Hi,
We'll be traveling to Germany on the 18 May for 3 weeks. Flying in to Munich & our son will pick us up. We would like to travel to our old home to visit while we are there which is in Idar Oberstein/Baumholder (retired military). This would require us to travel by train or rent a car. I have the DB app on my phone but really scared I'm not understanding it correctly. Could someone give me some pointers on tickets/stops, etc.? Son is stationed in Hohenfels so I'm thinking the best place to catch the train would be from Parsburg or Regansburg to Idar Oberstein or even Landshul/Ramstein and then rent a car. Any advice or pointers for folks who haven't been there in 32 years would be appreciated. Thank you much!
Posted by
Paradise
6664 posts
You can take the train all the way to Idar-Oberstein and pick up a car there if you want to drive around the area. Autoeurope offers cars through the Europcar company there (possibly other companies as well.)
Here's a map of the area train network; Idar-Oberstein is in the yellow RNN zone:
http://www.vrminfo.de/fileadmin/data/pdf/2012/RLP-Ticket_streckennetz.pdf
DB itinerary search page: https://reiseauskunft.bahn.de//bin/query.exe/en
Enter your start station (Regensburg Hbf?) and your end station (Idar-Oberstein?) and your personal travel information. You need to spell these right of course (I think you have 3 of the place names wrong above) or you may be unsuccessful with the site. Should take around 5.5 hours for this trip.
Posted by
OP
3 posts
Hi Russ,
Thank you very much. I kept working with the app and figured it out from Regensburg to IO. Figured out its very doable. Thanks for the info and attachments, you’ve been extremely helpful.
Posted by
Augsburg, Bavaria
2354 posts
Son is stationed in Hohenfels
Poor guy (have bad memories of Hohenfels)! The nearest train station is Maxhütte-Haidhof (east of Hohenfels), where you can catch a train to Regensburg every 30 to 40 min (there are also some direct trains to Nürnberg via Amberg). In Regensburg you will transfer to a long distance train. Starting from Parsberg (south of Hohenfels) would work as well. You would take one of the hourly local trains to Nürnberg (leaving at minute 43) and transfer there to a train to Frankfurt. In Frankfurt you switch to a local train to Idar-Oberstein. Travel times are almost identical for both connections. Look up details at www.bahn.com. If your travel day is set book asap to get the best price.
Posted by
San Diego, CA, USA
321 posts
Hi Sla019- I guess time heals all things. I have great memories of Hohenfels (and Grafenwohr)...
Posted by
OP
3 posts
Hi,
Thanks for the specific train information. The various trains like the long distance seems confusing but I’m sure we’ll figure it out. I was able to use the app and see that we can make it there with a stop in Frankfurt if we like. It’s been 32 years so it’ll be an adventure for sure. For the record, folks thought we hit the armpit with Baumholder too. We stayed 5 years and was the best duty station ever for us. Our son wanted a tour in Germany before his retirement and he got it straight from Hawaii and I get to mark a trip back to Germany off my bucket list. ✔️
Posted by
Augsburg, Bavaria
2354 posts
Hi Sla019- I guess time heals all things. I have great memories of Hohenfels (and Grafenwohr)...
@Kenneth - o yes, Grafenwöhr - "me too" ;) Dust and dirt and rats. But also fun - trying to hit a fence post with an old M 48 tank at a distance of 1000 meters - and succeed. And eating American ice cream in kilo portions ...
(@OP - sorry for the OT)
Posted by
Augsburg, Bavaria
2354 posts
The various trains like the long distance seems confusing but I’m sure we’ll figure it out.
You certainly will do. Just don't think of the German train system as a point-to-point system, like the US one, but as a network with many nodes. So, what can happen? Well, you could miss your connecting train at one of the hubs because your current train is late. So what? The next one will come soon. The DB App or the conductor will show you an alternative connection.
If you need more details feel free to send me a PN.