On June 18, my family of four (parents and two college-age kids) are planning to take the train from Amsterdam to Trier, stopping in Koeln for a few hours along the way. I had planned to get a (super) saver fare to Koeln and then use a Quer-durchs-Land-Ticket from Koeln to Trier. Now, it looks like the German government is going forward with the 9 Euro monthly regional pass and I'm worried about overcrowding/delays, etc. on the regional trains. The only way to avoid taking a regional train (at least from Koblenz to Trier) is to rent a car, which I can do because one Sixt location is open near the Trier Hbh on Saturday p.m. We are planning on renting a car when we leave Trier anyway as we're headed to the area around Wuerzburg next -- the train journey is long from Trier to Wuerzburg and we want a car to explore small towns anyway. We will be staying in Iphofen for 2 nights and Rotenburg odTfor 2 nights before heading to Nuernberg, where we'll turn in the car. We had been planning on day-tripping via train to Bamberg and heading to Regensburg from Nuernburg before ending up in Freising to spend the night before heading home from Munich Airport on June 30. My question is: what would you do? Gut it out on the regional trains? Suck up the costs and take ICE trains where possible? Rent the car for longer (I know gas is $9/gallon)? Any advice would be appreciated.
Posted by
Uppsala, Sweden
6985 posts
I would not be worried at all about overcrowding or delays on regional trains. Summer is low season on regional trains after all.
Posted by
Paradise
7072 posts
Amsterdam > Cologne > Trier
A'dam 8:24 > Cologne 12:12 €75.60 / 4 adults
Cologne 15:32 > Trier 18:30 on just two RE trains with one change in Koblenz = €63/4 adults.
This is a very good plan.
"We are planning on renting a car when we leave Trier anyway as we're headed to the area around Wuerzburg next -- the train journey is long from Trier to Wuerzburg and we want a car to explore small towns anyway."
Which small towns, where? Which routings? You're driving all the way from Trier to Iphofen in one day? That might be a full day of driving if you're just wandering. I would instead make tracks with the ICE between Koblenz and Würzburg (less than 3 hours) and if you want a car for THAT area, pick one up in Würzburg. Take it with you to Iphofen and Rothenburg if the regional trains have you upset. This part of Bavaria has a ton of small towns to visit. But because both these towns and Nuremberg are in the VGN zone, which is littered with railway lines that connect small towns AND offers a full day of travel for two at €22/day, I'd reconsider the car rental entirely. The trains may be busier than normal, but Iphofen itself is no mega-city, and getting around to Bad Windsheim or to Rothenburg or to Bamberg shouldn't be all that scary.
Posted by
Bavaria
2480 posts
I would expect the trains to be full on weekends because, contrary to the government's intention, many people will use the 9€ ticket not for commuting but for weekend trips. That means that especially trains leaving Kön in the evening hours will be full; less so before 17:00.
In addition, it might be worthwhile to board the train one stop before the main station, i.e. in Köln-Deutz, because many trains do not start in Cologne, but elsewhere and call in Deutz before arriving at the Hauptbahnhof. The travel time by S-Bahn from the main station to Deutz is just three minutes (and you could do that on the 9€ ticket, too). A good example would be RE 5 / 28523, dep. Köln-Deutz 16:26, dep. Köln Hbf. 16:32.
Check the route of your train by clicking on the train number. Even if the incoming train is full in Köln-Deutz, the majority of passengers will get off at the main station, and you can use this time to "conquer" a group of four seats for your family.
Posted by
OP
San Francisco
32 posts
@sla019 -- such great advice on catching the train at Cologne-Deutz! Thank you.
@Russ, I really appreciate the suggestions. The Trier-Wuerzburg train trip is close to 6 hours when you add in the regional train from Trier to Koblenz. We thought we could get to Wuerzburg faster by driving and have the option to detour and see a couple of things. Even with traffic, it seems like a 4 hour drive plus time spent for lunch. I'm I wrong in my calculation of the drive time?
Here's our itinerary: Leave Trier the morning of 6/21 for Iphofen, stop somewhere along the way for lunch and to explore. (Note: staying in Iphofen because we didn't find good options in Wurzburg for our dates, it's central enough for exploring, has decent restaurants/wine bars for the evening). On 6/22, drive or take train to Wuerzburg. Spend the day in Wuerzburg. Early evening dinner (DH's BDay) then return to Iphofen. 6/23 day trip via car to Sommerhausen, Ochsenfurt and Markbreit (saw that you did this once and liked these towns). I've really wanted to explore the area near the Main. End the day by driving to Rothenburg. Spend two nights in Rothenburg. On 6/24, bike/hike/beer garden in the Tauber Valley (something we wanted to do 4 years ago but didn't have the time. On 6/25, head to Nuernberg (prehaps via Bad Windsheim). Turn in the car. Two days exploring Nuernberg. One day trip to Bamberg or Regensburg by train. 6/29 -- Covid tests and head to Freising - meet a family friend for dinner and head home the next day.
Any suggestions are appreciated. Everything booked is cancelable at this point.
E.
