Marksburg Castle Transport Question

Old Jan 19th, 2017, 04:17 PM
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Marksburg Castle Transport Question

I had originally posted question regarding train travel from Mainz to Cologne. I am the one on an organized tour who wishes to extend one more night on my own to visit another locale and try my hands on utilizing train transportation. There are five of us doing this.

We are now researching train transport from Mainz Hbf to Braubach to visit the Marksburg Castle. (English tour at 1:00 PM.) As indicated before, interested in purchasing Quer-durchs-land ticket since there are five in our group. I am aware of the restrictions of the ticket.

The DB BAHN itinerary going is:
Mainz Hbf dep 9:13 Platform 3a RB 15708
Wiesbaden Hbf arr 9:25 Platform 6
Transfer time 8 min.
Wiesbaden Hbf dep 9:33 Platform 1 VIA25008
Braubach arr 10:53 Platform 1

Return itinerary is:

Braubach dep 16:06 Platform 2 VIA25025
Wiesbaden Hbf arr 17:25 Platform 7
Transfer time 13 min
Wiesbaden Hbf dep 17:38 Platform 6 RB 15725
Mainz Hbf arr 17:48

What does VIA stand for? Could not find that anywhere in researching. Is RB….regional bus?

The DB BAHN site indicated there is “no special fares available” for this itinerary….does that mean the Quer-durchs-land ticket cannot be used?

We were thinking of going further to St. Goar to see the Burg Rheinfels also but see we would have to cross the river and besides, do not want to rush. Any thoughts on this?

As always, thank you!
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Old Jan 19th, 2017, 04:53 PM
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RB is Regionalbahn - meaning a type of regional train (stops at most or all stations) as opposed to RE (regional express) or the many types of long-distance city-to-city trains.

VIA25008 is the number of the train line you'll be on after you change trains in Wiesbaden.

I'm not sure if the letters VIA stand for anything.

Don't know about fares.
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Old Jan 19th, 2017, 07:03 PM
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VIAS is a name of a railroad company.

If you go to www.bahn.com and look up schedule you see VIAxxx for trains running on the east bank of the Rhine river, Braubach side. If you click "details" it spits out VIAS GmbH. If you then google "VIAS GmbH" you find it is a railroad company made up of VIA from "dem lateinischen via für Weg" and S "für Service."

If you then go to VIAS web site, you see this that answers your pass question:

http://www.vias-online.de/tarife_tickets_p1623.html

In unseren Zügen sind auch das Rheinland-Pfalz/Saaraland/Hessen -Ticket, Schöne-Wochenend-Ticket, Quer-durchs-Land –Ticket sowie Fahrkarten nach Sparpreis / Europa-Spezial gültig.
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Old Jan 19th, 2017, 07:07 PM
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There are many regional train companies in Germany. When I am not sure, I show my pass at the ticket window/ticket inspector, etc. before I get on to verify its validity.
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Old Jan 19th, 2017, 10:18 PM
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In translation, the sentence quoted above

In unseren Zügen sind auch das Rheinland-Pfalz/Saaraland/Hessen -Ticket, Schöne-Wochenend-Ticket, Quer-durchs-Land –Ticket sowie Fahrkarten nach Sparpreis / Europa-Spezial gültig.

confirms that the Quer-Durchs-Land ticket is valid.
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Old Jan 20th, 2017, 07:54 AM
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From Mainz to ALL of those places you mention you do NOT need a day pass valid for all of Germany (the QDL Ticket.)

All the train segments you plan to use lie within the travel zone of the Rheinland-Pfalz ticket, a cheaper day pass. You can buy it on the day you travel at Mainz Hauptbahnhof (main station) from a ticket machine. There's an English-language option. The day pass is valid for the same hours and on the same trains as the QDL ticket.
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Old Jan 21st, 2017, 12:55 PM
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Thanks all!

I had originally looked at the Regional Ticket but thought Mainz and Wiesbaden were in the Hessen State region from looking at the map. Could not find anything online where it listed the locations of the different Regional Tickets.

Will we see VIA25008 on the front of the train?

Also, will VIA trains work also for the Rheinland-Pfalz ticket? I went to the website but English not available.

Appreciate your advice!!!!!
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Old Jan 21st, 2017, 01:01 PM
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I doubt that you will see a logo on the train. If it is a train going to where the timetables say, leaving from the posted platform at the posted time, then that's the train. This is not like airlines - you don't usually need to know "who" (what commercial entity) runs the train, the systems are very integrated.
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Old Jan 21st, 2017, 01:32 PM
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"thought Mainz and Wiesbaden were in the Hessen State region from looking at the map." They are. But the day passes are set up to facilitate travel rather than make it impossible, so the R-P ticket covers parts of Hessen.

"Could not find anything online where it listed the locations of the different Regional Tickets."

