Train options rhine/moselle from Frankfurt airport

Posted by julie on 05/03/24 09:57 PM

I have a trip booked for the upper middle rhine/moselle. I'm travelling with my senior mother so want to get as much sorted in advance as possible and have a questions about the best train ticket(s) to book.

I have accomodations booked in boppard (4 nights) and cochem (3 night). I'm still debating as to whether boppard is the best place and depending on transit, may open up other opportunities. I have a rental apt booked but am open to switching accomodations (limited when you need two separate beds).

My question is whether I should buy the 49euro monthly db ticket or rely on point-to-point tickets plus the vrm ticket I would get by staying in boppard.
We will need a train from Frankfurt airport to boppard (or wherever we stay on the rhine), from the rhine to cochem, and cochem back to the airport. We will use trains to go to a couple towns per day, plus rhine boat 1 day on rhine, and a short journey on the moselle.
I've looked up schedules and prices seem to mean that the DB monthly ticket would be more cost effective (based on the trips from/to the airport alone), but everything i find online says "stay in boppard because of the free vrm ticket". If the vrm ticket isn't as beneficial because the DB monthly ticket would cover all the same/still cost effective , then it will open up more accomodations options.

This is a trip spread over 7 nights to keep a slow pace for my mom who has never been to Europe...so it's okay if it takes a few minutes more to get somewhere.

Any help and insight would be appreciated. Thank you!

Posted by Russ

Paradise

05/04/24 02:28 AM

6664 posts

"stay in boppard because of the free vrm ticket".

This is just one of several very good reasons which make Boppard an excellent place to stay and a good travel base. Unless you find the booked accommodations undesirable for some reason, I would be reluctant to change them. Boppard's travel logistics are very good for visiting other Rhine towns, so good that you could easily do a day trip to Cochem and back by train if you wished to stay in Boppard the entire time.

If you stay there, the VRM guest ticket will be valid on your day of departure, so it will provide free transport for days 2 through 5 within the VRM Zone plus any additional journey subsequent to checking in on Day 1, which might make. This means you can use it to travel to Cochem on Day 5.

It is unclear to me how many days you plan to use the trains after reaching Cochem. Will you make a day outing on Day 6? On Day 7? What destination(s) do you have in mind?

If BOTH will be day outings, then without the VRM Guest Ticket, you have Days 1, 6, 7 and 8 which will require some sort of day pass, probably. A day pass for 2 will cost you between €30 and 55 per day. So the math tells me that two D-Tickets will probably be cheaper than the sum of your day passes - assuming you buy them only for one month.

But not necessarily. If you have booked one of NINE accommodations in Cochem which voluntarily participate in the VRM Guest Ticket program, then your transport on days 6-8 will also be free of charge within the VRM zone. You'll need to supplement these freebies with day passes on Day 1 and Day 8 and additional tickets for any days when you might stray out of the VRM zone. That might be a little less than the €98 you pay for the D-Tickets, but not much less.

Scroll down the entries in the center column until you find Cochem on p.2. These hosts in Cochem will provide the Guest Ticket there:

https://www.vrminfo.de/fileadmin/data_vrminfo/PDF/Gaesteticket/G%C3%A4steticket-Vertr%C3%A4ge_Stand_April_2024_1.pdf

Posted by julie OP

05/04/24 12:44 PM

2 posts

Thank you Russ,
I guess I could simplify my question.
Based on what I see online, train from Frankfurt airport to boppard is 28.80 euros and train from cochem to airport is 42 euros. Those two alone cost more than the DB monthly pass at 49 euro (my journeys noted above are on regional trains).

So for someone in my situation with at a minimum, trips to/from airport, why wouldn't I get that monthly DB pass to cover all my travels (not covered free vrm ticket with their stay)? I have no issues navigating to find an app that will take my Canadian address/cc to purchase the pass, know to cancel before the next month kicks in etc.
I feel like I'm missing something?

Thanks again

Posted by Russ

Paradise

05/04/24 02:12 PM

6664 posts

"Based on what I see online, train from Frankfurt airport to boppard is 28.80 euros and train from cochem to airport is 42 euros. Those alone cost more than the DB monthly pass at 49 euro (my journeys noted above are on regional trains)...why wouldn't I get that monthly DB pass to cover all my travels..."

I understand the question - it's the same as your original question.

I was not advising you that individual tickets would be a better value than the D-Ticket (the monthly pass.)

There are better options (day passes for two) than those prices... I walked you through the totality of your transport expenses with estimates for those better options in mind. If the result - that the D-Ticket is probably a better deal for you - was not made clear to you in my post, I apologize.

The one thing that could throw off the analysis is if your travel dates are such that two monthly passes would be required for each of you. That is unlikely, but a possibility, as I understand the conditions of the D-ticket. Without your travel dates, I don't think there's a clear answer.