Rent a car or train

Where are you getting prices? From Deutsche Bahn? Did you look at Sparpreis advance tickets? Did you look at a German Rail Pass? Did you look at Laender Tickets or QdL tickets for shorter stretches?

Yes, car will sit in big cities and collect parking fees.

Is your itinerary listed in the order you intend? Seems you there are several major double-backs across Germany and not in a geographical manner.

In 2012 we took a month long family trip (4 adults) from Bavaria, Lake Como, Italy to Aachen and had a rental car the entire time. Yes, it can be difficult in the larger cities. I would suggest getting hotels in smaller towns on the S-Bahn lines. Leave the car there while you go in to the city. I love the flexibility a rental car gives you. We have discovered so many interesting things to see off the beaten path that we would have missed on a train. The cost we paid for the entire month was $550 for the car, then of course there is the cost of gas. I guess what I'm saying is there is a trade off. So you just need to decide what you think is best for your group.
I know that the train can get costly with that many trips, but I'm not that well versed on all of the different tickets that can be obtained. When we do travel by train, I make sure to purchase tickets 90 days in advance so we get the best prices.
There are many contributors to this forum who are experts on train travel, so take their information and then make your decision.
Have a great trip!!

The place you should be looking for train costs is on the website of the company running the trains: https://www.bahn.com/en/view/index.shtml
The map you used ( https://d3dqioy2sca31t.cloudfront.net/Projects/cms/production/000/016/976/original/12902883777038036c5b2e5adb81fba7/cost-map-germany.png ) lists approximate fares you pay if you turn up at the station on the day of departure and buy a ticket. In many (most) cases you can save considerable money by buying advance tickets on the rail company website, or, for local trips, buying day passes (Länder tickets, valid for one "Land" (state) for one day).

• For example, the map shows Frankfurt am Main to Erfurt as US$60. If you look on the above-mentioned DB website shows €61 for a departure today, but if you buy today for 2-3 months time, the cost goes down to €29.90!

• The map shows Munich to Salzburg as US$40. If you buy a Bayern ticket, which you can get at the station on the day, this is valid for all local trains and buses in Bavaria for one day, including Salzburg and back, this will cost €25 for one person, and €32 for two. A bargain. See here for info: https://www.bahn.com/en/view/offers/regional/regional-day-tickets.shtml

These are some examples. If you are a train newbe, I suggest you read this webpage: https://www.seat61.com/Germany-trains.htm

And you will get charged for parking in cities.

Gary,

Will you get killed parking the car in the large cities? Absolutely. In fact, many "city" hotels don't even have their own car park and you have to rely on municipal car parks. You may find that even in the smaller touristy areas (Rothenburg obT, other Romantic Road towns, Rhine & Mosel River valleys, etc.) hotels charge for parking.

But, having an automobile does add to the flexibility of your trip. I would take your initial approach and rent your car only as needed between major destinations. But, if you decide to get a car for the entire period, I would recommend leasing versus renting. The general rule of thumb I have seen (in travel forums) is any car hire over 30 days is a good candidate for a short term lease. Not only is the lease cheaper than a rental but it generally includes CDW insurance as well.

i would look at leasing. Renault and Peugot have programs.

As a for-instance, Rick's map shows it costs $50 US per person to travel from Erfurt to Leipzig, or $100 for 2. But you could also travel on a regional train (not a whole lot slower because it is not that big a distance) for 32 EUR for 2 with a Sachsen Ticket, at current exchange, about $36.
Ditto Berlin- Wittenberg Lutherstadt, (29 EUR for 2 with a Regio Ticket)
Ditto Wittenberg-Dresden, (32 EUR for 2 with a Sachsen-Anhalt Ticket)
Ditto Dresden-Leipzig, (32 EUR for 2 with a Sachsen-Anhalt Ticket)

Since you are apparently flying into and out of Frankfurt, your itinerary would logically go Frankfurt>Rhine Valley>Mosel Valley> Koeln> Berlin (the big jump)>Wittenberg>Dresden>Leipzig>Erfurt> Nuremberg>Fuessen (driving the Romantic Road)>Salzburg(driving along the Alp slope and drop car in Germany outside of Salzburg)>Munich>Black Forest>Baden-Baden>Frankfurt.

Another benefit of those Laender Tickets is you get to use all public transportation until the wee hours of the next morning.

