Melnq8

We are a group of four, who will be travelling from Munich airport to Bamberg via train. We will arrive on a Saturday morning - my understanding is that the weekend Bayern ticket is valid from midnight Fri/Sat until 3 am the following day (Sunday). Cost for four is 43 Euro.

The Schönes Wochenende Ticket for four persons is 52 Euro and is good for the same time period.

Is there any advantage to purchasing a Schönes Wochenende Ticket instead of a Bayern ticket? Our main objective is transport to Bamberg, so I'm thinking not.

I assume the Schönes Wochenende Ticket covers a wider area?

Is there a weekend ticket that covers all day Saturday and Sunday for a group of four within Bavaria?

We will also be taking a day trip from Bamberg to Nuremburg, quite possibly the next day (Sunday). Best as I can tell, we'll need to purchase a second Bayern ticket for that (?).

Cowboy1968

I assume the Schönes Wochenende Ticket covers a wider area?

Correct. It covers the whole country, while the Bayern Ticket is "only" valid in the State of Bavaria -ülus a few bonus kms across the border, e.g. to Salzburg.

The Bayern Ticket exists only as a one day pass and also as an evening/night only ticket. But not as a multi day or Sat+Sun pass.

For travels in one region only, e.g. Franconia in your case, special tickets may exist, but I don't know it.

Melnq8

Thank you Cowboy.

Fussgaenger

Where is your hotel in Bamberg? Many hotels are quite a distance from the train station and you would be in a much better situation with the cheaper Bayern Ticket since the Schönes Wochenende Ticket does not cover local buses. With the Bayern ticket you can hop on a bus from the station into the old town and elsewhere that same day, if you like.

You could also use the Bayern Ticket to get around Nuremberg by bus, tram, S-bahn or subway... your journey to Bamberg will mean a stopover in Nuremberg so you could do your sightseeing there on the way to Bamberg (instead of making an extra day trip on Sunday to Nuremberg.)

Melnq8

Our hotel in Bamberg is walking distance from the main station; I've stayed there before.

We'll have just arrived into Munich from an overnight flight from the US, so doubt we'll be up for exploring Nuremburg en route, but thanks for the suggestion Fussgaenger.

Fussgaenger

Overnight from the US - like on the plane for what, 10-15 hours? It's going to be a long slog that Saturday from Munich to Bamberg on the Bayern Ticket since you can't use the high-speed trains, just a sequence of regional trains.

It might be worth paying for the high-speed train option to Bamberg - have you looked into the travel times and prices? Or maybe just spend Day 1 in Munich or at Munich airport or Freising and go on to Bamberg the next day. Or maybe look into the Bayern Ticket train times for Nuremberg instead of Bamberg and stay there on Saturday. (There are fast trains to Nuremberg that take about one hour but of course you have to shuttle into Munich first and change trains.)

swandav2000

Well, I'm like Melnq8. I consider arrival day just the day of transport, and I push on to get to my desired location; I'm tired anyway, and an extra hour or two doesn't make me much more tired. In addition, I really love waking up in my desired destination instead of having to face transport to get there.

Plus, I really dislike the hassle of an additional night enroute; it means checking in & unpacking .... looking for a place for dinner .... then packing up again and checking out in the morning.

But Melnq8 is an experienced hand at arrivals in Germany & Switzerland!! She travels often, arriving in Europe twice or more times each year, and she used to do it from Australia. So these comments are less for Melnq8 than for other readers who may be considering adding an extra stop upon arrival.

Melnq8, hope you'll do a trip report!

s

sla019

> We will also be taking a day trip from Bamberg to Nuremburg, quite possibly the next day (Sunday). Best as I can tell, we'll need to purchase a second Bayern ticket for that (?).

The VGN, the transport authority for the greater Nuremberg area, offers a tagesticket plus (€19.10 for two). It covers the entire VGN area (map: http://www.vgn.de/en/maps/vgn?&Edition=en) and is valid both saturday and sunday (You could use ot, e.h. to go to Rothenburg on saturday and to Bamberg on sunday). It's available both from VGN and DB ticket machines.

Fussgaenger

>I'm tired anyway, and an extra hour or two doesn't make me much more tired.

