chosebinne

Hi !

my small family (2 adults and 2 kids of 4 and 8 years old) will be in Germany next summer. I've taken a good look ont seat61 website and we,re still debating if we should buy a rail pass or single tickets.

For now the only (but big) advantage would be to be able to hop on any train. Since we already know our itinerary (and booked all our lodging) we think that we could buy long travel ticket the day they became avaible (mid april).

heres' the train we will need to take:

1- Berlin to Dresden
2- Dresden to Nuremberg
3- Daytrips from Nuremberg (Rothenburg, Playmobil park, Bamberg)
4- Nuremberg to Salzburg
5 - daytrip from Salzburg (Berchtesgaden)
6- Salzburg to Munich
7- Munich to Cochem or Cologne (and the Cologne to Cochem)
8- daytrips from Cochem
9- Cochem to Luxembourg (fly back home )

Mots of the are not very long ride (except for Dresden to Nuremberg and Munich to Cologne (or Cochem). A rail pass would cost us 360 Euro for 5 days in one month. Of course ww could also take 3 days (314 Euro) 4 days (336 Euro ) or 7 days (445 Euro). Those prices are for second class.

What would you do ?

sla019

No.s 3-5-6-8 could be done with cheap regional ticket easily. E.g., Nürnberg - Bamberg: VGN-Ticket, Nürnberg - Rothenburg and Salzburg - Munich: Bayernticket.

chosebinne

Do I have to book those regional tickets in advance ? If i eneter destinations on bahn.com will the system show me price for regional tickets ?

PalenQ

a 10-day German Flexipass costs $352 per adult - kids go free so per day that is per person about $35 or say 30 euros p.p.for fully flexible hop on just about any train anytime travel. discounted tickets would be about the same but train-specific and need to be booked in stone weeks ahead of time to guarantee.

You trains in Bavaria could be covered by the Bavaria Pass, sold in any German station, which includes Salzburg Hbf but you are restricted to regional trains and Nuremburg to Salzburg could take a whole lot longer than on the fastest trains and regional trains are not nearly as comfy either and can be mobbed at any time - like when school kids clamber aboard for a few stops as I have seen several times on these trains that act as school buses too.

Maybe a couple of day you could do the Bavarian ticket where up to 5 i think people can ride regional trains all day at will for about 30-35 euro total. So maybe an 8-day pass would be better to look at. But for 30 euros a day you can't save too much for what you may sacrifice in terms of taking any train anytime...

a 7-day pass costs $245p.p. or about $40/day so the more days you buy the cheaper per day the become.

Check these sites in addition to www.seat61.com for info on German trains and railpasses: www.ricksteves.com and www.budgeteuropetravel.com (I've bought various passes from Byron here for years and IME he will expertly answer all questions even if not buying anything with no hard sell. I think you could with discounted tickets and the Bavaria Pass get away a bit cheaper than the pass but again lose flexibility to hop any train and it also involves a lot of time to nail down those discounted seats.

I would go with the pass because I love total flexibility but others may want everything set in stone before leaving - fine just don't miss that specific train (with kids that age I'd like the feeling of leisurely packing up and heading to the station rather than having to be at the station at a set time).

PalenQ

Do I have to book those regional tickets in advance ? If i eneter destinations on bahn.com will the system show me price for regional tickets ?>

NO -- yes bahn.de/en will show R (Regional) train prices I believe but there are no seat reservations possible I think (but not sure) but you buy the pass at any German station the day you want to travel - seat reservations if possible would be extra - same with discounted tickets I believe.

chosebinne

Thanks alot PalenQ. You are very helpful !

And one more Thing, I don't know if it does change anything about buying (or not) a rail pass but we live in Canada.

PalenQ

Well the prices I gave were in U S dollars - you would buy in Can$ in Canada at I think about the same equivalent prices - check ACP Rail in Quebec, the North American distributor of German rail products I think- currently have a 20% off a 7-day Flexipass says their site: http://www.acprail.com/rail-passes/german-rail-pass.

chosebinne

That 20% off is only for travel until may 31.

The price I gave on my first message is from raileurope.ca (which is the website suggest on seat61 website).

chosebinne

I also check regional ticket. Two questions:

1) can i found maps of each region deserve by specific regional pass somewhere ?

2) I've read that kids Under 15 travel for freen with their parent on regional Tickets. When i'm on reservation page for those regional tickets I select 4 peoples and there's no way to indicate that 2 kids is travelling with 2 adults (so the price is 38 euro instead of 28)

3) I also saw vrb pass that are cheaper what are those ?

chosebinne

I've made some dummy search in 3 months:

Berlin-Dresden; 38 Euro
Dresden- Nuremberg: 52 Euro
Nuremberg-Salzburg: 38-48 Euro
Salzburg-Munich: 38 Euro
Munich-Cologne: 118-158.

