Does anyone know what the best edition would be? There is a Winter 2009/2010 Available Jan 1. Deso that go into April/May. There also seems to be guides produced every month. I am leaving between April 15-30 in 2010 and want the most up-to-date, accurate guide. I already purchased a 2009 Guide for last Spring for planning purposes that is very helpful.
Posted by
Lakewood, Colorado
19274 posts
The schedules for spring 2010 are being released now. There are not likely to be any big surprises. I would not get a Thomas Cook Guide. Everything is on German Rail's website. If you examine carefully German Rail at www.bahn.de, you can find how to order a CD online with the schedules. I don't remember offhand how to get it (although I have bought two), and it might require some German language skills.
Posted by
OP
Scottsdale, AZ, USA
50 posts
I tried the German online rail schedling guide and found it more difficult to use than the Thomas Cook European Rail Guide which I am familiar with. Also, a CD won't work, because I need the schedules on a daily basis in Europe while I am there and am not carrying a laptop. The Railguide is clunky and adds weight. I wonder if a Kindle version would work? Fat chance they will come out with one.
Posted by
London, United Kingdom
4684 posts
The big timetable changes are in June so the Winter Edition will be mostly correct for April/May. If you want the most up to date version the monthly editions are published around the end of each month. If you are first arriving in the UK current editions are sold in most of the WHSmith shops on major London railway termini: I'm afraid I don't know how easy it is to buy the Thomas Cook in other European countries.
Posted by
Lakewood, Colorado
19274 posts
Peter, I used the Thomas Cook schedules to plan my first trip to Germany in 1988. It was very tedious, having to find the correct schedule page on the map in the front of the book, then find the page, then try to figure out what it meant. The German Rail website is not that hard to figure out and much really much easier to use.
I doubt that my netbook, at 2#, is much heavier than the guidebook, and it does so many other things. I think there are also apps available to things like the iphone.
Before my last trip over, I got the CD from German Rail and installed it on my netbook. I didn't need Internet access to know the schedules.
Posted by
OP
Scottsdale, AZ, USA
50 posts
Thanks for the many helpful posts. I'll definitely consider taking a netbook. It would be difficult to research and decide on all the routes before I go. There are many variables that will change during the trip.
Posted by
Lakewood, Colorado
19274 posts
There is a downloadable version of the schedule, called Navigator, that runs on a mobile phone or Blackberry, but I don't think it connects in realtime to the Bahn website. There is also a CD for a laptop that I think you can buy and have mailed over here. They also sell the CDs at Bahn counters in Germany. I tried to buy one in November, but they didn't yet have the one for the period starting in mid-December, and they were no longer selling the one for the last six months, since it had less than a month to go.
If you have a netbook and wireless Internet access, you can connect directly to Bahn.de.