I agree, but what if it's longer quite a bit more than 1-2 hrs? I've looked, and from MUC it's about 3 hrs on 2 trains - and that's if the OP were using the ICE train between Munich and Bamberg. But Melnq8 wants to use the Bayern Ticket to Bamberg - that actually takes more than 4 hours of additional travel on a minimum of 3 trains after customs, baggage, and arrival at the Munich airport train station. Ugh.

Sometimes you just want to land and get a hot shower and a change of clothes and relax. Maybe all 4 passengers are flying in first with mega-legroom and will all sleep like babies and will all find this train sequence perfectly doable, but IME this isn't likely.

>Plus, I really dislike the hassle of an additional night enroute.

Yeh, me too. I'd probably turn Bamberg into a day trip destination rather than a travel base and just stay in Nuremberg for 2 nights instead...

Nuremberg is 2 hrs. from MUC using the ICE or 2 3/4 hours on the Bayern ticket. The Sunday day trip (now N'berg-B'berg-N'berg) is the same length with a Nuremberg base.

Where are you heading after Bamberg and Nuremberg, Melnq8? If you're returning to Munich or heading south, the Nuremberg base saves you time again. If Prague is in your sights, same thing. Regensburg is only 1 hour from Nuremberg but 2 hours from Bamberg. Nuremberg is a transport and a better travel base altogether for most destinations.

swandav2000

Yup Fussgaenger, same answer --

Before I moved to Germany, I used to fly from the USA into Zuerich, then take the train to Wengen, almost 5 hours. No problem. I was normally so excited to be in Europe again that I'd get a new jolt of energy...and then some Swiss black coffee on the train would also help.

s

Melnq8

Swandv is correct, I consider the day of arrival a travel day and would prefer to just get where I'm going. This is how we've always done it, even when coming from Australia, a journey you'd have to experience to fully appreciate. It works for us.

I have no issues with sitting on a train for several hours after a long flight - I find it weirdly relaxing. I'm just trying to work out the logistics in advance so I don't have to think much upon arrival The idea behind the Bayern ticket is to keep costs down for the group. I will look at the cost of ICE trains though and offer both as options.

We arrive into Munich around 10 am, will cash up and have some breakfast, get sorted and be on our way to Bamberg - I've looked at train schedules and came up with about three hours on regional trains - will look again. The idea is to get there right about check in time, rest up and then hit the streets of Bamberg.

This is a week long trip I'm putting together for a group of four women - Christmas Market focused. I've been to Germany many times, but this is new for all of them so I'd hoped to fit in both Nuremberg and Bamberg, but it's really not essential. I thought we could take a day trip to Nuremberg from Bamberg - I've done it before in reverse, it takes about 45 minutes each way as I recall.

Thanks for the reminder on the Tages Ticket Sla019, I'd forgotten about that one.

FWIW, here's our itinerary:

Arrive Munich - train to Bamberg, three nights Bamberg with a possible day trip to Nuremburg

Train to Rothenburg ob Tauber - two nights

Train to Munich - two nights

The original plan was to go to Rothenburg ob Tauber first, but I had a hard time finding four rooms in the same hotel as it's First Sunday of Advent, and the opening weekend of the Christmas Market, so I shuffled.

Not my usual rate of travel, but this trip is more for the others than for me. They will return to the US on Saturday, I will stay in Munich for a few extra nights, meet up with my spouse and we will head to Switzerland for three weeks.

Thank you all for your input.

Melnq8

Looks like the Bayern ticket (regional trains) takes 4:19.

The fast trains take 2:43.

But it's a 76 Euro difference in price!

Think we'll stick to the Bayern.

sla019

You might want to check with your airline whether they participate in Deutsche Bahn's Rail&Fly program. It won't save large sums (airlines usually charge €29/traveller) but the big advantage is that you can take any time any train (including ICE) to any destination in Germany, i.e. you are neither subject to the 9am restriction of the Bayern ticket nor the train specifity of the ICE saver fares. R&F tickets have to be booked through the airline.

Melnq8

Thanks sla019. We're flying Lufthansa, which does participate, but it seems you need to book the rail at time of booking the flights?

sla019

Sorry, I cannot answer that. But why not contact them? Wish you success!