Right now, you have a route with 18 different place names, which I assume were plucked largely from Rick's book or his tour stops. But IMHO this doesn't really look like a sound itinerary yet.

How many days will you spend in each of these places? If you're driving the list in this order, and if Berlin is important enough to be on your itinerary, your car SHOULD sit there for 4-5 days minimum. It's a huge city. The Black Forest is huger. What do you hope to see and do in the Black Forest, and how much time will you spend there? The Black Forest is an extremely vague term. It's a vast region. Exactly where and how you want to spend your time needs to be figured out before you can honestly pencil it in as a destination.

Speaking of the Black Forest... and your transportation budget... I am guessing that you are unaware that all Black Forest train lines are accessible for unlimited use to guests who stay in the "KONUS" towns (more than 100 of them in the Black Forest.)

On the surface, it appears you may have time to drive to and stop in all these particular places - but probably not enough to sufficiently explore them. It's not very clear to me why you've chosen what you've chosen and skipped over the many other options nearby. I suspect you need to make several changes for a better trip, but I'd have no idea what to suggest, not knowing the reasoning behind the current plan.

Also, the planned loop probably adds to your miles traveled. Are your flights set in stone already? If you intend to cover all that geography, it might be wise to start at the north end and fly out from the south, or vice-versa - rather than starting and ending near the middle (Frankfurt.)

The last third with the grandsons presumably puts them in the back seat. I would think they'd find the novelty of train travel more enjoyable. Bavaria (everything from the Romantic Road on) is very train-travel and family-friendly. A day pass (Bavaria Ticket) for the whole group would get you all around very cheaply. I suspect you may not have figured those day passes into your calculations. German Rail twin passes may be a savings factor as well. Neither the day passes nor the rail passes are considered on Rick's train cost map

The current outline was not put together with train travel in mind. That's another factor that skews your $ comparisons.

And when is your trip?

Thanks everyone for the great input. To clarify a few things, and my current thinking:
1) The itinerary is somewhat set, in large part because we have grandkids joining us the last two weeks. My idea was to do a big northern loop, then rent a car to do the obvious driving parts (rivers, Black Forest), then ditch the car when the kids arrive and do a southern loop. Some backtracking is necessary to accommodate the kids.
2) I was using DBahn and actual dates for advance tickets. My initial estimate came up with 190 Euro per person on the Frankfurt>Erfurt>Leipzig>Dresden>Berlin stretch. Checking some of the other sites mentioned (Sparpreis, Seat61) I can get a 20 Euro fare for most routes, which would cut that in half. However, that rate is available only certain times, and it locks me into a schedule well in advance. Passes seem to be a good deal only if hitting several cities in a short period of time. I need to do more research here.
3) I have heard the suggestion about leasing cars if over 30 days. I may have actually been quoted a lease rate. The site I used (Economy Car Rentals) confirmed that I was renting over 30 days, and the rate for 46 days is a bit less than for 30. Renting 3- 4 times between major cities ends up being much more expensive than one 46 day rental - hence the attractiveness if it. (Remember, it's $1,100, including full insurance, taxes, etc. - save a $900 deductible that my credit card will cover.)
4) For the record, I'm not a train newby. In 2014 we trained all over Italy. But Italy's price structure and system seemed much more reasonable and straightforward than Germany's (which surprises me). In Italy we paid 5-10 Euros for most regional trips, and that was buying tickets 15 minutes before boarding the train. (The 2-3 high-speed tickets we bought were significantly cheaper in advance.)
5) In the end the deal killer may be the parking. As I make lodging reservations, I'll get that information and make a decision.

Thanks again - Gary

Russ - I have 5 days in Berlin, 6 in Munich. Most places we are staying 2-3 days. The Black Forest is not a huge priority - we will likely just drive through part of it. You raise a good point that the itinerary was not made with an eye toward train travel, I was largely connecting the dots on a map. Which will indeed skew my view of the costs. The big priority is walking the King Ludwig Trail - and getting information on that will be the subject of another post. Trip is from end of April through mid-June, so I have some time. Flights are set in and out of Frankfurt.

Gary

You've omitted the part about train travel being absolutely 100% hands-free. You won't get lost, you won't get speeding tickets from hidden cameras, everybody gets to see the sights including the poor soul who would normally be stuck behind the wheel. Trains and everybody should experience European train travel to see how efficient and fun mass transit can be.

