Greetings....My two sisters and I are traveling to Munich on May 2 and will be basing there until we fly back to the states on May 20. Although we are planning on spending most of our time in and around the state of Bayern, we have considered visiting other states around Bavaria. While trying to decide what would be the best course of action pertaining to public transportation within the city of Munich and then traveling via train outside of Munich, I am becoming overwhelmed and need your help. I don't know whether we need to purchase a BahnCard, a EurailPass, or a BayernCard. I know that we will need tickets (or a card) for pt within Munich, but it looks as if you can combine public transportation tickets with train tickets that serve outside of Munich. My head is spinning. (After two trips to Paris, we finally figured out to purchase a Navigo pass, which we were able to use in Paris proper as well as places outside of Paris) This trip to Germany will be our first extended stay and would like to know ahead of time if there is something comparable to the Navigo pass used in Paris. Thank you for your time...if you have already 'invented this wheel', I would appreciate you explaining how it rolls.
Posted by
Paradise
7072 posts
"...we have considered visiting other states around Bavaria."
The Bayern ticket covers the whole state of Bavaria plus Salzburg and a couple of other Austrian towns. If you want to travel OUTSIDE Bavaria, there are numerous options.
Your request for help is very vague, I'm afraid. If you can name some destinations outside Bavaria that you are considering, we can probably provide good ticket / day pass information.
Eurailpass? If you are only visiting Germany a German railpass would be all you might possibly need. But railpasses of any kind are generally not the best choice for getting around inexpensively in small groups.
Posted by
OP
Dover, Arkansas, USA
46 posts
Thank you for such a quick response, and I apologize for the vagueness of my query. Within the state of Bayern, we will be visiting Dachau, Nuremburg, and Fussen....we will also travel to the Bertchesgarten/Salzburg area.
I would like to travel into the area around Stuttgart, as well as to the Northeast--specifically into the state of Saxony in the Ore Mountains area.
We have no 'agenda' to speak of, just to soak up the beauty of Germany.
Posted by
Basel, Switzerland
8889 posts
"I know that we will need tickets (or a card) for pt within Munich, but it looks as if you can combine public transportation tickets with train tickets that serve outside of Munich."
A train is "Public Transport", so I think there is some confusion here.
A Bayern ticket is valid for one day. Click here for a map of all the rail routes in Bayern (Bavaria) covered by the Bayern Ticket. As you can see, it extends out to Salzburg. It includes all types of local train: 'Regional', S-Bahn (suburban railway), U-Bahn (métro/Underground), trams and city buses. It DOES NOT include long distance trains (IC, ICE etc.), so you must make the slower 'regional' stopping train.
If you are spending a day in Munich, then a Bayern ticket is overkill. There are other day tickets that cover just the Munich area and are cheaper. Click here for the leaflet published by the Munich Transport Authority. This is the equivalent of the Paris 'Navigo' pass.
You now need to fix your plans, and decide if there are any destinations outside Bavaria where it will pay to purchase tickets in advance.
Posted by
Basel, Switzerland
8889 posts
Judi, just saw your new post. Stuttgart and Saxony are too far for a day trip. These are cases where you need to spend 1 or 2 nights there, and book some cheap advance purchase tickets on ICE trains.
In case you didn't know, look up all train times in Germany, and purchase tickets, on: www.bahn.de
This is the official site run by DB, who operate the trains, Accept no substitues!
Posted by
OP
Dover, Arkansas, USA
46 posts
Thank you so much for your help, you guys. I will be checking the links you shared and will certainly keep in mind your suggestions.