I'm curious about purchasing a train ticket from Amsterdam to Munich. Because my friend and I aren't travelling until next spring, there isn't much on the web to help me figure out the costs. Anyone have a general idea of what we should budget? We fly back out of Amsterdam, so we will probably need a round trip ticket unless it is cheaper to do two one-ways. Thanks for any help!
Posted by
Tempe, AZ, USA
1265 posts
Marybeth - You can go to the bahn.de website and put in dates to get a rough estimate of cost. The spring schedules will not be available until late December. I put in a date in December and round trip fares are as little as 78 eruo. The travel time is about 9 hours. Tim & Lee are extremely knowledgeable on the German rail system. They can give you quite a bit more information.
You could also do an open jaw ticket into Amsterdam and out of Munich. I used sidestep.com to get a rough estimate on airfares. Right now for spring travel of PDX-AMS-MUC-PDX airfares start at are around $770.
Posted by
Lakewood, Colorado
19119 posts
I agree with Steve that you should look at an open-jaws airline ticket (unless you are using miles and can only fly to Amsterdam or have already bought your ticket.)
In most cases 2 one way tickets (Amst. Munich and Munich Amst.) will be best. You can get Europa-Spezial-Tickets each way for as low as €39/pP (and reservations are half the counter price). These tickets require advance purchase from the Bahn and sooner is better (once they go on sale) because they sell out at the lowest price levels.
Almost as good would be a SparPreis 50 fare, which requires advance RT purchase and a Saturday night stay. The first person pays half (50%) of the full fare and up to four Mitfahrer (co-travelers) pay half of the first person's fare.
Posted by
OP
Portland, OR
26 posts
Sorry - I didn't put enough info! We have plane tickets and are travelling to Paris and then to Amsterdam. But from Amsterdam, we'd like to travel by train to Munich, then to visit friends near Nuremberg, then back to Amsterdam! So at this point we are developing a loose itinerary and budget! I love train travel and really look forward to this bit. Thanks for all the help so far!
Posted by
Minneapolis, MN, USA
8700 posts
On weekends there is a direct Amsterdam-Munich night train and a direct Munich-Amsterdam night train. If you book well in advance (up to 90 days allowed) at www.bahn.de, you can get discount fares and save the cost of a night in a hotel. If the timing of your trip is right, you could travel one way during the day and the other way overnight. Couple a discount fare for the night train with the Europa-Spezial-Ticket described by Lee for a daytime route and you'll strike a real bargain.
Posted by
Lakewood, Colorado
19119 posts
RailEurope charges $107 ($89 + $18 S&H) for a reclining seat on the night train from Amsterdam to Munich. For $103 (€69) online from the Bahn you can get a bed in a couchette 4 on the same train. Why would anybody go to RailEurope?
Posted by
SF Bay Area, CA, USA
508 posts
Marybeth - I know you mentioned that you liked train travel, but consider flying for one or both of the legs. Kayak.com currently shows some non-stop round trip flights ranging from $130-$250 next spring.
Also, consider changing your return flight home to open jaw. If the fare goes down and the change fee is reasonable, it might work out to fly home out of Germany. I have changed both non-refundable and miles tickets to open-jaw as it was much easier and about the same price as travelling back to the place my flight was booked.