Germany Lander Tickets

Cities?

Länder is German for "States". Each German state (Land) has a ticket which is valid for all day, on/off travel on regional trains and buses in the Land. So, there is the Bayern-Ticket for Bavaria, Hessen-Ticket for that state, Schöner-Tag for Nordrhein-Westfalen, etc.

Each Land ticket is valid for travel to border stations just outside the Land. For instance, the Rheinland-Pfalz-Ticket is valid to Bonn, in Nordrheinwestfalen, to Wiesbaden in Hessen, and to Mannheim and Karlsruhe in Baden-Württemburg. It's also valid to a couple of towns in France.

The Baden-Württemburg-Ticket is valid to Ludwigshafen, across the river from Mannheim in RL-P, to Basel Bad Bahnhof in Basel, Switzerland, and to Lindau and Nördlingen in Bavaria.

Some information is available from the German Rail (Bahn) website, in English. More complete information, albeit in German, is available here.

What are you trying to do?

Thank you Lee.

I am interested in getting from Bacharach to Heidelberg (in the am) and Heidelberg to Strasbourg (same day, in the pm). There will be four of us. I thought purchasing group Lander tickets for Rhineland and Baden would be the most economical way.

Thanks again.

"I thought purchasing group Lander tickets for Rhineland and Baden would be the most economical way."

I would agree. Understand, however, that, although it is right across the river from Baden-Württemberg, Strasbourg is NOT considered a border station. You'll have to buy local tickets from Kehl, on the German side, to Strasbourg. According to the German Rail website, these tickets should cost €3,60 per person one way. You should be able to buy these tickets from a ticket counter in Mannheim.

Last time I was in Bacharach (Nov 2008) there was no counter and only a "Nahverkehr" (regional) automat. You can purchase a Rheinland-Pfalz-Ticket from the automat, but not a Baden-Württemberg-Ticket or Kehl to Strasbourg.

The train connection from Bacharach to Mannheim will probably have a change of trains in Mainz (and/or Bingen) and then go only as far as Mannheim. Buy the Baden-Württemberg-Ticket in Mannheim and use it to Heidelberg, then back to Mannheim and on to Kehl. (I see one connection only goes as far as Ludwigshafen. No problem, it's right across the river from Mannheim and a border station for the Baden-Württemberg-Ticket. You should be able to purchase your Ba-Wü-Ticket there).

There are several ways to get to Kehl. I think the most common it to go to Offenburg (possibly with a change in Karlsruhe). From Offenburg, take an OSB (Ortenau S-Bahn) to Strasbourg via Kehl.

Lee, thank you again. This is exactly what I needed.