I'm trying to do a price comparison to determine if it would be more cost effective to wait and buy my railpasses in Germany & Austria next April & May 2009 rather than buying a Eurail Saver Pass before my trip (two people travelling). I've been using the Deutsche Bahn website to check schedules. However, I've noticed others on this site have mentioned Regional Rail Passes such as the Bayern Pass and Rhein-Pfalz Pass. Based on what I've seen in similar threads these regional railpasses appear to be relatively inexpensive and allow you unlimited travel within a particular region for any single day. Do they come in multi-day formats? Do these regional rail systems have their own websites? During my trip I'm going to homebase in Bacahrach, Darmstadt, Landau, Stuttgart, Munich, Salzburg, Vienna, Regensburg, Coburg and Frankfurt (3 nights at each location) and day trip from them to other cities nearby. I'd like to know what regional railpass options I have available so I can complete my cost estimate. Thanks!
Posted by
OP
Tifton, GA, USA
74 posts
I just found Länder-Tickets on the Deutsche Bahn webpage under special fares. They're good for the entire region for one day.
http://www.bahn.de/international/view/en/prices/germany/laender_tickets.shtml
Posted by
Lakewood, Colorado
19274 posts
These are not regional "passes". They are state(s) passes, called Länder-Tickets. Land is the German word for State; Länder is the plural.
Except for the Schönes-Wochenende-Ticket, which is valid for travel all over Germany on the weekends, Länder-Tickets are only valid in one German state (and a few "border stations"). You need to make sure you have a good understanding of where the borders are. For the Bayern-Ticket, you can see a map of the Land here.
Posted by
OP
Tifton, GA, USA
74 posts
Hey Lee! Thanks for the clarification. I kind of figured that out once I had a chance to read more about them. They appear to be a good deal if you're covering a lot of ground within one German state in one day. Although, if you're just making a couple of short hops its cheaper to buy P2P tickets. I started out thinking the covenience of a 10-days within 2 months Germany-Austria Eurail Saver Pass was the way to go but the more I learn how to navigate around the Deutsche Bahn website the more I see how much extra I'd be paying for that little bit of convenience. Just buying P2P tickets alone cuts my cost by about $200.
Posted by
Lakewood, Colorado
19274 posts
Shawn,
just to give you an example: I'm currently in Braunlage in the Harz area in Niedersachsen. I flew into Frankfurt on Thursday a week ago. I used a local ticket to Mainz and an €18 Rheinland-Pfalz-Ticket to Treis-Karden on the Mosel near Cochem. On Monday I went by train to Bad Harzburg using a Dauer-Spezial-Ticket which I bought online for €29. Tomorrow I use another €29 Dauer-Spezial-Ticket to go the Karlsruhe. Finally, I go from Karlsruhe to Mainz with another €18 Rheinland-Pfalz-Ticket where I will spend the night before flying from FRA on Wednesday.
This is just to show you what you CAN do if you understand the system and plan.
I have had some local transportation expenses, but nothing that would have been covered by a railpass.