What would be more economical for traveling the sites in Bavaria/Tyrol later in October 2011? We are a family of 4 adults each with his/her own source of income. We could purchase individual rail/bus tickets...or...we could share in the cost of a car rental divided by 4? Or maybe a little of both? We hope to spend 9 to 11 days in this region including the Rhine Valley up to Koblenz, Rothenberg, Munich, Reutte, Lake Constance, possibly Dolomites. Thanks for your insights.
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Lakewood, Colorado
19274 posts
Even splitting 4 ways a car large enough for 4 people and their luggage, I think you can save a lot using German Rail discount tickets and Länder passes vs a car. What are you planning on seeing on the Rhein below Koblenz? Regagen, Bonn, Köln? Or do you actually mean the Rhein "above" Koblenz - St. Goar, Bacharach. You see, the Rhein flow to the NW at Koblenz, so below is actually toward Netherlands. Where are you starting? At FRA? Using local S-Bahn tickets to Mainz (€3,90 pP) and a Rheinland-Pfalz Länder ticket (€30 for all 4 of you), anywhere between Bacharach and Koblenz (Bonn actually) would cost the same. It doesn't take that much time to go to Koblenz. I would start there and work your way UP the river toward Mainz. Then when you decide to go to Rothenburg, you'll have less time to travel. That's one of your longest leaps. You can get by train from, say, Bacharach, to Rothenburg in 4½ hrs using the fastest train with advance purchase Sparpreis tickets online from the Bahn for as low as €89 for all four of you, depending on how early you book. These are train specific, non-refundable tickets, so you have to be able to commit. OTOH, if you don't want to commit and are willing to use slightly slower, 5½ hr, regional connections, you can go for €60 for four, after 9 AM workdays or for €39 for four on a weekend day. For Rothenburg to Munich, a €29 Bayern-Ticket will cover all four of you to Munich by regional trains, which for this connection, are not much slower than express trains. As for Reutte, with a Bayern-Ticket you can get there as cheaply as to Füssen or Pfronten, but quite frankly, I think many of us here can't see the attraction of Reutte. I'd go to Füssen or Pfronten instead.