Louise

Anyone familiar with Germany's Happy Weekend rail offer : does it have a distance limit or can it be used for example Frankfurt to Munchen? I do not really understand the German on www.bahn.de and their English version is quite short...it says valid on local trains only. Does this then mean only within a certain province's boundaries?

Russ

It's 35 DM for up to 5 people travelling together, good the entire day on either Fri or Sat, for unlimited travel anywhere in the country. No regional restrictions. You can't really get very far with it, however, because the local trains restriction means you're using short-run equipment which makes more frequent stops and requires you to change trains more often when you're going long distance. Frankfurt to Munich is about as far as you'd want to do this, probably. It's 6-7 hours on local trains, with 2-3 changes of train. The direct trains get there in 3-4 hours. If you have the time, the "Schoenes Wochenende" ticket can save you some incredible moolah on long trips. It's great for regional touring, or for just riding around and looking at the countryside on a rainy day.

The local train designations on the schedule are RB, RE (faster), SB, and SE. Be sure you're on one of these if you're using the S-W!

Russ

Sorry, Louise. That's Sat or Sun!!!!

Jochen

Russ is right. The SWT is good for urban transportation in many cities as well, including Munich. During the Expo 2000 ( June 1 to October 31 ) the SWT is not valid in Hannover and surroundings.

If you want to get an idea of what your schedule looks like if you can use only local trains go to

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

and klick the button "Means of Transportation". Then deselect the trains with "I" ( ICE, EC/IC, and IR ) and continue your search.

Regards, Jochen