Rhineland-Palatinate Regional Ticket

You would ride the Regional trains, which means you can get a local ticket from the RMV ticket machines.
The Rheinland Pfalz ticket is going to cost 32€. Your ticket that covers travel from the airport to Mainz will cost 5.80 € each.

I would forget all of that and just get a ticket from the airport to Bacharach which costs 13.70 per person, if there are more of you, a group ticket costs 37.50€. There are trains going to Bacharach from the airport directly or you can take an S-bahn to Mainz and switch.

By spring, the 49 € ticket may be out and this would cover you all over Germany for a month.

If there are just 2 of you and you aren't going to ride trains any more that day, the single tickets for 13.70€ are your best bet.

I used www.rmv.de for this information.

Thank you Ms. Jo,

Good to know. I will be traveling by train along the Rhine and Mosel later that day so I think the regional day ticket is what I need. I just wasn't sure of the FRA to Mainz leg. You have cleared that up for me. Thanks.

Tom

The RMV is the transit authority that covers ticket sales for local/regional transport on your route between Frankfurt Airport and Mainz (or Bacharach.) The regional transit authorities in Germany operate much the same everywhere... in addition to bus, tram, subway tickets they also sell tickets for REGIONAL TRAINS (not the ICE, which DB sells) for journeys within their jurisdiction - and one ticket is valid for all these local forms of transport, in whatever combination is necessary for your journey. So if one's destination hotel lies far from the station, one RMV ticket with that hotel's address as your destination will typically cover both train and bus (if a bus route is available.)

Map of RMV train lines

RMV rules of travel... Any of the regional trains (RB, RE, S-Bahn) can be used with the RMV ticket. From FRA, RMV point-to-point train tickets to both Mainz and Bacharach are bought like bus tickets - on the spot, on the day of travel; tickets must be used on the specified travel route without detours or long stopovers and within a very short time frame after purchase. Deviations can result in an invalid ticket and fines. So it's in your interest to purchase your ticket just prior to boarding.

DB (Bahn.com) also sells regional train tickets - but only for journeys that involve travel through multiple transit authorities. If you were traveling not to Bacharach but 5 minutes further to Oberwesel, you'd be traveling outside the RMV's zone of authority, and a point-to-point DB ticket would be required instead. DB tickets are much more flexible. You can use the exact same trains, but you can buy the ticket on any day you like for the specific travel date you have in mind, you can use the ticket at any hour, and you can make whatever stopovers you like. These tickets can be purchased in advance, but there is no price advantage, and since seat reservations are not available anyway, there is usually no reason to pre-purchase these tickets, or ANY regional train tickets or day passes. They are always available on the spot.

"I think the regional day ticket is what I need."

The RMV regional group day ticket (€37.50) costs more than point-to-point but provides time flexibility. (Like the other DB and RMV regional train options, there's no advantage for purchasing the RMV group day ticket in advance, as a rule.) That said... The upcoming €49 ticket: It's not clear what your plans after Day 1 will be. But if you plan to travel by regional train on subsequent days as well, this ticket, valid Germany-wide, could be purchased on Day 1 and would include the journey to Bacharach (no RMV ticket required, no R-P ticket required.)

Thank You Russ,

Very helpful. Our plan is to arrive at FRA from Bergen, NO at 8:30am on our way to Bacharach. I figure we should be ready to get on the train about 9am (maybe a little after). After dropping off our luggage at our Bacharach hotel , we plan to take a cruise north on the Rhine to St Goar. We may then choose to continue north to Koblenz on the train, returning to Bacharach later in the day.

So, I think our plans take us beyond the RMV area. If that is the case, then, upon arrival, buying two single ride RMV tickets from FRA to Mainz and a Rhineland-Palatinate Regional Ticket for two adults from DBahn should be most effective and convenient. Is this correct?

Thanks.

Tom

you may have missed the comment in Ms. Jo's post about the 49€ ticket shortly to be released. 49€ per calendar month for all the regional and local transportation you can eat. Not per trip, not per day = for the whole month. Not just one region - for the whole country.

That should do the trick.

Thanks Nigel,

I did miss that. I'll wait to see if it becomes a reality. If it does, I'll buy it as soon as I get to Frankfurt.

My thanks to all.

