In Berlin Sunday to Thursday. Have to make my way to Basel by Friday night. Where should I stop? Thought about Wurzburg or Bamburg. It’s a solo trip. Trying to be the carefree backpacker I never was in my 20’s. I’m 49. Any stellar breweries or wineries along the way? Any train rides that are beautiful? Best beer and river view? Best cathedral? I have too many choices and am going nuts deciding. Nobody to appease along the way.
Posted by
Washington DC
28100 posts
When you start evaluating suggestions, take a look at the rail schedule on the Deutsche Bahn website. It looks like the basic trip will take over 7 hours with no stopover; some of the routings require a change, and the the transfer times I saw were quite short. If you choose a stopover not on the direct route, you may end up with a segment on a slower train and/or a longer transfer time, which could significantly increase the time you'll need to spend on the train.
Posted by
Seattle, WA
17448 posts
Have not been to Wurzburg but we did enjoy Bamberg for a night, on a similar trip.
Posted by
Paradise
7072 posts
In Berlin Sunday to Thursday. Have to make my way to Basel by Friday
night.
Your previous "baggage" question indicated a 1-day journey. Now it sounds like you could leave Berlin on Thursday - and maybe break up the trip with a night in your stopover town. Is that right? If so, the extra train time for a detour to Würzburg or Bamberg (both nice places) is less critical. What time could you get out of Berlin?
If you aren't fluent with the DB site... some tips... To find your itinerary options, pricing, etc. start at this page:
https://reiseauskunft.bahn.de/bin/query.exe/en
Enter your Thursday date and desired travel time from Berlin. Click on "add intermediate stops" under "stopovers" and add your stopover destination (Bamberg for example) and your desired number of stopover hours.
I did a test using Jan 14, 11 am, with 25 hours in Bamberg. One of the itinerary results looks like this:
Jan 14: Lv Berlin at 11:03; Ar Bamberg 14:16 (direct train)
Jan 15: Lv Bamberg 15:26; Ar Basel 21:49 with one change of train in Frankfurt 18:32 - 18:50.)
Saver fare price for the entire journey: €84.90
To find all the details of your journey... stations where you change trains, platforms used, etc... When the itinerary options appear, you must click on "show details" in the bottom left corner of the itinerary box. What route will your train take? Click on the train number in the "products" column to find the towns you will pass through between Berlin and Bamberg (or W'burg) and between Bamberg (or W'burg) and Basel.
To find an itinerary that suits you can adjust the departure times, the length of your stopover, etc. (for each itinerary choice, look for "adjust the transfer time" link on the far right.)
Posted by
Berlin
3009 posts
Bamberg with UNESCO heritage old town is really worth a visit / stop-over.
When restaurants re-open I recommend to stay / eat at Brudermühle Hotel. They offer very local food / wine / beer - in summer on their beautiful view terrace.
Tip: From train station use bus 901 direction Klinikum to bus station Schranne. From there it is less than 100 metres to the hotel at the river.
Tip 2: If you use "city ticket" option of Deutsche Bahn you do not have to care for local bus ticket.