Train from Oberwesel to Rothenburg ob der Tauber

You can only get seat reservations on ICE 119 and ICE 27. The other trains are regional trains with no seat reservations. Think commuter trains. The only trains you are "required" to take are the ICE trains with a discounted ticket. From Wuerzburg on, you can take any regional train to your destination. If one of your trains is late and you miss a connection due to DB, you are free to take any trains onward to your destination.

I can't help with direction of travel. ICE 27 stops at Frankfurt Hbf on the way to Wuerzburg, and I believe the train will change direction at Frankfurt Hbf because it is a terminal station.

Unlikely a rail pass will help. Munich to Dachau is an MVV local network ticket. Munich to Salzburg is a Bayern ticket.

How are you getting to Oberwesel?

BTW, You don't say your travel date, but the 8:34 departure has only 3 connections, and a 32 minute change time in Mainz, and it is cheaper for an advance purchase ticket. The travel time is 4 hours and 17 minutes, which is the shortest time for this journey.

You can pretty much expect train journeys that take you long distances between teeny towns like Oberwesel and Rothenburg to involve several changes of train. Changing trains is not a big deal unless you have an injury or disability or something similar, or unless you are carrying an unreasonable amount of luggage.

These days there is a good chance you will miss a connection on a journey like this because trains (especially ICE trains, the faster ones) are not running on time in large numbers. If that happens, not a big deal... you are able to take any other trains that get you to your destination if the miss is because of train delays.

The only reservable seats on the journey you picked are on the trains between Bingen and Würzburg... 2 of your 5 trains. The others are regional trains, reservations not available. Not a big deal. I have traveled in Germany for 5 decades without reservations.

My advice is to take one of the earlier trains without two ICE trains. Maybe the 8:34 - 12:51 journey, which has just one. Then you will arrive closer to your desired time if there is a delay.

Railpasses simplify ticketing and offer more flexibility. I'll be traveling on one very soon. Railpasses do not make your train run on time, do not offer wider reservations on trains, and cost more.

I suspect that your need to get there as fast as possible is the result of an itinerary that is too rushed. I would leave Salzburg and Hallstatt out of the mix. Neuschwanstein (very time consuming, little payback) and Dachau as well. Your schedule makes it look like you have no time for Munich to speak of. Maybe you don't care about it, and that's fine. Suggestions...

• Spend another night on the Rhine (3 total) so that you have time for some genuine castles. Neuschwanstein is a modern palace with a fake castle exterior.

• Spend 2 more nights in Berlin. (4 total) Take the train from Nuremberg (see below) and you'll get there on one train.

• Spend 4 nights in/near Rothenburg. Würzburg, Nuremberg, Bamberg, Bad Wimpfen are all GREAT places to visit.

That's a nice more relaxed and achievable itinerary. You'd see/do a lot more.

Sam, the travel date is May 30th. The route I listed above starts at 10:29 from Oberwesel, and reaches Rothenburg at 14:51. So even if I miss the very first ICE train at Bingen, I can get on any other subsequent ICE train without having to buy a new ticket? I see suggestions on this forum to download the bahn app. BTW, I do see a 8:29 departure from Oberwesel on bahn.de, but it is also a 4 hr 22 min journey with 4 changes.

We go from Frankfurt to Oberwesel at the start of our journey...also by train. I don't plan to pre-buy that route since our international flight could be delayed.

Russ, thanks for your suggestions. The Neuschwanstein and Dachau trips are the only ones mandated by the wife, so I cannot avoid them...as they say, happy wife happy life! I do have enough time for Munich, and we will check out the other places on your list in a future trip. I do want to visit the Black Forest area.

The question about railpasses was to see if it would be more efficient and cost effective (given all our travels) vs. point to point tickets. Yes, I know they won't make our trains run on time! :) Is there a huge difference between first class and second class compartments in Germany?

Hi Sam and Russ, both of you mention the 8:34 - 12:51 journey but I don't see one on bahn.de. I do see a 8:29 - 12:51 journey with 4 changes, but it has a 5 min transfer at Bad Kreuznach from pl. 1 to pl. 4. Is this doable?

Thank you both so much for your help!

May 30 is Corpus Christi Day, which is a public holiday in Rheinland-Pfalz, Hessen, and Bavaria, as well as a few other German Lands, so that appears to be an issue.

The ICE 27 is showing high occupancy, so seat reservations would be a good idea.
Note, you could buy the 10:01 departure from Oberwesel and that train goes all the way to Mainz with a a 45 minute connection time to ICE 27. There appears to be virtually no advantage to buy discounted advance ticket, for either of these.

If you go to Neuschwanstein on Saturday, you can use a Bayern ticket for 39 EUR for 2 will cover you round trip plus the bus from Fuessen to the Castles. Since it is Saturday, you can get an early start. Same thing for the trip to Salzburg using the regional trains. You can buy these tickets out of a vending machine day of travel. Sign your names on the back in ink.

Like I said before, Dachau is just an MVV day ticket. 19.20 EUR for 2 all day Zone M-1. That will include the train to Dachau station and the bus to the memorial, and the return, plus any other travel in Munich center for the day. Destination will be Dachau Gedenkstaette.

The question about railpasses was to see if it would be more efficient
and cost effective (given all our travels) vs. point to point tickets.

"Efficient".... With a pass, neither the routes nor the trains themselves are more efficient as the are they same ones available with p2p tix. The only efficiency of the pass is that you'd have only one travel doc to purchase rather than mulitiple tickets.

"Cost effective"... most likely not. Adding the individual ticket/day-pass costs will allow you to compare them with prices for the Germany Eurailpass of your choice.

The RE2 and RE26 trains run, every half hour, from Oberwesel to Mainz Hbf. Use them. Then take the ICE1621 (reserve a seat) to Wurzburg, and from there the RE80 to Steinach. From Steinach the RB82 get you to RodT in 10 minutes. This is a lot faster than trying to go via Bingen - BK, etc. You can do all of this, except the ICE, on the Deutschland Pass, and you can use that to get to Munich as well. If you want to get there earlier use the ICE23 from Mainz, but be aware it leaves at 0740.

if you miss the ICE you will need to buy another ticket. (Unless it's delayed or deleted, in which case you can get DB to adjust your ticket.)

if you use the RE and buy the ticket all the way through, or use the Deutschland Pass, you can take any train that gets you to the final stop. As noted the regional trains run between Oberwesel and Mainz every half hour. Wurzburg to Steinach and Steinach to RodT trains run every hour.

Buy the DP; it will save you a lot of money, and it's good for the S Bahn inner city trains also. You can use it to get from RodT to Munich, and in and around Berlin.