In Italy we paid 5-10 Euros for most regional trips,

You should tip your hat to the Italian taxpayers for that. The regionali are subsidized by regional governments. The German regional trains probably are too, and with the Laender Tickets, the deals are similar.

You should tip your hat to the Italian taxpayers for that. The
regionali are subsidized by regional governments. The German regional
trains probably are too, and with the Laender Tickets, the deals are
similar.

Low prices incentivize travelers to visit and put money into the economy. That's a smart return on taxpayer spending. Most tax spending never has any returns.

As for the OP, take the train. As was mentioned already, it's easier and allows everybody to enjoy the trip.

Without any adjustments to your itinerary, I penciled out fares for two adults doing the whole trip by train.

For the Black Forest, I assumed a couple of free day trips on the scenic Black Forest Railway, and/or perhaps on the Hell's Valley route.

I used the 4-day sale-priced (€288/2) German Rail twin pass (valid 1 month) currently available at DB for 4 of your longer routes...

1.) FRA-Erfurt 2.) Dresden-Berlin 3.) Wittenberg-Cologne 4.) Mosel Valley's Cochem-BadenBaden

10 of the 11 additional segments, which I "divined" based on your rough sequence, can be done on day passes of one sort of another ranging in price from €20 to €52, averaging €31/day. Total = €311

Together, that's €599.

Then you have a final long travel segment for Füssen - FRA, for which you need a saver fare ticket at some unknown price.

THE KIDS: If they're under 12, they travel free on that saver fare ticket to FRA. If they're under 15, they travel free on the day passes; on some day passes they can be older and still travel for free.

Assuming you intend to KEEP all your destinations, if I were you, I would look at reversing your route in Bavaria at a minimum, if possible... Black Forest-RR-Nuremberg takes you to the northeast, then you plunge south, then return north to Frankfurt. I'm guessing wildly that the kids must meet you in Nuremberg - otherwise the more logical route would be Black Forest - Füssen then the rest of Bavaria and north. That would eliminate the long final journey. Würzburg might be a FINAL stop since it's only 1.5 hours by train from FRA airport.

You will likely have some additional day trips here and there that neither you nor I have accounted for, of course.

Driving the entire Romantic Road, if that was your plan, is possible but probably not necessary. If you really WANT to do that, you might rent a car for a couple of days. But most of the towns can be visited by train.

Your impulse to "...rent a car to do the obvious driving parts (rivers, Black Forest)" assumes the absence of railway service in these places but in fact Germany's river valleys are full of trains. They line both sides of the Rhine River, connecting all the towns there. Most of the popular stops on the Mosel - Cochem, Traben-Trarbach, Trier, Winningen, for example - are connected by train as well, with the occasional bus connection or boat ride (as in the case of Beilstein and Bernkastel.)

Mosel Rail Map: https://www.bahn.de/moseltalbahn/view/freizeit/moselsteig-karte.shtml

The Black Forest train routes tend to follow the local rivers too. See BF rail lines on this map. The same is true for towns in the Main River Valley and the Neckar River Valley, which you haven't included, and others as well.

Germany mountain towns have train service too. Map of Garmisch region:
https://bahnland-bayern.de/assets/images/4/BEG_GR_Regio-Ticket_Werdenfels_2016-09-Ansicht-6e09290c.jpg

That part of the above train route through Austria (Außerfernbahn, very scenic) also provides access to Füssen (w/ bus connection to Reutte) and on the "Fürstenweg" trail to the Füssen area palaces from the Ulrichsbücke stop:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ausserfern_Railway#/media/File:Au%C3%9Ferfernbahn.png

Train between Munich and Füssen:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H7ckkP_nUR0

Russ,

Thanks for pulling those costs - I am reconsidering some of the car thing. You are almost correct - kids fly into Frankfurt and we plan to pick them up between Nurnberg and Munich. (Yes, it would have made more sense to fly the kids into Munich, but they have a direct into Frankfurt and I didn't want them to deal with a transfer. At the time the reservation was made, they were flying by themselves. So that's another travel piece that doesn't show on the itinerary.) The itinerary from there on is driven by things they were interested in. They are 16 and 14 so one pays adult fare most of the time. Another factor is walking the King Ludwig Trail, which we are doing without using a tour company. Setting that up took a bit of homework, but I ended up doing it at about a third of the cost (around a $2K savings). Unfortunately, it puts us in Fussen (or Garmisch) and the end of the trip.

