train tkts FRA to koblenz, koblenz to other sites

What the heck is a "regionalbahnhof fare"? The regionalbahnhof doesn't go anywhere; there is no fare for using it. The FRA to Koblenz fare by regional train (which would leave from the regionalbahnhof) is now €22,70/p. It might have been €21,90 when the post was made. That would be the regional fare, whether you take the RE direct to Koblenz Hbf or an S-Bahn to Mainz and a regional train from there to Koblenz. The fare from Frankfurt Flughafen to Mainz is now €4,10/p; the Rheinland-Pfalz-Ticket is €25 for 2 people. You can use that ticket combination for the S-Bahn to Mainz and regional train to Koblenz or for a regional train all the way to Koblenz, as long as it stops in Mainz (and I suspect all of them do). You can buy regional tickets from a ticket automat or from a ticket counter in the regionalbahnhof at FRA. You can also buy the S-Bahn ticket to Mainz at an automat or ticket counter. In both cases, the ticket will cost the same. However, if you buy the Rheinland-Pfalz-Ticket at the counter, they will charge you an extra €2 for personal service. You probably can't buy the RL-P ticket at a regional ticket machine at the airport (because it's in Hesse), but the red/blue/white Bahn machine will sell it for the €25 price. You could purchase the Rheinland-Pfalz-Ticket online, but there is no cost advantage vs an automat, and it is a bit more complicated. For Koblenz to Trier, Köln, or Bacharach, use another RL-P ticket. If you are only going to St. Goar, you can use a Verkehrsverbund Rhein-Mosel Minigruppekarte for €20 for both of you, RT.

thanks, lee. for clarification, at the FRA airport, i can buy the s-bahn tkt of 4+ euro that will take me from FRA to mainz, then buy the RL-P tkt of 25 euro for 2 in mainz that will take me from mainz to koblenz? also, buying from the automat does not charge an extra 2 euro as opposed to buying from a tkt counter? does the automat have english instructions? an added question: is staying in bacharach easier in terms of accommodations than staying in koblenz? if the RL-P tkts are cheap, it would be no hassle to visit cochem, trier, etc from bacharach? thanks, lee. i appreciate it.

The ticket machines at the Frankfurt Airport are touch screen and they combine the Deutsche Bahn and the local RMV all into one machine. They are now turquoise. They also switch into English. When you want to buy a local ticket, touch the RMV logo. When you want to buy a longer distance ticket or a Laender ticket, touch the DB logo. You can buy Laender tickets for all of Germany at the Frankfurt airport and the main train station, so you don't need to get off the train in Mainz to buy an extra ticket. There are direct trains going from Frankfurt through the airport and on to Koblenz.

There will probably be two kinds of automats. The red/white/blue Bahn automat has a touch screen and should display in English (I've never used one of the new ones and don't need English). The blue/white Nahverkehr (local transport) automats probably don't do English, but in Mainz and Koblenz, there should be a button in the column of buttons on the right hand side for the Rheinland-Pfalz-Ticket. After you press that button, it might show you a calendar for you to enter the date for the ticket you want. Or, it might give you a choice or Heute, Morgen, and Andere. If buying for that date, press the number for Heute (today). I have some instructions for using the automats here. Jo, you're up early. As for where to stay: Bacharach is ok, and you can find places at www.bacharach.de. The hotel information is in German, put Hotels/Restaurants from the pulldown where it will say "Alle Betriebe". After each hotel name, click on "mehr infos". Many hotels will show a URL and an email address. The website for nearby St. Goar (www.st-goar.de) might be a little more user friendly (the hotel info is in English). Change the site to English and click "Host directory". Those two towns might be better for accommodations. They are small enough that you can walk to your hotel. Koblenz is a lot bigger, and you might have to figure out public transportation. You might also try Braubach (www.braubach.de). It's a smaller town, closer to Koblenz, but the website is not in English.

thanks, lee and jo. i have saved the website for the automats so i can print it out later.