Rothenburg odT --> Bamberg the scenic way?

The most direct train route includes a transfer in Würzburg, my favorite town in Germany. The Residenz and Festung (castle across the river) can both be reached on foot, though there is also public transport. There are storage lockers at the Würzburg train station. Wikipedia has a decent description of the town.

The Bayern Ticket isn't your best deal for this trip. If you travel the Rothenburg-Steinach-Nuremberg-Bamberg route, you'll stay within the local VGN network, for which a ticket for two adults - a Tagesticket Plus Daypass - costs only 16.20€. This ticket can be bought at a machine in Rothenburg. It is valid for travel at any hour of the day and is roughly half the price of the Bayern Ticket. So, why not? For a brief adventure, you can hop off in Nuremberg if you like and have a look at the Handwerkerhof just outside the station entrance. Or for a longer look, stow your bags in a locker and explore Nuremberg's attractive old town. The buses and trams within Nuremberg can be used with the same VGN ticket. http://www.vgn.de/tickets/?Edition=en&p=1

Thank you. We were not aware of the local VGN network -- just the Bahn Landes passes. Bonus: a ticket bought on Saturday covers Sunday, too! So we can purchase the ticket on Saturday in RodT, make an afternoon trip if we wish, and the head to Bamberg on Suday, still for 16.20eu. Do all cities have such local/subregional networks? For example, Cologne? Or Frankfurt? And if so, is there a website that lists all the local networks? They're a great find! Thanks.

"Do other states/landes have such smaller networks?" Yes. Almost all developed areas have local transit authorities that sell their own tickets and offer local travel passes of one kind or another. These deals serve both commuters and visitors. Typically, there is a 3-letter acronym that identifies the area - MVV for the Munich area, VGN for Nuremberg, RMV for Frankfurt. The area often lies within one "Land" but sometimes one transit authority will also offer tickets to places in one of the other "Länder" or in one of the other transit areas, as the RMV does; when you buy a ticket from FRA to Bacharach, for example, the RMV sells your ticket, but your train moves you from Hessen into Rheinland-Pfalz, from the RMV area into the RNN area. It's all more than a little confusing. "I don't find them mentioned on the bahn.de website, so is there a website that discusses the various smaller networks?" Each one has its own website. Some are in German only, but these days, many offer English pages as well. Where else in Germany are you traveling? Some areas like the VRM (area around Koblenz) offer super deals like the 3-day group pass for up to 5 people for just 40€. It really would be handy to have all this information at a single website, wouldn't it?

Russ, thank you for taking the time to provide such a detailed answer. Yes, a single website with the links to the local networks would be wonderful! From Bamberg, we head to spend two days on the Rhine/Mosel not sure yet where we will base. The VRM (Koblenz) pass might be very useful. Then two days based in Cologne. Looking at the VRM map, if I understand it correctly it includes both Bacharach and Cologne. If so, then figuring out Bamberg-Bacharach is the next step. From Cologne, we go to Arnheim, Netherlands. (I haven't even begun to sort out local trains fares there!). A Cologne-based system that stretches to (or beyond) the border would be wonderful!

"Looking at the VRM map, if I understand it correctly it includes both Bacharach and Cologne." No - it only gets you to Rolandseck in the north. Stay within the thin dark blue line. Rhine/Mosel region offers: Rheinland-Pfalz ticket and VRM tickets: http://www.vrminfo.de/en/tickets-and-fares/ticket-offers/leisure-ticket/ Map of the area for the VRM ticket offers: http://www.vrminfo.de/fileadmin/data/pdf/2012/Liniennetzpl_apr12.pdf Map of Rheinland-Pfalz for the R-P ticket (a lot more coverage than the VRM area): http://www.bahn.de/regional/view/mdb/pv/planen_buchen/liniennetzkarten/2011/MDB90167-liniennetz_suedwest_2011.pdf (note that the R-P ticket gets you to BONN in the north.) Cologne, VRS area: http://www.vrsinfo.de/englisch/tickets-and-tariffs/short-term-tickets/dayticket-5-people.html VRS area train line map http://www.vrsinfo.de/fileadmin/Dateien/downloadcenter/SVP2012_Gesamt.pdf

Ah-ha! I may have found the sort of site I asked about: http://www.germantravel-info.com/laender.htm It's a good starting point for digging into the local passes.