DB BAHN Site confusion - Mainz to St. Goar (which stations?)

You can use the Rheinland-Pfalz-Ticket for unlimited rides on regional trains in the German state (Land) of Rheinland-Pfalz all day long (after 9 AM workdays). That means you can buy it in Mainz and use it for Mainz to St. Goar.

The center, so to speak, of St. Goar, is the Marktplatz, which borders the Rhein. The K-D dock is right there. "St. Goar K-D" on the Bahn website means the K-D dock in St. Goar. The Bahnhof, listed as just "St Goar", is a couple block up the hill from the Marktplatz.

TR (TransRegio, I believe) is the name of the privatized rail company running some of the regional trains in that area. TR just means a regional train (on which the Rheinland-Pfalz-Ticket is valid).

Schiff is "ship" in German. The K-D boats are pretty big, but I wouldn't call them ships, they do.

The Mainz to St Goar fare (€20,60, for 2 P) is the train fare (by TR - regional train) from the Mainz Hbf down the left bank via Bingen to the St. Goar Bahnhof. It would all be covered for 2 P with a Rheinland-Pfalz-Ticket, but would be less P2P.

The 2nd Mainz to St. Goar fare ("€22,60, DB part only") is the rail fare from Mainz to Wiesbaden, then down the right bank via Rüdesheim to St. Goarshausen, then by ship (not included in fare) across the river to St. Goar (if you wanted to go that way, I wouldn't). That entire connection (including the ferry across the Rhein from St. Goarshausen to St. Goar, but not the K-D schiff), would be covered by a Rheinland-Pfalz-Ticket.

Thanks, Lee! So, if I'm arriving mid-afternoon, it seems like the Mainz Bhf to St. Goar ticket is best choice.

I figure that we probably wouldn't be riding trains the rest of the day, and just explore St. Goar after checking in.

But if I have energy to go to Boppard, etc., after my overnight trip, then the Lander ticket is better. Right?

They must rip-off a lot of people eager for a Rhine cruise with the St. Goar-KD destination. I wonder why they do that ?

Didn't realize how complicated it could get to buy tickets there.

I'm planning to buy the Dauer Spezial (from St. goar to Rothenburg) and my Bayern Lander tickets (Roth. to Munich, and then to Salzburg) online, so I don't have to deal with the automats and lines during my trip. Is this a good idea ?

I will probably only buy the FRA or Mainz to St. Goar there, since I am not certain about my arrival time. Thanks for the heads up!

If you want to use a Dauer-Spezial-Ticket from St. Goar to Rothenburg odT, you do need to buy it online. Not only does it HAVE to be bought 3 days in advance, but for some lines these are very popular tickets and the lowest fares might sell out well in advance.

As for Länder-Tickets, it takes only a few seconds to buy one from an automat. In Rothenburg, which the last time I was there had only a Nahverkehr (local) ticket automat, it is just a matter of finding the button for Bayern-Ticket on the column of buttons. If they now have one of the modern, Bahn, touch screen automats, there is a touch pad for Länder-Tickets. They are unlimited, they never sell out; I would buy one that morning.

You cannot buy the Länder tickets online really as you cannot print them up. They would have to mail them to you.

The machines are super easy to use, they switch into English, they take bills and there are quite a few to use. I have never had to wait for one.

I wouldn't say they are ripping anyone off. St. Goar KD is a legitimate destination, particularly if you are doing a Rhein cruise as part of you trip. The station in St. Goar is probably as close to the K-D dock as anywhere on the Rhein. A lot of times (Boppard, Bacharach) the dock is quite a ways from the station. If you expand the connection (">" mark to the left), you'll see the exact routing. I guess the computer just isn't set up to realize that the St. Goarshausen KD dock and the St. Goar KD dock are right across the river (but then you didn't know, either).

If you want to avoid connections using the boat, you remove boats from the Means of Transport.

On the scedule I pulled up, one of the other connections was the train to Bacharach and the boat from Bacharach to St. Goar. Not a bad way to do it if you don't have too much luggage.

Interestingly, if you purchase local transit district tickets from FRA to Mainz €7,40 for 2P) and Bahn tickets from Mainz to St. Goar (€20,60) it is slightly less expensive than a Bahn ticket for 2 from FRA to St. Goar (€30,40) for exactly the same trains. However, it is more difficult to buy the Mainz-St. Goar ticket from a machine in FRA and you might have very little time to make the connection in Mainz and buy the P2P tickets. You can, however, easily buy the Rheinland-Pfalz-Ticket from a Bahn touch screen automat in FRA.

Jo, to say you can't buy Länder tickets online, because you can't print them, would be like saying you can't buy any tickets online from RailEurope, because they always have to mail them.

But, I didn't know that they have to mail them, because I have never tried to buy them online. You're right, it is very easy to buy them from an automat. There is no reason to buy them in advance (except maybe the night before if you are using them in the morning for a bus in, say, the Munich metro). The touch screen, Bahn automats have a touch pad for Länder tickets; the simpler local, "Nahverkehr" automats have a button for the ticket in that Land.

Finally purchased my Dauer Spezial tickets. Indeed, the one I want is sold out (or offered for 20 Euros more)! So, I chose to leave earlier. With seat reservation, came to 53 Euros.