Given that, here's my logic on how I got to renting a car for the whole trip. It is personal preference to drive the middle part of the trip. I know train service is good, but I wanted the flexibility to stop along the way without being tied to a schedule. I have about 18 days scheduled to explore the Rhine, Mosel, Baden-Baden, Black Forest, Romantic Road, and Nurnberg. So at that point I looked at training the end with the kids, but schedules seemed tricky and costs for 4 added up. The Bavaria pass changes that, although getting from Fussen to Frankfurt on the last day is a bit tight - and expensive. So I looked at renting a car from Berlin on, which came in around $1300 for a month, if I recall. At that point I looked at renting a car the entire time, and it came in much cheaper, around $900 for 46 days (but I upgraded to a bit larger car raising it to $1,100).

Everyone's comments are that train costs in Bavaria are much less than I originally found on DBahn. If I can work that out, I may well go back to my original plan.

Won't be working on this much in the next week - busy skiing Jackson Hole...

Thanks all

Gary

"...we plan to pick them up between Nurnberg and Munich... They are 16 and 14 so one pays adult fare most of the time."

• That's true only for the one saver fare ticket to FRA. For all the other planned journeys with your teens, you would pay an additional €6 per teen on top of the day pass for two adults (like the Bayern Ticket.) For the sequence Pick-up town - Nuremberg - Munich - Salzburg - Füssen area: Each of these is a Bayern ticket journey.
  

A couple of other day pass details you might be unaware of, as they aren't covered well by Rick Steves or the Man in Seat 61 or usual rail info sites...

• When you travel from Nuremberg to Munich on the Bayern Ticket, any S-Bahn, bus, tram or subway rides you need or want to take that same day are included at no additional charge. You could drop your bags at your hotel and head out to Nymphenburg Palace, or Dachau, or Andechs Monastery - and back - for free.

As for your itinerary with the teens... I would look at starting first with MUNICH, moving on to Salzburg and the other southern destinations... and leaving NUREMBERG for your final days. Then you have a much briefer journey (and a less costly train ride to FRA) on whatever day that is.

• If you are in Nuremberg and you wish to do a ROUND TRIP outing somewhere nearby, like historic Bamberg (a UNESCO World Heritage site) or like the Franconian Open-air museum in Bad Windsheim, or like the old walled wine town of Iphofen, or to Coburg, or Rothenburg ob der Tauber, then the VGN area day pass for two adults costs only €20 - and the teens are free. If you do this on a Saturday, then a second outing on Sunday costs nothing.

It's hard to make informed car vs. rail choices - or rail pass vs. day pass choices - without this information.

Be sure to include your fuel costs as well, if those matter. Your personal preferences for getting around matter as well of course. It's not all about costs. But it's costs that your question focuses on most.

Hi G- I noticed one assumption you made that might be a dealbreaker for renting a car more than 30 days-

One of your responses states that

3) I have heard the suggestion about leasing cars if over 30 days. I may have actually been quoted a lease rate. The site I used (Economy Car Rentals) confirmed that I was renting over 30 days, and the rate for 46 days is a bit less than for 30. Renting 3- 4 times between major cities ends up being much more expensive than one 46 day rental - hence the attractiveness if it. (Remember, it's $1,100, including full insurance, taxes, etc. - save a $900 deductible that my credit card will cover.)

I believe most CCs do not cover rental periods more than 30 days. And I have always been told that if you purchase ANY insurance from the rental agency the CC insurance will not cover ANY
of the costs associated with an accident. Fortunately the car rental companies in Germany (at least the ones I have dealt with) always included liability insurance in their rates but not collision insurance . The collision insurance is picked up by most (but not all) credit cards IF you use the CC to charge the entire car rental.

That being said, I usually rent a car for flexibility unless I plan to spend almost all of a trip in big cities. The costs of parking a car for a few days and still being charged rental fees for those days in Big cities (not to mention the occasional traffic jam or "Stau") goes against my upbringing. Also, FYI you shouldn't encounter any toll roads on your trip. You should buy a Vignette to use the Autobahn in Austria but you can get to and from Munich to Salzburg without this small (less than ten € ) expense by using a minor road through Freilassing.

Have a great trip!!!

The Peugot and Renault leases are for 21 to 90 days and include insurance. I haven’t used them. I just looked at them when I was considering a long trip.

