I wonder if I need a Eurail pass for going through the above places ? Do I need to reserve or just purchase tickets locally as I go ? Which is cheaper for a couple travelling?
Still debating if I should go to Fuessen to see castles or Nurnberg (just because train rides seems easier as it is closer to Rothenburg).
Thanks, er, Danke!
If you click on the "Railpasses" tab at the top of the page you will be directed to a wealth of information.
Thanks! I was actually looking for someone who might have done this similar route. I guess I'll have to look at the Deutche Bahn site...
Frankfurt (I assume you mean FRA, the airport) to the Rhein is a couple of local tickets to Mainz @ 3,70 pP plus a €27 Rheinland-Pfalz dayticket. You can go from the Rhein to Rothenburg for €49 for both people with an online purchase Dauer-Spezial Familie ticket. Rothenburg to Nürnberg is €14,20 for both of you with a VGN Tages-Ticket Plus. You can go from Nürnberg to Munich and from Munich to Salzburg for €28 for two, each trip, with Bayern-Tickets.
That's about €154 total, about $217 at $1.41/Eur. You can't get a 5 day railpass for that.
That's what I'm looking for! You are awesome! Thanks, Lee!
I guess the challenge now is how to read in German to reserve tickets online.
All of that travel, except for the express train (IC, ICE) links from the Rhein to Rothenburg, are regional trains, which don't have reservations anyway. The Dauer-Spezial ticket from the Rhein to Rothenburg adds reservations for the express train legs for an extra €4 per family. The Bahn query page is in English.
Sorry, I meant to purchase online.
I would say that there is little advantage to purchasing regional tickets in advance, online, but buying them at the counter is definitely not a good idea.
First, there is no ticket counter in St. Goar, only an automat, and I doubt that Rothenburg odT is purchasable from that automat. You could purchase a ticket for two to Mainz (€20,60) and then, at the counter in Mianz, purchase a ticket for two to Rothenburg (€71,60). That's €92,20 for both of you.
If you were somewhere else in Germany with a ticket counter before you got to St. Goar, you could just buy two through regional tickets from St. Goar to Rothenburg for €82,80. If the counter worker was extra nice, he might sell you a regional ticket for two from St. Goar to Kahl am Main (€43,80) and Bayern-Ticket (€30 counter price) to use from Kahl to Rothenburg, €73,80 total.
Travel by regional train from St. Goar to Rothenburg will take 5½ hrs. However, if you go online, to the Bahn website, and purchase a Dauer-Spezial Familie ticket from St. Goar to Rothenburg, it might only cost you €49 (for two). That is for a 4½ hour trip with an ICE leg from Mainz to Würzburg.
So, what will it be - regional train tickets at the counter for €74-€92 or express trains tickets, in advance, online for €49? The Dauer-Spezial ticket does commit you to a specific ICE from Mainz to Würzburg, but look how much you save.
For Nürnberg to Munich, the price of a regional ticket for two at the counter is €61,60. Or you can do the same trip on the same trains for €28 with a Bayern-Ticket purchased from an automat.
There is no advantage (and several disadvantages) to purchasing regional train tickets online beforehand. Just show up at the station and by them there. It couldn't be easier. You will be far from the first English speaker they have encountered.
Thanks all!
Still contemplating my one stop, maybe you can give some advice for a first timer in Germany. Here are my options:
Currently, I have one night in St. Goar after arriving at 1:35pm in FRA, then proceed to Rothenburg next day. Thinking of maybe an extra night, so I could hike to Burg Eltz.
Go to Nurnberg (1 nt) after Rothenburg, since train ride is easier. I guess this will be a Nazi tour experience.
Go to Fuessen (1 nt) after Rothenburg for the 2 castles, but it seems hard to go around if I don't have a car. And it looks like I have to book the castle ticket online to assure entrance.
What would be your vote ?
If it were my trip, and I could add a night in St. Goar, I would do it. There is so much to see on the Mittelrhein, you need more than one night (I spent five). Unless you have a real fixation for Burg Eltz, I think it takes too long to get to from St. Goar. There are other things to see, such as Bacharach, the Marksburg, in Braubach, and Rheinfels, right there in St. Goar, that you don't need to go all the way to Burg Eltz.
