judylc

I will be flying into Frankfurt on Sunday May 12. I plan to take the train to Wurzburg from the airport. Do I need to buy the ticket on line ahead of time or can I just buy it there upon arrival? thanks, judylc

Dukey1

I'm not sure if you'd get a substantial discount by buying ahead but take a look at the Bahn site...click on the English version

www.bahn.de

Dukey1

and put the departure point as Frankfurt flughafen

Mimar

Remember your flight may be delayed or you may be hung up in immigration. If you have tickets for a train at a fixed time and you miss the train, you'll have to buy another ticket. So either leave a h

Mimar

I meant to say, leave a largish cushion of time, at least 1.5 hours, or wait and buy the ticket upon arrival.

PalenQ

You will always be able to get on trains - there are so so many and seat reservations are optional - many trains start at the airport so are often fairly empty when leaving - the ticket to Wurzburg is not a big-ticket price so just buy your ticket when you finally get to the airport's long-distance train station. No need to buy in advance.

For lots of great info on German trains I always spotlight these superb sources - www.bahn.de/en German Railways official site with fares and schedules; www.budgeteuropettravel.com and www.seat61.com and www.ricksteves.com. If traveling on 4 longer trains then a German Railpass could be as cheap as 4 deep discounted tickets (which are train-specific, must be booked weeks in advance to get as they are sold in limited numbers and cannot be changed nor refunded) - with a pass you just hop on virtually any train anytime - full fare tickets that allow this can be dauntingly expensive.

Gary_Mc

You did not say how many people. My wife and I use local regional trains when traveling from FRA Airport to Würzburg. Fares below are for 2 people.

On the weekend we use the Schönes-Wochende (Happy Weekend) Ticket for 42€ for 2 people. It takes less than 2-1/2 hours. It is an Sbahn train to the main train station and then a regional express to Würzburg.

On Weekdays after 9 AM we use a Quer-Durch-Land (Inter-State) Ticket for 50€ for 2 people. Normal fare before 9AM is ~56€ for 2. Times and connections are same as weekends.

You can catch an ICE (Intercity Express) directly from the airport to Würzburg for 76€ for 2. We have ridden the ICE once and it was crowded. We had trouble finding an unreserved seat. There are deep discounts for early purchase over the internet but the discount tickets are for specific trains.

I like this template for checking Die Bahn fares:

http://reiseauskunft.bahn.de/bin/query.exe/en

This route is a nice trip. Love Würzburg.

Have fun, Gary

Dukey1

To answer the original question: yes, you can buy it once you arrive.

Hans

An ICE can be full or nearly empty. It normally depends on the time, i.e. Monday 8:00 when business travellers are on the way for their job will be much more packed than Wednesday 11:00.

PalenQ

What Hans describes is why I always have a first-class railpass in Germany (I'm over 25 and buy a Global Eurail so it is only available in first class or else on my budget I'd buy 2nd class but...) - and yes even in fifrst-class ICE trains can at times be quite full but I never recall in hundreds of trips on German trains not being able to find an empty seat in first classwhen 2nd class has been SRO - and you do not need a seat reservation - they are optional - so can always board and soon at the next stop grab a seat being vacated (looking on the reservation sign on or above it however to see if that seat is not reserved down the line - usually this IME is indicated so before sitting in an empty seat see if it isn't reserved from a future station where someone will have the reservation and give you the boot.

PalenQ

On www.bahn.de/en the German Railwayws English train timetable you see a footnote to indicate which trains are likely to be quite full and on which reservations are suggested but not mandatory.

Henda

Three of us will going to Germany and Switserland for 8 days in each country. It seems that the Swiss pass is the pass to buy for the Switserland section but I am unsure as to the German pass. Would a two for one plus one be the best option?

PalenQ

Henda - what are your prospective train trips in Germany? 4 or more longish trips makes a German Twin Pass a good value IME even compared to discounted fares that are train-specific and non-changeable nor refundable - pass lets you hop on any train anytime with very few exceptions.

But if just taking short trips in a smallish area the Lander Tickets are often the best deal so if depends if you are doing inter-regional travel on ICE type trains (on which Lander Tickets are not even valid).

So if you have what you have in mind for German trains let us know it so we can give a better opinion of the efficacy of a pass.

Check www.bahn.de/en - the official sites of the German Railways for fares to compare with a pass - for lots of great info on Swiss trains check out www.swisstravelsystem.com as well as www.budgeteuropetravel.com and www.ricksteves.com.

PalenQ

A German Pass is also valid on K-D boats on the Rhine, between Mainz and Koblenz - the best part of the Rhine where they go thru the fabled Rhine Gorge - services every hour or so in season so you can spend a nice day getting on and off - just flash your pass when boarding - that's it!

PalenQ

www.k-d.com for Rhine Gorge boat schedules - if in the area a great thing to do IME!

Henda

We will be staying in Deidesheim en will travel to the Black Forest, Starsbourg, Trier, Speyer, Worms - to name a few and also the famous scenic ride to heaven.

PalenQ

also the famous scenic ride to heaven.>

please what is this?

FHurdle

PalenQ,

Have you priced the advance-purchase train tickets in Germany? First class from Munich to Cologne is 49 euros. I think I've seen second class Munich to Amsterdam for 39 euros. And children under 15 go for free. Most of the shorter runs are 29 euros.

It just seems to me that one would have to do a lot of train travel to make the pass worthwhile. Of course, with the pass you don't have to plan.

That said, on an upcoming trip I decided not to book a train for my arrival day because of the possibility of late flights. Well just enjoy the afternoon in Dusseldorf and then head to Brussels the next morning.

PalenQ

FHurdle - yes I am familiar with those tickets but have you looked at pass prices and how if doing 4 or 5 discounted tickets you may actually pay more than a 5-day pass with five unlimited travel days of hop on and hop of travel rights - prices can be cheaper IME than 4-5 discounted tickets and no hassle of booking weeks in advance and then not being able to change, refund, etc.

So the more days you take longish train rides of an hour or more the cheaper the pass is vs discounted tickets, which are not always available on all trains.

PalenQ

For example a 5-day German Twin Pass (2 folks traveling together p.p. costs $233 or about $47/day for unlimited hop on at will travel - this is about 35 euros a day - less than the 39 euro discounted tickets - so if traveling on 4 or 5 trains the pass can actually be cheaper than a series of discounted tickets and again fully flexible to use on any train - like if you are landing at an airport and wish to take the next train out - with a pass you just hop on the next train - doing a discount ticket with an air arrival is tricky - have to leave a lot of fudge factor time for plane to be late, etc as that ticket cannot be changed not refunded, etc.

A first-class German Twin Pass p.p. for 5 days costs $320 or about $54 a day for unfettered first class travel or about 40 euros a day - nine euros cheaper than the 49 euros discounted ticket FHurdle talks about.

And if buying things in euros many credit cards still tack on a 3% foreign transaction fee - adding to the cost vs a pass bought in dollars.