Finally getting back to this. In the end, we are sticking with the car, but I thought I'd give some feedback on all the great suggestions and what I've found.

1) Leasing vs renting - Leasing for a comparable car looks to be around $1,700 at best - and as much as $2,800. That's far more than the $1,100 I currently have reserved. Leasing does appear to include full insurance, but given my exposure is about $900 (assuming the credit card doesn't cover the deductible), that's a gamble I'm willing to take.

2) I have reserved about half our rooms, and have found that parking is often included at gasthauses. Where there is a cost, it is not completely outrageous. For example, the hotel we reserved in downtown Munich charges 15 Euro/day. (Another would have charged only 10 Euro, but the hotel rate was higher.) While it adds up, it's manageable. A hotel in Starnburg is letting us leave the car there for 3 Euro/day while we do our walk. Haven't settled on a place in Berlin, but found a couple apartments near downtown that include parking (and the apartment is about 150 Euro/night). Places that do charge seem to be comparable to Munich. So parking costs are not a deal killer - I figure maybe 200 Euro for the whole trip.

3) It was mentioned that staying just out of town might be an idea to save on parking. In Salzburg that's exactly the way it turned out. In-town hotels were well over 200 Euro/night, but we found a gasthaus 1.5 miles out of town for 130 Euro/night, with free parking. That's at least 140 Euro saved right there.

4) Looking again at train costs, including those mentioned here, I'm estimating the initial cost will be about that same as for a car, given some of the potential savings of having a car (as in Salzburg). Of course, fuel costs will make the car more expensive in the end, but I'm OK with that.

5) I appreciate the comments on the other issues related to driving vs trains - not having to drive, not having to deal with parking, see the view, etc. , but my original question was about costs. Over the years I have traveled much more by train in Europe, but I have rented cars depending on the circumstances (in Tuscany, for example). For this trip the deciding factor for us is flexibility and the relatively good deal renting the car. A lesser factor is the D-Bahn train reservation system. It seems the best deals are available with advance purchases, and various regional deals, which require some figuring out. For this trip, for us, I don't think the savings is worth it. Side story - while on the ski lift at Deer Valley, I met a German lady who is currently living in the US. I asked her about the train system and she didn't hesitate - she she said it's gotten much more complex since much of it was privatized. She suggested I just rent a car - that's what she does.

Again, thanks everyone for the good input.

Gary

I've spent four weeks in a small pension in the Illar valley near Oberstdorf. One time I was discussing my travel plans, all by public transportation, with the owner, and he remarked that I knew more about travel with the trains in Germany than most Germans. I always compare the cost of my trips by car and by rail before I go, and I never rent a car. I always find that, using public transportation, I can travel in Germany for half to a third what it would cost me just for car rental, a compact with standard transmission, and gas, without any collision insurance. And I go to a lot of out-of-the-way places in Germany, by rail or by bus.

Most of my travel is to smaller towns not served by long distance trains (ICE/IC/EC), so I do a lot of travel on regional trains, using mostly day passes. I have made a few long distance trips where the long distance train were much faster (ex Cochem to Hanover & Göttingen to Karlsruhe) and always used advance purchase tickets for a big discount

I find that the costs of rail travel as represented on Rick's map are the highest possible fares - the most expensive trains with no discounts - but then he sells rail passes, which, in my opinion, are only cost effective if compared to his cost estimates.

Thanks for reporting your final decision here. A failure to report always makes me feel like Sheldon does when he can't get in that third knock.

For this trip the deciding factor for us is flexibility and the
relatively good deal renting the car. A lesser factor is the D-Bahn
train reservation system. It seems the best deals are available with
advance purchases, and various regional deals, which require some
figuring out.

I think it's the more daunting "figuring out" factor that often plays a big role in the train/car decision. It is indeed very complicated for a German train-travel newbie - even if you've done other parts of Europe by train before - to independently figure out the best train deals that exist for families. As you now know, it's even daunting for German ladies sometimes. That's true for 1-2 week trips, and even more true for longer trips like yours.

You mention $1100 car + $200 parking. "Of course, fuel costs will make the car more expensive in the end, but I'm OK with that." For me, Euros are Euros. But I think your cost analysis is close to the mark if you can justify leaving out fuel costs ??)

