We are heading to Rothenburg in early December from Nuremberg and debating between taking a train or getting a driver. I see the train is at least 2 stops. Any thoughts on the options ? Does anyone have a recommendation on a driver and costs ?
Danke
Posted by
Paradise
6660 posts
I see the train is at least 2 stops.
There are 2 changes of train. And...? Getting off a train is not complex. No security, customs, or baggage carousel. Germans that use the trains routinely will often make trips to small end-of-the-world towns like Rothenburg, places that require 2 or more changes of train, and there's no reason foreigners like you cannot do the same.
Sample trip... The 8:37 train from Nuremberg arrives at track #3. Your connecting train leaves from track #2. In this case, you won't have more than a few steps to take to move from one track to the other... the tracks share the same platform, so you just walk from one side of the platform to the other. You can see the platform in this picture... it's probably no wider than your living room back home:
https://www.bahnbilder.de/1200/blick-nach-osten-bahnhof-ansbach-921447.jpg
Station plan:
https://sematicweb.detie.cn/stations/y3b63E/Ansbach_Bahnhof_plann.gif-hq
The next change of train comes in Steinach. You move from track #2 to track #5. So you will need to go down some steps, walk through the underground corridor, then up a set of steps to the next platform over. This will require less than 1 minute of time for most people.
Cost: a Tagesticket Plus day pass for 2 costs €23. Buy it from a ticket machine at the station using the English-language software that all ticket machines offer. I cannot calculate the cost of a private driver for such a trip, but I would guess at a price maybe 10 times higher.
Posted by
OP
4 posts
Danke Russ. Sounds like the train it is
Posted by
Last Frontier aka Alaska 🏔️
3229 posts
We just did this exact route in April and we are train novices. It was easy, no problem.
Posted by
Lakewood, Colorado
19099 posts
The thing you need to realize is that a train in Germany is not like an airliner in the US. That is, you don't have to remain seated until the train has stopped in the station. In fact, staying seated is probably the best way to miss your connection.
Know the name of the station and the time of arrival, and maybe the names of the previous two stations. When you know you are approaching your station, get up, gather your belongings, and go to the coach door, and be prepared to get off when the train stops.
Know the track number of your connecting train. If the connecting platform is not across the platform from where you arrive, follow the herd to the stairs, go down into the connecting tunnel, and find the sign for the other train's platform.
Stay with the herd. The conductor is watching people board and as long as people are boarding the connecting train, he won't release it.