As for Füssen, you CAN get there from Rothenburg by train. It takes 6 hours and costs €28 with a Bayern-Ticket, far less than renting a car. There are regular buses from Füssen to Hohenschwangau, which are included with the Bayern-Ticket. If you go to Füssen one day, spend the night, and see the castles in the morning, you shouldn't need reservations.
So, I take it that the Dauer-Spezial ticket can only be purchased online ? It says it can be purchased from a DB vending machine (is this the Automat?), but I guess not all stations have it as you said.
The reason I'm thinking of Burg Eltz is that it is preserved for 800 yrs and still owned by the Eltz family. It must be a good reason why it is Rick's favorite castle of all Europe. The setting is also picturesque, like Neuschwanstein, which was only built in the 1800's. But I should read more about your suggestions and see more sites! Thanks!
Dauer-Spezial tickets can be purchased online. They must be purchased 3 days in advance, but they do sell out well in advance. If you wait until 3 days before train time, they will probably be sold out.
There is a €5 charge (per ticket or per order?) to purchase the ticket at a counter, and reservations at the counter are €4 each vs. €2 online.
OK, I think you convinced me to stay 2 nights in the Rhine Valley. But would you suggest booking a place in St. Goar or Bacharach ?
Also, do Bayern Tickets have schedules ? Or is it like a hop on-hop off anywhere in Bavaria ?
Thanks!
http://www.554-male.rheinhotel.biz/germany/index.html
This will give you a good idea of places to stay and overnight along the Rhein.
The Bayern ticket or the Rhineland Pfalz ticket is just a little piece of paper that the conductor will look at and stamp when they check tickets on the train. Nothing to validate on your part. Just buy it from the machine and go get on your train. For schedules, you might be able to pick one of these up at the Hauptbahnhof in Frankfurt, or when you get off of the train, look at the posted schedule in the train station to see what time the train comes through again. Typically, about one an hour along the Rhein. Can't really say about Bavaria as this is a huge area.
You CAN get Bayern- and Rheinland-Pfalz-Tickets at the Hauptbahnhof in Frankfurt, but not from the local (DB/RMV) ticket automats. You can get them from the newer Bahn automats, the ones with touch screens. There is a touch pad for "Länder Tickets". You can also get one at a ticket counter, but it will cost you €2 more.
The Länder-Tickets are all day passes (hop on/off) for any regional train in the state. There is a line on the ticket for one of the users, who will always be with the group, to sign in block letters.
If you are planning to go down the Rhein (toward Koblenz) it might be better to stay in St. Goar. St. Goar is in the Verkehrsverbund-Rhein-Mosel, which extend down the Rhein almost to Bonn and up the Mosel to Bullay, and they have a Minigruppentageskarte for €20 for up to 5 people. Bacharach is outside the Verkehrsverbund.
Thank you, Jo and Lee!
Final questions (I hope), do the machines accept US credit cards, like Capital One Visa ? Finally, can I purchase the Bayern tickets in advance ?, say I want to buy the Bayern tickets as soon as I arrive in Frankfurt for use 4 and 5 days later ?
Thanks for your patience!
The modern, touch screen, Bahn automats, which you will see in any station having express train service, as well as in other smaller stations, will probably accept American credit cards, but not cash. Along side them will be local "Nahverkehr" automats, which will probably accept cash, but no plastic. That, anyway, is what I found in the Frankfurt airport Regionalbahnhof in November.
Any Bahn automat will have a touchpad for Länder-Tickets, and touching it will allow you to select Länder-Tickets for any Land. On the Nahverkehr automats, you will only find the Länder-Ticket for the state you are in. That is, Bayern-Ticket will be one of the buttons on the column of buttons on the automats in Bavaria, but not in Hesse (Frankfurt). Either way, when you select Bayern-Ticket, it will give you a choice of Bayern-Ticket (2-5 P), Bayern-Ticket-Single (1 P), or Bayern-Nacht, and maybe some others. After you select the ticket you want (Bayern-Ticket or Bayern-Ticket-Single) you will be shown a screen with "Heute" (today), "Morgen" (tomorrow), or "andere Datum" (other date). If you want a date more than two days in advance, select "andere Datum" and it will let you select the date from a calendar.
Of course, for €2 more, you can always purchase any Länder-Ticket at a ticket counter, and they will probably speak English.
Whatever, remember to sign the Bayern-Ticket.
DANKE!
