Traveling by train in Germany

We have a few providers. Largest and for your purpose best is Deutsche Bahn.

Various ticket types available. By booking prior to travel you can get saver fares. Children up to age of 14 travel for free. Also regional day passes (e.g. Bayern Ticket for April 7) and rail passes available.

Just for the records and others it is
Rothenburg ob der tauber

Roughly translated as above the river Tauber.

"Is there a train pass that you recommend that might be more economical?"

There are two basic TRAIN TYPES in Germany:

• regional trains with shorter runs that stop everywhere or almost everywhere (Regionalverkehr.)

• long-distance trains that stop only at major stations (Fernverkehr)

Bacharach and Rothenburg are small towns that are served by regional trains only. So every one of your trips within Germany will include one or more regional trains.

For your trips within Germany you have a choice; you can travel between the towns you mention either by... a.) regional train only or b.) long-distance train + regional train (which is a bit faster.)

DAY PASSES can be bought right at the station for the best possible price. They apply to option a.) only.

Here is the D'dorf > Bacharach and Bacharach > Rothenburg day pass option:

https://www.bahn.com/en/view/offers/regional/day-ticket-for-germany.shtml

Here is the Rothenburg > Munich day pass option:

http://www.munich-touristinfo.de/Bavaria-Ticket.htm

Each of the above trips could also be done using long-distance + regional trains (option b.) For this option you need regular train tickets. To save money, purchase a Sparpreis ticket in advance. If you buy later on, you may have to pay the normal fare.

For A'dam > D'dorf you will use long-distance trains and you need this pre-purchased train ticket.

The airport-city day ticket can be bought at Munich station and will get you to the airport

When you use the DB itinerary page to search for train journeys, these tickets normally show up as options automatically if they are available... HOWEVER... to find all the train options for regional trains only (and use the cheap day tickets) you will have to click on the "only local transport" box under connections. That will eliminate all the long-distance trains.

You have time so play with the bahn.com site to try out various routings/times/destinations.

Also regularly check the special offer page.

https://www.bahn.com/en/view/offers/index.shtml?dbkanal_007=L04_S02_D002_KIN0059_TOP-NAVI-ANGEBOTE_LZ01

Two additional notes that may be obvious, but:

1) it is important to use the correct spelling of destinations (use google maps or via michelin to check).

2) There many towns/cities in Germany that have the same or similar names (Frankfurts occur both on the Main and Oder rivers for example). Moscow ID vs Moscow NY. Make sure you are aimed to the right one.

Are there different train systems (companies)?

Not exactly. Local trains are indeed operated by a plethora of companies but all of them are subject to the same tariff and you can book all those trains via the web site of DB (www.bahn.com). It's not unusual that you switch between several of them during a trip without even noticing it. For long distance train there's no other choice than DB, with two exceptions: (1) Some (very few) long distance connections are operated by Flix Train (the company that also operates the Flix buses). They are cheap, but also slow and have a lousy record of punctuality and comfort (the rolling stock mainly consists of superficially brushed up 50+ years old cars). Their target group are young people who just want to travel cheap. 2) Night trains, run by the Austrian state railway ÖBB. You have to book them at nighjet.com. For intra-German trips it's pointless to consider using them but if you want to travel, say, from Berlin to Przemysl in eastern Poland, they are a great alternative to flying, provided you are sure that you can sleep on a train.

Frank,
I rather like the term Rothenburg on "dear" Tauber, charming!

"A beginner's guide to train travel in Germany"
https://www.seat61.com/Germany-trains.htm

I rather like the term Rothenburg on "dear" Tauber, charming!

The "on" isn't bad either. ;) Both typos are harmless when communicating with an Bahn ticket machine. But, please, never tell it you want to go to "Rotenburg" or "Rottenburg". It could take it literally.

I am guessing the auto spell check kicked in on the posting.

Thank you everyone for your valuable information. I will look into it.

Also, “yes” previous spelling for Rothenburg Ob der Tauber was the result of autocorrect.