Hi,
I'm planning to be in Germany for a month Sept/Oct and want to use the rails to get around - I plan to travel throughout the country using 4 - 5 places as bases and then from there on trains to attractions - I wouldn't mind jumping over to Saltzburg and Strasburg but I don't know if they will fit. What kind of rail pass should I be looking at for just Germany and/or the out of country points?, what is its cost at that time of year? thanks - Nova
Posted by
Lakewood, Colorado
19274 posts
Also, with a German Rail pass, the fare to get from Kehl, Germany, to the station in Strasbourg is just €3,60.
I used a German Rail pass in 2000 and, considering the trains I actually used, I made it pay, just barely. However, I could have used some other trains and saved money with point-point tickets. Since then I always map out my trip and compare other tickets to a railpass, and a pass has never come close to paying for itself.
If you are basing in places and making short trips, you can probably do better on those days with what are called Länder tickets, which are all day passes issued by the state regional railroad companies. These passes generally run around €30 for up to 5 people and some states also have single person passes for less. They cover regional trains and buses as well as all transit in major cities.
For longer distance on faster trains, there are purchase ahead, non-refundable discount tickets (Dauer-Spezial) for as low as €29 pP.
Last Novermber I spend 2 weeks in Germany, basing myself in Tries-Karden on the Mosel, in Braunlage in the Harz, and in Bad Herrenalb in the Black Forest. I had two long days (Cochem to Bad Harzburg and Walkenried to Karlsruhe) by express trains using Dauer-Spezial tickets and two shorter days (FRA to Treis-Karden and Karlsruhe to Mainz)using Länder tickets. Most other days I traveled with local transportation. Overall I spent $260 (€200) for transportation. The four days traveling between bases cost me $165 (€127); a German Rail pass for the same travel would have been $260. The other days, traveling around a base, cost me about $11/day and most of that was by bus, which wouldn't have been covered by a railpass.
Your travel could be different, but it pays to analyze it well.
Posted by
Calgary, Alberta, Canada
368 posts
Slightly off topic, but if you are planning to go to Munich during that time frame and have not booked accommodations, I would look into that as soon as possible.
Posted by
NLR, Ar USA
92 posts
Nova, depending if you are going only to one or two, up to 5 countries, you can either purchase the Eurail Pass for 5 countries or the one month pass. The one month pass is for any country in the former Western Europe, plus one or two former East Europe countries.
I have just returned from Europe after a month and got to travel from Germany, Netherlands, Switzerland, Austria, Italy and France. It was more economical for me to have the one month pass in case I wanted to travel to more than 5 countries. I loved it. Be advised that on some high speed trains and some select ones, there is an additional fee or seat reservation fee needed.
I hope this helps a little. When I bought the saver one month pass (since two of us were traveling together) it was around 1800.00 USD.
Posted by
nanaimo
156 posts
You should know that if you buy an individual country German pass, it does allow you to go into Salzburg which sits right on the border.