Tom

Getting the R-P ticket for Mainz > Bacharach and later St. Goar > Koblenz > Bacharach by train is indeed your best/simplest ticketing strategy.

However, your cruise strategy from Bacharach > St. Goar is objectionable. If you're going to to the trouble to visit the Rhine and wish to do any cruise at all, you should do more than just that tiny 40-minute segment. From Bacharach, take the train with your R-P ticket to Bingen, and do your northbound cruise from there so you can enjoy the bulk of the truly scenic part. South of Bingen, it's mostly flat - and there's almost no cruise boat service compared with the number of boats leaving from Bingen (or Rüdesheim on the opposite bank.) 5 boats per day are scheduled from Bingen because that's where the great scenery begins and the demand for cruises begins as well. This adds 50 minutes to the cruise - and costs you only about €5 more each.

This map shows how much of the gorge you will miss with your current truncated cruise choice.

Of course €49/mo for a countrywide pass will beat all other tickets hands down, once / if it becomes available.

You may need to adjust that time table. If your flight arrives at 08:30, you will not be at the Regional station by 09:00. It usually takes at least an hour to emerge into the public areas after arrival. The station is then about a 10 min. walk unless you arrive in terminal 2, then it will take a bit longer. If you have to wait on your checked bags, add a bit more time. 10:00 would be my best guess.

There is also the Quer-Durch-Deutschland ticket which lets you travel all over Germany for one day. For 2 people that costs 51€. A tad bit more than the Rheinland-Pfalz pass and the 2 one way tickets to Mainz.

Russ,

Russ,

Many thanks for your suggestion to start at Bingen. I was just following Rick's guide book that suggests that the best part is Bacharach to St Goar. We will have time that day to start at Bingen and take it to St Goar.

Ms. Jo,

Thanks for the heads up with regard to the time needed to exit the airport. I’ve never been to FRA. Since we are arriving from Norway, and will not have checked luggage to worry about, I just assumed that we could walk out to public transport and be on our way (assuming the plane is on time).

Thanks to you both for your suggestions.

Tom.

I missed the part about arriving from Bergen. Yes, you can just walk out, but it still takes time. If you arrive at Z-69 for example, it will take a while. Which airline are you using? Anyway, you do not need to worry about your tickets, just get them when you arrive. They do not change in price buying last minute compared to 2 months ahead.

Rick really should change that part of his book that says to cruise from Bacharach to St. Goar. This is a 5 min. train ride! You miss 3/4ths of the castles doing this.

"I was just following Rick's guide book that suggests that the best part is Bacharach to St Goar."

Yes, that's what he says, but I think this advice is problematic. Rick has basically equated the Rhine Valley with Bacharach over the years, putting it front and center as THE place to book your stay...

"Day 2: Rhine Valley (sleep in Bacharach)" are the words you probably read... and probably here...

https://www.ricksteves.com/europe/germany/itinerary

Itinerary maps for Rick's bus tours have made the same choice over the years as well... Here's his map for the 21-day best of Europe from 2017. With Bacharach as a "must-stay", I imagine it's a real time-saver when tour participants just walk to the KD dock for a brief 45-minute cruise before their bus whisks them off to Rothenburg. But not everyone is a tour-bus client, and one size does not fit all; independents on their own schedules making their own hotel bookings shouldn't be subject to the same constraints. Perhaps Rick really thinks that cruising Bingen > Bacharach isn't that worthwhile, and Bacharach > St. Goar is enough. Or perhaps in his eyes it would be both inconsistent and bad for the tour business if the bus-tour component didn't match up to the advice offered in guidebooks.

Either way, I think a couple (like you two) planning their own Rhine stay should be advised that there are very good cruise / lodging / base town options beyond those determined by Rick's tour-bus parameters. The more desirable 1.5-hr. Bingen > St. Goar cruise makes staying in Bacharach less convenient, whereas a St. Goar base means just one train ride (to Bingen) and a short walk from dock in St. Goar to your hotel at the end of a cruise. Whether it's a cruise, and/or a visit to Rheinfels Castle in St. Goar, and/or a visit to the other side of the Rhine (Rüdesheim or Marksburg?) which requires a ferry crossing, booking in St. Goar can make a ton of sense.