We would like to travel by rail from Amsterdam to Frankfurt and take some day trips in each. When I select the share option (two of more people) traveling together, I must select 3 ajoining countries. I consider Netherlands as the home country and then select the three. Is that correct or do you have a better suggestion. Thank you.
Posted by
Tresana, Highlands Ranch, CO, USA
23564 posts
Ya, first reaction, don't buy a rail pass. Rail passes are no longer automatic good deals. For your limited trips I would guess that p2p tickets would be cheaper. However, you will not know for sure until you do your homework. You will need to price each trip and add it up. Most days around cities will be covered on an all day ticket.
Posted by
Danville, VT
12040 posts
Don't even think of buying a 3rd party pass for this one. For daytrips in the Netherlands, Nederlands Spoorweg sells various day and 5 day passes, but depending on where you want to go, point-to-point tickets may be even cheaper. There's no advantage to advanced purchases, simply buy the tickets or pass at the station. For Amsterdam to Frankfurt, if you can commit to riding a specific train far in advanced (90 days), you can buy a ticket for as little as €49, or €69 for the fastest connection. For daytrips around Frankfurt (of which I can make some suggestions, if you want), Länder ticket would probably be your best option... Lee from Colorado can fill you in on this option, he knows the details better than me. 3rd party rail passes are very good at making a nice profit for the agencies that sell them, but they rarely are a good deal for travelers anymore.
Posted by
Paradise
6942 posts
A multi-country railpass is very likely far more expensive than other options. If you plan ahead, there are advance-sale tickets for the long-distance leg Amsterdam-Frankfurt for as little as 78 Euros/2 people at http://reiseauskunft.bahn.de/bin/query.exe/en Individual tickets, regional daypass options and cheap return tickets from A'Dam and F'furt will make your railpass a pretty bad deal. When are you traveling? What daytrips do you have planned? It's hard to offer specific advice without this info. From Frankfurt, you can get a group daypass for 20 Euros per day to explore local towns and villages. If you plan to daytrip to the Rhine and Mosel region from Frankfurt, you might consider a stay there prior to Frankfurt. This will require less travel time and accommodations will surely be a better deal. Travel to Boppard on the Rhine, for example (58 Euros for 2 from A'dam, adv. sale) and you're in a great location to visit medieval castles, enjoy a river cruise, etc. From Boppard, 3 days of daytrips by train using the local tourist authority (VRM) 3-day pass would cost two of you 40 Euros total.