I will be traveling with my elderly father to Germany. We are arriving at Dueseldorf and then taking the train to Gelsenkirchen where we will be spending the night. For most of our trip we will be based in Munich, so I am trying to plan the train ride from Gelsenkirchen to Munich considering the length of the trip for my Dad. Is there a good halfway point where we can stop and spend the night, do a little sight seeing and then complete our trip to Munich. I did see the ICE schedule directly to Munich -- but many require reservations. If we go that route, can I make reservations on line? thanks, Karen
Posted by
Lakewood, Colorado
19275 posts
I'm looking at the German Rail website and I can't see any connections from Gelsenkirchen to Munich that require reservations. What website are you looking at? Not RailEurope, I hope.
There is the possibility of getting advance purchase, Dauer-Spezial tickets from the Bahn from Gelsenkirchen for as low as €29 (€59 for the day I checked) pP, and with these tickets you can get seat reservations for another €2. The trip takes as little as 6 hours. Is that too long?
With a Dauer-Spezial ticket, you could build in an overnight stop on the way, but you would have to finish the trip by about 10 AM on the next day.
BTW, very, very few German trains, perhaps only the ICEs to Berlin, reguire reservations. They all permit it, and occasionally it is even desirable, but rarely is it required.
Posted by
OP
New Ellenton
6 posts
I am still learning how to decipher the train schedules :-) I saw the circled R and assumed that meant you need to make reservations? Or does that just mean that reservations are accepted? I am not sure how well Dad will tolerate a 5-6 hour train trip, but on the other hand we could get it over with in one trip.
Posted by
Lakewood, Colorado
19275 posts
The red circle R means that you must make a reservation. All express trains (ICE/IC/EC) allow reservations; a few require them. Very few regional trains (RE/RB) have reservable seats.
If you are going by ICE, they are very modern, comfortable, and fast trains, certainly less tiring than a milk run regional train. They often go between 150-200 mph, but you hardly feel the speed. And you can always get up and move around, use the bath room, or visit the club car.
Posted by
OP
New Ellenton
6 posts
thank you, Lee. I think we will use the ICE and make the trip in one day!
Posted by
Frankfurt am Main, Germany
2779 posts
Trainwise a logical half-way stop would be Frankfurt. There is plenty to do and see in Frankfurt and there also are quite and quaint parts of town. The fastest way from Frankfurt to Munich by train by the way is not to go from Frankfurt Hauptbahnhof (Central Train Station) but from Frankfurt Süd (South) from where you can make the trip in under 3 hours. Vistit www.frankfurt.de, click English flag, then Tourism. Do the virtual city tour if you like...
Posted by
Fanwood, NJ, USA
62 posts
While a red circled R means the train requires reservations, a grey circled R only means that they're suggested. (Likely that the train is normally busy.) Reservations are only required on a handful of ICE trains (the Sprinters) that run between a few cities and are at specific times. (Generally early in the morning as they're geared towards business travelers.)