Koblenz to köln day trip : 3 adults plus 1 child

Can I use a Rhineland pfalz quer durchs land....

You are combining two different products, the Rheinland-Pfalz Ticket, and the Quer durchs Land Ticket.

The Rheinland-Pfalz Ticket is only good as far as Bonn Hbf, even though Bonn is just over the border in Nord Rhein-Wesatfalen. Cost is 29 EUR for two if the child is under 15 and one of the adults is a parent or grandparent.

The Quer durchs Land Ticket is good across Land borders, so would completely cover you for the day from Koblenz to Cologne and back. Cost is 52 EUR for 2 and same restriction for the child as the R-P Ticket.

Since a VRS Preisstufe level 4 ticket is required from Bonn Hbf and Cologne Hbf, the cost for a group day ticket is 26.50 EUR. Add the R-P ticket for 29 EUR, the total is 54.50 EUR. That is more than the cost of the QdL ticket, so go with the Qdl ticket.

VRS English brochure.
https://www.vrsinfo.de/fileadmin/Dateien/downloadcenter/Schienennetz2018_Flyer_mini_engl.pdf

DB regional offers.
https://www.bahn.com/en/view/offers/regional/index.shtml?dbkanal_007=L04_S02_D002_KIN0059_FLYOUT-ANGEBOTE-REGIONAL-ANGEBOTE_LZ01

Thanks for straightening that out. Interestingly, the dbahn app now prices a Koblenz köln round-trip after 9 am on RE/RB only, to 68 euros. I'll try the combo you suggested.

It should show 68 EUR for 3 adults and a child under 15. Sorry, I was thinking 2 adults and 1 child. With 3 adults, you have to include the child.

So the R-P ticket 39 EUR and the VRS ticket is unchanged at 26.50 totaling 65.50 EUR, plus you will have free local transit in Cologne for the day.

"So the R-P ticket 39 EUR and the VRS ticket is unchanged at 26.50 totaling 65.50 EUR, plus you will have free local transit in Cologne for the day."

I think that's right with Bonn as the switch-point for these tickets.

It would be possible to shave a few Euros off your total by choosing Remagen instead.

Koblenz - Remagen: VRM mini-group ticket for up to 5 persons (€23, buy at ticket machine in Koblenz)
Remagen - Cologne VRS group day ticket (€36.40 for price level 5)

total = €59.40

Very helpful. The switch point is the key to this puzzle.

How does this calculus change if I were to do this on a Saturday. I.e
Koblenz - köln.
Spend 3-4.5 hours in köln
Get on an IC/ICE to Frankfurt flug/fern/regional be

I'm thinking I can use the last suggestion of using Remagen as the switch point for two separate tickets from Koblenz to köln. That way the VRS ticket helps with local travel in köln. But buy a one way on ice / IC from köln to FRA given the time constraint that I want to minimize time spent on the train to Frankfurt (while maximizing time in köln).

I see an ice17 from köln to FRA that works for us at 137.5 euros. Plus the earlier combo suggested with remagen as the switch point.

Thoughts / suggestions?

/ to Frankfurt flug/fern/regional be

Now you're no longer talking about a daytrip from Koblenz. I personally think Cologne is worth more than 4 hours. (Somebody wrote here recently that all you need to see is the Dom! OK, it's the most visited site in the country, ahead of everything in Berlin, but it's not the best thing in Cologne.) And you have to worry about whether your bags will fit in the Cologne HBF robot locker machine. It is true that Cologne is uniquely do-able from the HBF without any transit whatsoever. Are you allowing for three hours to check in at FRA?

Our group is not interested in the Dom, having been there before. We have other appointments in FRA that need us to be there by about 6 pm triggering the thought of ice.

You have a DB app, you really don't switch trains, you switch tickets. So per the original plan, you buy both a VRM Minigruppenkarte and a VRS Level 5 TagesTicket 5-Personen and load them on your smart phone. If the conductor comes by between Koblenz and Remagen, you show him/her the VRM ticket, if from Remagen to Cologne, you show the VRS ticket. Same going back.

Now you are looking at changing the plan and go on a Saturday early, then turn around and go to Frankfurt airport. are you staying at a local hotel overnight, then flying out the next morning?

Seems like 137.70 EUR to take the ICE Sprinter to save 2 hours is strange given all the calculations to get to Cologne from Koblenz for the least amount of money. That ICE price is for a nonrefundable train specific ticket.

You could maintain flexibility buy just buying a Schoenes Wochenende ticket for 62 EUR, then a VRS Level 1b TagesTicket 5-Personen for 13.10 EUR to get around on local transit. You'd go to Frankfurt airport the way you came to Koblenz, then to Frankfurt airport. Longer, but more scenic than the Sprinter, although you do get watch the speedometer screen in the carriage hit 350 kph.

Its your money and your time. Take your pick.

I have been to Cologne many times. So I asked the gang and we ultimately chose to just take it easy and bicycle on the rhine near Koblenz.

Yes, we are checking into a hotel at Frankfurt the night before our flight so we can get to our flight easily.

"I asked the gang and we ultimately chose to just take it easy and bicycle on the rhine near Koblenz."

You still might wish to pick up one of those VRM mini-group tickets. Bikes can be transported on the regional trains at any hour on Sat and Sun and after 9 am weekdays. Good to know if you want to see more but don't want to bike back. They're also good for passage on some river ferries (like the St. Goar - St. Goarshausen ferry) if you wish to bike along separate river banks. You could use the VRM ticket to reach your bike rental shop by local bus too. And of course it's a day pass - so an impromptu outing after you're done biking would be possible as well within the VRM zone (shown in light green below.)

http://www.vrminfo.de/fileadmin/data/pdf/2015/Schienennetzplan.pdf