A total between 284 and 334 Euro. The pass is 360 for 5 days (plus shipping price of 10-12 euro)

sla019

"When i'm on reservation page for those regional tickets I select 4 peoples and there's no way to indicate that 2 kids is travelling with 2 adults (so the price is 38 euro instead of 28)"

Simply buy a Bayernticket (or any other regional ticket) for two adults, thats all. For the Nürnberg- Bamberg and the Nürnberg - Rothenburg trips you can use a VGN "Tagesticket Plus", the price is 18,70 for the family. Note: a VGN ticket is vald the entire weekend, so you could do both of the trips with a single ticket (http://www.vgn.de/CFF6B06F-C0B4-11D7-AE44-00034709FE0C).

chosebinne

We will be in Nürnberg on weekdays.

sla019

"1) can i found maps of each region deserve by specific regional pass somewhere ?"

https://www.bahn.de/p_en/view/offers...overview.shtml

PalenQ

Regional passes also come in first class for not much more and IME that is a great deal - no problem finding four seats together usually in 1st class - rarely so in 2nd class.

sla019

"We will be in Nürnberg on weekdays."

Still, a VGN ticket for a single day is almost 10 E. cheaper against the Bayernticket and you will use the same trains (note: fast trains between Nürnberg and Bamberg are suspended during spring and summer 2016 due to the construction of the new Nürnberg - Berlin line).

sla019

"Maybe a couple of day you could do the Bavarian ticket where up to 5 i think people can ride regional trains all day at will for about 30-35 euro total. So maybe an 8-day pass would be better to look at. But for 30 euros a day you can't save too much for what you may sacrifice in terms of taking any train anytime..."

Aren't you comparing the price of a Bayernticket for four adults with the price of a Flexipass per person? The correct price of the Bayernticket for a family is 28 E., and for a VGN ticket in the greater Nuremberg area 18,70. And on the trips from Salzburg to Berchtesgaden, from Nuremberg to Rothenburg and from Nuremberg to Bamberg there are regional trains only, which you can hop on at will. So we have to compare a daily rate of ca. 70 E. for the Flexipass with:

trip: ticket: price:
Salzburg - Berchtesgaden BLB Tagesticket 14.00
Nürnberg - Rothenburg VGN Tageticket+ 18.70
Nürnberg - Bamberg VGN Tageticket+ 18.70

I.e., 51.40 E. against 210 E. So, the Flexipass seems to pay for the long distance trips only.

PalenQ

So, the Flexipass seems to pay for the long distance trips only.>

Yes I agree - mixed up the 30 euros - long-distance trains would be 5 days it seems - thanks for straightening me out on that.

But if from Nurnberg to Salzburg, where the could use the regional pass, they may want to buy a day on the pass - kids go free and regional trains would mean I think changing trains and a much slower trip overall than the fastest trains the railpass is valid on but regional passes are not - and again for such a long ride regional trains are just not as comfy - nearly - as ICEs and similar trains.

It's all in the maths and whether someone wants complete flexibility to hop any train not being restricted to one specific train like discounted DB tickets do or regional trains. But for shorter journeys in Bavaria yes the Bavarian Pass is the way to go - first class IMO for just a few euros extra.

PalenQ

and after zillions of trips on German trains to me there is a vast difference between first and second class - fewer seats in same-size train carriage and often IME several or more empty seats - for a long train ride more comfy with more room -more room to easily stow luggage too. Kids can move around more easily - I've never made reservations in first class with my 1st class railpass and never did not find a seat. cheapest is not always best - IMO folks pay $200-300/night for a hotel for example should not skimp on train tickets on the trip of a lifetime - if going the discounted ticket route first-class tickets are also discounted. Kids under 12 go free with the pass and are entitled to occupy their own seat.

anyway a thought of mine after zillions of years of German rail travel. I have not been on a German train in the past few years however and unless things have changed dramatically in the last few years first class will typically have several to a lot of empty seats to sprawl out on - 2nd class often being chock full and even at times SRO - do get a reservation in 2nd class if you want 4 seats together for sure or even four seats anywhere.

A first-class pass is not all that much more in first class really and regional tickets come in first class

PalenQ

For example a 5-day flexipass/one month period in the U S costs p.p. Saverpass $202 p.p. but first class is available at $272 - about $12 p.p. per day - compared to fully flexible first class tickets that is a real deal and even with discounted first class tickets it could be too.

chosebinne

Thnaks to all, it's a lot of very usefull informations. From what i've read we doNt think we will buy the pass. We already know our itinerary so we should be able to get reduced price tickets for the long rides.

We'll see the price difference with the first class but it's almost sure the we're gonna reserved our seats. I see that there's family wagon on some trains, what are those ?