I will be visiting Germany in September during Oktoberfest. Flying into Frankfurt going to Munich, sight-seeing the Fussen area, possibly going to Rothenburg, visiting Amsterdam for a few days (Belgium if time permits) and then flying out of Frankfurt.
I am thoroughly confused by all of the rail choices.
Can anyone suggest the cheapest rail option with consideration of time? Will reservations be an issue?
Posted by
Minneapolis, MN, USA
8700 posts
If you can commit to a specific departure date and time now, you can get a non-refundable, non-exchangeable Dauer-Spezial fare as low as €29 for Frankfurt-Munich at www.bahn.de. (The standard 2nd class fare is €89.)
If you do the same for Munich-Amsterdam and Amsterdam-Frankfurt, you can get Europa-Spezial Niederlande fares as low as €39. (The standard fares are on either side of €100.)
For your trips within Bavaria (Munich-Füssen-Rothenburg) a €20 Bayern-ticket will allow you to travel all day on regional trains and will also be good for local transportation (including buses) in Munich. See here.
Posted by
PCH, CA, USA
113 posts
We're having the same issues. I got good responses with my questions, aside from Tim's good tips. Look for this question in the list: Trains via Frankfurt-Rhine-Rothenburg-Nurnberg-Munich-Salzburg
Posted by
Vernon, Canada
32352 posts
Carla,
You might try entering each of your rail trips into www.railsaver.com. The web site will "suggest" the best combination of Rail Pass and/or P-P tickets for the trip you enter. I've found that it provides a fairly good estimate.
You might also download the free PDF Rail Guide from this website (click the "Railpasses" tab at the top of this page).
There's a train station in the Frankfurt Airport, so you can buy your initial tickets there, either from a ticket machine or an agent. That will get you to your first stop (Munich). If you need any information while you're in Munich, you might stop by the Euraide office in the Munich Hbf. I found them to be enormously helpful.
Reservations will be "an issue" if you're using high speed trains. If you're going from Munich to Amsterdam, the TGV would really be the best choice so you'll need a reservation for that. If you decide to buy a P-P ticket for that section, it will include the reservation. If you use a Rail Pass, you'll have to pay for the reservation separately.
Happy travels!