My wife and I (75 and 78) are thinking about going to Germany this fall to investigate our roots and then proceeding to other cities. I would get too tired driving the entire trip, so we wonder if we might travel intercity by rail and rent a car for a day or two to make daytrips here and there. Starting from Frankfurt or Munich, we would be doing the root work not far east of Heidelberg, and then head farther east, to Leipzig and Dresden. Any suggestions? We've pretty well explored Bavaria in the past, but are wide open to ideas. Many thanks!
Germany by rail for seniors
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Hi USNR: My Mom (77 and relatively spry) and I (48) traveled from Amsterdam to Munich, for 8 days by rail this past May, making several two day stops. I bought a rail pass (www.railpass.com) that was good for two people traveling together in first class (only choice). We really enjoyed the trains. They were very nice, especially first class. Food service available at your seat (they do charge for the food); screen in back of your seat; music; reclining seats. Very comfortable. We loved watching the countryside go by. The only suggestion I would make is to PACK LIGHTLY! We each had a small suitcase plus a rolling carry on. That, still, was too much as at many stations you still have to go up and down stairs. Next time, I'd make do with one bag only.
Sounds like maybe your family roots are near ours - Pfalz/Palatinate area maybe?? Lovely country. Would love to return on a genealogy expedition someday.
PS: Forgot to add that I have a trip report floating around here somewhere. If you click on my name I believe you will find it. I'd be happy to answer any questions.
You can plot out train routes and times on www.bahn.de, the German rail service.
Thanks for adding that, Travelnut. I forgot. Excellent website.
Travelling by train is very easy in Germany. There are frequent high-speed trains between the bigger cities. I would also prefer to take the trains instead of driving (and I am in my 30s!).
I don't think you will need to rent a car for day trips from Leipzig or Dresden - public transportation is very sufficient. The suburban railways run every 15 to 30 minutes, and by tram/bus you can reach almost every place of interest within reasonable time and little fare (family day tickets or if you stay longer weekly tickets).
Let me know if you need help with your planning around Leipzig and Dresden.
Have a nice trip, Ingo
One caution about using the www.bahn.de web site. Avoid train connections with less than a 15 minute window between them. My mother (in her 70s) and I used the www.bahn.de site to plan a route from Baden-Baden back to Brussels; the fewest connections were via an ICE and Thalys, with only 6 minutes between them. The ICE was late (happens more often that you think with ICE trains, while the mundane S-bahn trains seem to run bang on time); they held up the Thalys for five minutes, but we still were left with only 2 minutes between trains. We thought we could run for it and Mom took a bad fall in the rush. Thankfully, nothing was broken.
I've missed other connections due to late ICE trains when I've had less than 15 minutes between trains.
I still use the bahn.de site regularly, but tend to do more point to point planning. That is, if I want to go to Baden-Baden (repeating the example above), I'll plan a trip from Brussels to Cologne, then a separate trip from Cologne to BB. More trip flexibility that way since major destinations in Germany are served by many trains each day.
Other than that caveat, riding German trains is a pleasure, particularly the ICE and EC trains.