, buses, etc. in Nuremberg on that same day if you wish with this pass:

https://www.vgn.de/en/tickets/all-day-ticket-plus/#

3.) Pre-purchase a non-refundable saver fare for the long-distance trains. Reserve a seat for an extra fee if you want reservations.

I need to make train reservations too for cities I will be visiting this is good advice. Appreciate the post.

Only thing I worry about is what if there is a train strike how does one get from point A to B? Like if you flew into Berlin and you take a DB fast train to Hamburg and spend a few days in Hamburg, but then the day you want to take a train back to Berlin because your flight leaves Berlin the next day the train goes on strike. How do you get back? Only thing that worries me is what if there is a major strike what does one do? Are you trapped?

@ MuellerFamily. Please start a new topic rather than tagging on to this thread.