Question regarding German Bayern Pass - I bought it online last week and printed it out.
I went to the Bahnhof today to ask the young woman there a few questions - she speaks English, but acts like she got poop on the bottom of her shoe when she talks to us. I know that is 'neither here not there' - I try to be as polite as possible anyway to her and use what little German I know, in the hopes that she will eventually warm up to her. Anyway, she did not know the answer to my questions and told me to go find a Bahnhof phone number and call myself. I am hoping someone here can help and save me from having to search adn call around. 1. Do I just take my print out with me on the trip or do I have to cut out a portion of it and stamp it in the date machine? It is a Bayern Pass. 2. How do I know if the ticket will be good also for the bus in Fussen (going to Neuschwannstein Caslte). Thanks for reading and any advice!
Patty, Here is the official website about the Bayern-Ticket. I think they used to mention the RVO specifically; now they just say it is valid from nearly all bus lines in Bavaria. Exceptions would be the part of the line from Füssen to Reutte where is goes through Austria and the RVO line from Berchtesgaden to Salzburg Hbf (but it is valid for the trains from Berchtesgaden to Salzburg.
The Bayern-Ticket is dated (I hope you put in the correct date). The date should be printed on it, so you should not have to date stamp it. If the ticket has to be stamped it would have "Hier enwerten" printed somewhere. For automat Bayern-Tickets, someone does have to sign the ticket in blockprint and the ticket is only valid if that person accompanies it, but because you bought it online, it probably already has your name on it. You might have to show the conductor the credit card that was used for the purchase. The Bayern-Ticket is valid not only for all regional trains in Bavaria, but also buses of the Regionalverkehr Oberbayern (RVO), which operates a huge number of buses in the area including the one from Füssen Bahnhof to Hohenschwangau Hst. If you have some time left, you don't have to go back to Füssen Bahnhof and then by train to Munich. That same bus that comes out to Hohenschwangau continues on to Oberammergau (and Garmisch-Partenkirchen). You could take the bus to Oberammergau, see the town, have dinner, then return to Munich from there by train - all on the same Bayern-Ticket. But, I think the last bus from Hohenschwangau leaves around 17:23.
Lee, I love that tip regarding Oberammergau! Our first castle tour is @ 12:50 and Neuschwanstein @ 14:50. We should be able to be back down the hill by around 16:40 or so - which gives us a little less than an hour to wait for the 17:23 bus you mentioned ... or catch an earlier one if it is available. Is there a website that lists the times? I looked online at pics of Oberammergau - it looks so charming! About bus from Hohenschwangau ... is its next stop Oberammergau? If not, how many stops and miles until it gets to Oberammergau? Thanks again for all of your advice Lee - how do you know so much about Germany??? I hope one day I will be as knowledgeable and confident - I would like to be able to travel around Europe with out having panic attacks while organizing our itineraries.
Here is the schedule of the bus from Fuessen Bahnhof to Oberammergau. It takes a little over an hour to Oberammergau and makes lots of stops. The earlier bus leave Hohenschwangau at 16:13, and stops (briefly) at Wieskirche. There are a lot of little shops around the Hst. in Hohenschwangau. When we were first there, we had over an hour's wait for the bus to Oberstdorf (via Füssen Bhf) and my wife had no problem filling the time. If you wanted to spend the night in Oberammergau, I know a nice relatively inexpensive Gästehaus near the Bahnhof/Bus hst. in Oberammergau. The Gastgeberin is nice and speaks good English. You could take the bus to Linderhof the next day before returning to Munich.