I just hope these trains are on time, because there are only 10 min. gaps between them and I need to catch the ICE train with seat reservations. They show Track numbers, so I'm hoping there are no stairs to run to and all tracks would be in same terminal (?)

Also, if I miss other non-ICE connections, can I still use this online ticket for the next train ? From what I read, it seems that only the ICE train should be taken with actual schedule.

If you have chosen the 10:21 out of St. Goar, it looks like you have 14 min in Mainz, 10 min in Wuerzburg, and 11 min in Steinach. None of those connections are cross platform; all will require a change of platforms, which means going down stairs to the tunnel, finding the next platform, and going back up. That should not be a problem in any of those stations. Just make sure you have your stuff together and are at the end of the car when the train stops. That is particularly important for the change in Wuerzburg and Steinach as the train is going on in a few minutes and people will start wanting to get on.

The most critical connection is in Mainz because you have a specific train to catch. Make sure the conductor knows you have a Dauer-Special ticket and have to make that connection. In the unlikely chance that the regional train from St. Goar is a few minutes late, they might hold the ICE long enough to allow connecting passengers to make the connection. If the ICE leaves Mainz before your train gets in, go to the ticket counter and show them the ticket. They'll confirm that the regional train was late and put you on the next ICE to Wuerzburg.

As for the regional trains from Wuerzburg to Rothenburg, you are not limited to the trains shown on your ticket. According to the "Vor- und Nach-Lauf" clause in the AGBs of the Bahn, you have until sometime the following day, 10:00 I think, to complete your travel on regional trains.

Thanks, Lee! This is very informative.

I ended up getting the 8:21am train from St. Goar, since the 10:20 is 20 Euros more now. I figured, just wake up earlier, no use lingering around in St. Goar for 2 hours :-) I just have to find a Mainz Hautbahnhof map somewhere in the web to get a picture of my "run"!

Great tip in case St. Goar train's late...

With the 2 hours earlier time, I just might have time to walk around Wurzburg for an hour before taking another train to Rothenburg.

DANKE!

"I just have to find a Mainz Hautbahnhof map somewhere in the web to get a picture of my "run"!"

Here.

I also have some station plans (including Mainz and Wuerzburg) on my website, www.germantravel-info.com/RailHome.htm (click on "station plans")

The track layout in Mainz is pretty conventional. Track 1 is by the station building, with it's own platform. Tracks 2 & 3 share a platform, 4 & 5, etc. You'll use tracks 4 & 6, which means going over one set of stairs in the tunnel. There is also a mall above the tracks and you can go up (stairs or escalator), over, and back down.

The thing to know about Mainz is that track 11, which is used by regional trains leaving to Bacharach, St. Goar, etc, is not a through track. It is a stub track dead-ending against the east end of the station building, across the platform from track 1.

Also, if you happen to change trains in Bingen Hbf, there are six track, numbered 103, 102, 101, 201, 202, 203. The station building sits on an island with tracks 101-103 on one side and tracks 201-203 on the other. To get from 101 to 201 you walk across the island. 201 to 202 probably requires a tunnel.

AMAZING! Does Rick know about this ? :-)

Thanks!

I just realized that once I get to Munich from Rothenburg, I could actually keep using my Bayern ticket to ride the Metro (MVV)! So, since I am staying only 2 nights, I only need to buy a 1-day CityTour card for my 2nd day. The day I leave, I can just get another Bayern ticket that takes me to Salzburg! Good deal!

I just have to plan what to visit when I arrive, since I need the CityTour card for discounts to sites/museums.

Correct. The Bayern-Ticket is also valid for all transport in the Verkehrverbuende of Bavaria, so once you get to Munich you can use it for the buses, trams, and U-/S-Bahn all over Munich.

As for local transport on your free day in Munich, figure out what you want to see and how much the "CityTour" card saves you. An all day Partner (up to five people) Tageskarte (day ticket) for the inner zone of the MVV costs €9. The inner zone includes everything people ordinarily want to see in Munich except Dachau. A Muenchen MVV XXL Partner Tageskarte, which will let you travel by S-Bahn and bus to Dachau, costs €11,80.

I will be arriving in Munich around 12:30pm assuming I catch all the trains in the schedule. I plan to drop off my bags in my Pension close to Marienplatz. Then proceed to Dachau. I hope this is enough time before it closes at 5pm.

So, next day, all I need to get would be the inner city pass. With my plan to visit the BMW Museum, 8 vs. 12 Euros/p, CityTour card might be worth it.

The S-Bahn station at the Hbf is under the street on the north side of the station. When the train comes in go to the far left corner of the "shed" area and you should see the green circle 'S' of the S-Bahn sign. You can take any S-Bahn to Marienplatz, they leave every 2 min and the trip takes 3 minutes with one stop at Karlstor.

When you leave Marienplatz, take the S2, direction (Richtung) Petershausen. The entire trip should take about 42 min including 24 min on the S2 and 7 min on bus 726. You'll have 11 min at Dachau station to find the bus.

The Marienplatz S-Bahn station has two levels, one for trains in the direction of the Hauptbahnhof, the other for trains headed for the Ostbahnhof (east station). Make sure you get the right level.