Hi
My family is travelling from Munich to Venice and we want to go by train, see far more than plane and was wodneirng what is the easiest way to book, there are so many train sites and if I try to get on DB Bahn the train we are looking at does not show a price. Both of my kids are students, one Uni and other high school, will this lower the price at all?
Thanks for help in advance
Steve
Gee, I am looking at www.bahn.com and they are showing Sparpeis tickets of 39 EUR mid week, and 49 to 59 EUR weekends all the way through July, which is unusual. Normally they can only be booked out 3 months. There is a direct EC train at 11:34 every day and takes 6 1/2 hours.
Other trains requiring connections are not bookable beyond June 19, but why not take the direct train. Nice trip over the Brenner Pass.
And with deep discount Sparpreis tickets (Flexpreis is 95.10) the discount is better than any youth fare, which is a discount off of the full fare ticket. 15 year-olds are considered adults on German trains. If they are 14 or under, they can travel free as long as they are traveling with a parent or grandparent.
One of the best train tips I've ever done. Advance booking with the Deutsche Bahn is easy and reliable: payment by credit card and an emailed pdf for printing at home.
The discounted tickets are non-refundable. The ticket collector might want to see the credit card as identification.
We did the scenic train trip from Munich to Venice, and it was beautiful. We broke it up with an overnight in the charming town of Bolzano, where we visited Otzi the Iceman, ate fabulous German/Italian meals, and took the funicular up to gorgeous Alpine villages. There is also a riverwalk to a traditional "painted castle". I wish we had spent even more time in Bolzano.
DB bahn is the best way to book. The Italian train site is very difficult to navigate. If your dates are not yet available on DB bahn, hang tight until they show up.
I would choose the direct train, operated and sold by DB, but if you want one of the departures with a connection at Verona or elsewhere, then DB can only sell the ticket as far as that connection point and you'd turn to Trenitalia for the next leg, or buy it in a train station. It's rare for the national railway web sites to sell any connecting trains that are wholly within another country (although close ties do allow DB to sell some connecting tickets for Switzerland and Austria).
Has anyone done the overnight train from Munich to Venice? We are considering doing that with our 2 kids (10 and 12) in July but I'm not sure if it would be better just to fly.
Thanks!
Heather
Yes, but that was the old route that went Munich-Innsbruck-Verona-Venice operated by DB's City Night line. The new route is Munich-Salzburg-Villach-Udine-Venice is operated by Austrian Railway, OEBB. You might want to book a 4-bunk couchette so you have it all to yourselves. If you do it, do it for the adventure.