Posted by
Paradise
7072 posts
Trier > Koblenz journeys do vary - some are closer to 4.5 or 5 hrs. But my thinking was that driving to W'burg from Trier on routes that include the Autobahn (which presumably is how one gets to W'burg in 4 hours) is not going to produce a bunch of interesting small towns that will appear fetchingly in front of you and cause you to pull off and explore. If you actually DO make scheduled stops on or near the 4-hr. route to "explore", places you've already identified as stopworthy, and you begin wandering more rural routes, then OK, that could be a reasonable strategy for sightseeing. But the "exploring" part will surely add time that results in a 6-hour trip and won't save you much time if any.
The other thing that hit me in the nose was the large number of nice small towns that you are actually bypassing and leaving unexplored as you travel between Cologne and Trier. A few of those...
Remagen (Rhine)
Winningen (Mosel)
Cochem (Mosel)
Bernkastel (Mosel, not too far from Trier)
When you leave Trier... the faster driving routes from Trier to W'burg typically bypass the Mosel and Rhine River Valleys (which you would otherwise use if going by train.) The Koblenz > Trier and Koblenz > Rüdesheim river segments are maybe Germany's most scenic river valleys and the most scenic train rides in the country. Eurail brochures say so too. So it's good that you are at least passing through the Mosel Valley by train on the way to Trier. Yet it sounds like with 3 nights in Trier, your plan is to spend 2 days sightseeing there, then leave the area.
Suggestions:
IF you rent the car for the purposes of saving time, rent it on the 20th so that you can see some small towns there that day; drive downstream along the Mosel at least to Bernkastel. Besides the towns and the scenery, there's some fun stuff there too...
IF you instead drop the Trier car idea, rebook the night of the 20th in a Rhine town... Spend the whole day of the 19th and the morning of the 20th in Trier. Then take the train along the Mosel and south along the Rhine to spend the afternoon and evening in some of the Rhine towns (Lv Trier 12:31, Ar. Bacharach 14:42.) Nearly the whole train trip is gorgeous. Drop bags at your one-night hotel. Shouldn't be too hard to book here on a Monday, I'd think. See the town. Take the train 5 minutes north to Oberwesel and walk the old town wall.
On the 21st you have breakfast, talk about the cool day you had yesterday, and make a fairly short train ride to W'burg by train (09:06 – 12:24.)
Posted by
OP
San Francisco
32 posts
@Russ. Thank you for the excellent suggestions. We spent 4.5 days in the Rhein and Mosel in 2018. We've been to Burg Eltz (loved the hike), Cochem, Traben-Trarbach, Boppard (we stayed there), St. Goar, and Bacharach. We haven't been to Bernkastel. Do you think we can see what there is to see in Trier in one day? (We'll need to do laundry that day too.) I can see renting a car to go down-river on the 20th. We've also talked about going back to Boppard for a night. We loved it. Yet, we've seen it. The one thing my husband wants to do is the hike up the hill to the Biergarten there.
If we end up driving to Iphofen, do you have any suggestions on a "slow drive" that avoids the Autobahn and allows us to see some sites?
Posted by
Paradise
7072 posts
We've also talked about going back to Boppard for a night. We loved it. Yet, we've seen it. The one thing my husband wants to do is the hike up the hill to the Biergarten there.
Gedeonseck? I did that once. Maybe on a cool day.
A return to the Rhine that took in the east bank towns (which it appears you skipped 4 years) would be a simple matter by train if you wish... Train to Koblenz, stow bags; 10-minute train ride to Braubach for Marksburg Castle (entirely different sort of place, truly medieval feel, DH will like the hike up.) Have a meal in the old town there? Or wait for dinner until you've fetched your bags and caught the train to Rüdesheim, a place that gets too many day trippers but is pleasant in the evenings. Rail service from there to Würzburg should be similar to that from Bacharach. Or you could pick up a car in nearby Wiesbaden on the 21st.
Driving detour... Main River route to Würzburg via Miltenberg? I've only been there by train myself. Rome again... but a lovely place.
Posted by
Bavaria
2480 posts
day trip via car to Sommerhausen, Ochsenfurt and Markbreit ... End the day by driving to Rothenburg.
I'd take not the direct route via the autobahn but the small detour via Creglingen, where you can see Tilman Riemenschneider's undoubted masterpiece, the Marian altar, in the Herrgottskirche. This makes for an interesting comparison with his much more frequently visited but artistically less elaborate altar in Rothenburg (St. Jakob).
Go from Marktbreit to Ochsenfurt and turn south on the B13 (towards Ansbach and Munich). On the top of the ascent of the road out of the Main valley, at a medieval tower, follow the sign to Aub (a small country town whose marketplace is worth a short photostop). From there you drive down into the Tauber valley in the direction of Weikersheim. In Bieberehren you turn south onto the Tauber valley road and after about 5km you reach Creglingen. The Hergottskirche is about 1km after the town in the direction of Rothenburg. After that you have another 20km drive through the lovely Tauber valley. This route is much nicer than the monotonous one over the Hohenlohe plateau.