For a true comparison, I think a low-ball fuel estimate would be $400. Assuming no deductibles, tickets, etc. you'd need to compare the total ($1700 or €1500) to the train total.

My previous train calculation for two adults needs altered to include the teens... that would be (2 x €288 for two GRP twin passes) + (€311 day passes + perhaps 20% for supplemental teen charges, or €62.) That subtotal is €949. Then you still have ONE final saver trip - the only ticket requiring an inflexible travel schedule - to FRA at some unknown price. For your group, figure €90 - €200. (I have left out any free travel options such as the KONUS freebie.)

So... it's not, but if this were my family's trip, we'd be spending around €1150 max by train, we'd pre-purchase only ONE saver fare ticket, and every trip but the final one would be on a flexible schedule. (OK, there are a few tweaks that I'd likely use to alter my itinerary and shave off some more €s here and there, I admit.)

Side note... You're wise to stay outside the center to realize savings on accommodations when the alternatives are so high. This is a good strategy that we train travelers use as well sometimes. We did that last year in a small town further up the Salzach River from Salzburg; our free "guest card", which the town issues to hotel guests for short train trips, permitted free trips into Salzburg's main station. We found a knockout apartment in this town with a million dollar view at a price of €110/night with breakfast. That's pretty high for us actually, but not when compared to prices right in town.

For your trip, I didn't provide all the train deets up front, anticipating that you'd ask for them if you wanted them. (If you do still want them, you can pm me.)

Russ,

You're analysis is pretty much right on with mine, and I just figured out I'm likely gonna get dinged another 90 Euro parking in Berlin. (The $150/night apartment with the free parking is closer to $200 when VRBO tosses in their fees - don't get me going on those - so I'm opting for a really nice downtown hotel at 105 Euro/night plus 15 Euro/night parking. Like you say, Euros are Euros.)

One key part to my itinerary is that it is a given we are driving the middle part - the rivers, the Black Forest, Baden Baden, the Romantic Road. We want the flexibility not only to stop, but for where we will stay - we plan on winging that part of it. Renting a car for that stretch was just under $500. So to some degree, my calculation is the incremental cost of renting a car, which was $400 until I upgraded in size and it turned into $600.

Another minor consideration was the schedule of that last trip from Fussen to Frankfurt. The cheapest fare had two transfers, with around 5 minutes to change trains at each. And a missed train could easily lead to a missed flight home. Normally, I wouldn't get too nervous about that, but 1) we have the kids with us and 2) we have a 3-day layover in Reykjavik so missing that flight would lead to a huge cascade of problems.

Thanks for your input, it really has been valuable. No matter how this all turns out, it will be a great trip.

Gary

"Another minor consideration was the schedule of that last trip from Fussen to Frankfurt. The cheapest fare had two transfers, with around 5 minutes to change trains at each. And a missed train could easily lead to a missed flight home."

I would urge you to neither train long distances nor drive to FRA on the same day you fly out. There are simply too many variables that might play into a missed flight. Overnight somewhere nearby (Mainz, Frankfurt proper, for example.)

For your future reference only... the 5-minute layover options are ridiculous. I do NOT book such tickets myself. 25% of long-distance German trains are 5+ minutes late! You cannot count on such an itinerary to get you somewhere when you absolutely, positively must be on time. What DB newbies seldom know is that you can ADJUST those layovers at the DB site and find schedules that work for you - and that are possibly just as cheap or cheaper. I routinely up the layover time to 20-30 minutes when I pre-book so as to travel as scheduled. (DB allows you to use later trains if the delay is DB's fault, but I don't like having to scramble to find a new schedule while I'm en route.) DB also allows you to lengthen the layover to 9-10 hours or longer - handy if you wish to overnight somewhere, then travel the next day on the same ticket (which works as long as you arrive by 10 am for domestic destinations.)

Russ,

Thanks for the tip on adjusting the transfers on D-Bahn - I didn't realize you could do that. That is good to know for the future.

My flight out is at 18:00 so I'm pretty comfortable driving from Fussen to Frankfurt on the last day. It's only 400 km, about a 4-5 hour drive. The train schedules I first looked at a while back left at 10:00, getting in at 15:00, but with those 5 minute transfers. Just checked again out of curiosity and there was a schedule that left at 10:00 and arrived at 16:30, a bit tight on the arrival for my tastes. The cost is a great deal at 15 Euro per person. There are others that maybe could have worked, but at a higher cost.