Here's a map of the R-P ticket area:
http://www.vrminfo.de/fileadmin/data...reckennetz.pdf
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Old Jan 21st, 2017, 01:34 PM
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Sorry... should have said that WIESBADEN is in Hessen. Mainz is in R-P.
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Old Jan 21st, 2017, 01:57 PM
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Braubach is below the castle -I think there is some kind of people mover between town and station and castle though IME not a bad walk either.

http://www.marksburg.de/en/visitor-i...irections.html

official site describes walking way from Braucbach and how to do the zoo-like people mover.

In addition to the superb info given above greg, michel and Fuss for general info on German trains in this area and all over check www.seat61.com; www.budgeteuropetravel.com and www.ricksteves.com.

Fussgaenger is an absolute expert on the Rhine Gorge/Mosel area.

Marksburg is the only authentic intact medieval castle along this part of the Rhine -others being in ruins or rebuilt as
Ersatz old castles.
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Old Jan 22nd, 2017, 09:15 AM
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day passes also come in first class I believe and for the extra few euros I'd say go for it -regional trains can become very crowded at times but in first class you will likely always find seats.
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Old Jan 22nd, 2017, 10:52 AM
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since you got all day why not take the train from Mainz to Rudesheim and hop on a K-D boat that goes thru the best part of the Rhine Gorge -get off at Braubach -do the castle and take train from there back to Mainz?

www/k-d.com for schedules =the day ticket may get some reduction on boat? But fares are not that expensive and a unique view of both sides of the Rhine Gorge.
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Old Jan 22nd, 2017, 11:52 AM
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Well you could take K-D boats even from Mainz though the portion Mainz-Rduesheim is somewhat industrial. Interesting to me but not many I think.
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Old Jan 22nd, 2017, 01:37 PM
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Thank you for info including website links and great advice! I will be doing some research and appreciate you pointing me in the right direction!
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Old Jan 22nd, 2017, 01:46 PM
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https://www.google.com/search?q=k-d+...HTtbAyIQsAQIHA

Rhine boats-a nice float. No need to book in advance -just show up!
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Old Jan 23rd, 2017, 04:57 AM
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Whoa, slow down here Palenq. The cruise is a good suggestion but the way you suggested doing it isn't.

"why not take the train from Mainz to Rudesheim and hop on a K-D boat that goes thru the best part of the Rhine Gorge -get off at Braubach..."

Won't work. To make the 1 pm Marksburg tour one must catch the 9:15 boat, the only morning boat to Braubach, from Ruedesheim. One train from Mainz to Ruedesheim arrives at 9:04 - but that's not enough time to get to the dock (a 15-min. walk,) get a ticket and board. There's an earlier train arriving at 8:04. But using that train means a dead hour in Ruedesheim and also that you must leave Mainz at 7:13 a.m. UGH.

"you could take K-D boats even from Mainz" - The OP will get on the Mainz boat at 8:30 or 9:30 but won't reach Braubach until after 17:00 because of the 3-4 hour layover required. There are NO direct boats to Braubach from Mainz.

A cruise is a nice thing to do but you have to coordinate the trains and buses. So try getting the cruise in Bingen instead. It's less than 30 minutes to Bingen by train vs. 60+ min. to Ruedesheim. The walk to the dock is only 10 min. And the train-boat connection works:

Train from Mainz (8:32) to Bingen Rhein Stadt station (8:59)
Bingen (9:15) to Braubach (12:20) by boat

(And now you don't have to be at the Mainz train station at 7:00 am!)

Now that's a pretty long cruise. You could cut the cruise time in half (and save some cruise money) and still see the very best part of the river by getting off the boat in St. Goarshausen (11:05) instead. Then you just walk to the train station and catch the 11:32 to Braubach (11:53.) Now you have a little time to look around Braubach's small and beautiful old town, or have lunch, before your 1 pm castle tour.
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Old Jan 23rd, 2017, 05:04 AM
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GOOF ALERT:
"Bingen (9:15) to Braubach (12:20) by boat"

That should read "Bingen (9:30)" - not 9:15! You will have 30 minutes in Bingen to walk to the dock and buy your cruise ticket at the KD kiosk.

ALSO: The 2017 boat schedule isn't out yet. The advice above assumes the 2016 schedule will be the same. Be sure to check KD yourself before finalizing plans for May (I think that's when your trip is.)
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Old Jan 23rd, 2017, 05:11 AM
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One more thing hb06: If you do this cruise version outing on a weekday, you will need to pay separately (€7) for the Mainz-Bingen train trip since the Rheinland-Pfalz ticket doesn't work until 9:00 a.m. on weekdays. Buy that ticket at a Mainz ticket machine.

Whatever train ticket you have, show it at the KD kiosk. That gives you a 20% discount on the cruise fare.
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