chyna

Has anyone taken the train from the Stuttgart Airport to anywhere? I just wondered how easy it was. And are the train tickets the same cost as what it shows on the DB website? Don't want to really lock myself into a time for the train in case my flight is late, and also don't want to book a train time to far out that I have a long wait. This is the first of plane/train for me. I looked at so much information but still can't seem to get the main questions together of the timing and the cost. Thanks for anyones input.

virgi

I'm in the same exact situation. I'm arriving in Frankfurt on the 17th with no train-transport-pre arrangements to my hostel. My directions 10km (whatever 'km' is) Frankfurt, - S train to Hauptbahnhof, then bus #46. So I'm under the impression that all trains are readily available at the airport. To me it sounds easy, or else instructions would have indicated 'do this or do that' My main concern is transferring the $ for enough EUROss to take the train, 'til I can get to the bank. So, I suggest, relax, because all seems to be right at the German airports, as here in the US.

chyna

I hope you're right. It won't be easy dragging a suitcase, carry-on & purse. And I show as having to do S bahn to main station & then train & one time change train with 4 minutes to spare. Better work on getting some muscles & train for speed running with luggage hu...

Cowboy1968

Howdy chyna:

Taking the S-Bahn at Stuttgart AP is easy. Just follow the signs with the white letter "S" on a green circle.
It looks like this:
http://tinyurl.com/2jgre3

When entering Stuttgart, the S-Bahn will run underground. So at Main Station you have to take the escalators up to the trains.

Pre-booking trains is only advisable during peak travel times, i.e. friday afternoon/evening and sunday afternoon/evening.

When you get a train ticket at Stuttgart Airport to your final destination (which would be?), the price will include the S-Bahn ride to the main station.

To give you more detailed information it would help to know where you will have to go.

chyna

Thanks cowboy, that helps alot. I'm thinking of going to tuttlingen or immendingen. Not sure which one, depends how long I'd have to wait in the first town to get to the last one. So I wouldn't have to pre-book my train ticket from here or would the price differ from what they show here. It's around 29 (euros or $'s I'm not sure...just of the #29). My arrival would be sometimes on a Thursday mid morning towards noon at the airport. Thanks again

Cowboy1968

You can get those tickets also from the machine at Stuttgart Airport.
Most of your possible connections involve RegionalExpress (=local) trains. For those you cannot make reservation anyway, so you don't have to bother yourself with that now.

The only "problem" with your itinerary is that you have different connections and routings, depending on your departure time at Stuttgart Airport.
That's why also the price differs between € 20.80 and € 30 (from the Airport to Tuttlingen, for example), and not all connections go via Stuttgart Main Station.

This may sound a bit irritating, I'm afraid. But: all those trains, run on regular schedules of at least one service per hour (the S-Bahn much more often, of course).
When you get your ticket at Stuttgart Airport station, you will also get a printed itinerary. Just follow that step by step, and you should have no real problems.

hopscotch

chyna and friend virgi,

Buy your train tickets when you get to Stuttgart or Frankfurt. Reservations are required on only a few super trains in Germany. Getting on most trains is about as complicated as getting on a city bus. There are luggage racks above the seats and you will have to haul your own stuff.

Get up to speed on riding trains at http://tinyurl.com/eym5b.

S-bahn is the street rail. U-bahn is the subway. Using these is rather intuitive. Many Germans speak English so just ask if you are confused.

A km is a kilometer, 1,000 meters, roughly 1,100 yards. That's about 0.6 miles so your 10 km is 6 miles.

Change money at any bank ATM. They are normally called <i>Geldautomat</i> in Germany. You will see all the familiar credit card emblems everywhere.

virgi

Thanks hopscotch: very helpful.

ira

Hi C and V,

Europeans use the Metric system - grams, meters

Germany uses the Euro not dollars

Yo can determine the equivalents in feet, ounces and dollars by using www.google.com

Do not bring US dollars.

Buy $100 worth of Euros at your departure airport.

Charge everything chargeable.

Use an ATM card to get cash.

www.bahn.de is the German National Rail System. The prices you see are what you pay in Germany.

Note if you click the train you want to take, you will get the details as to which platforms you will need to transfer from/to.

Make sure to stamp your ticket before you get on a train or bus.

Hope this helps.

virgi

Thanks ira: why can't I just bring the cash I figure is enough for my trip ( I just got it today) and change the dollars at the Franfurt bank? All other reports here said not to exchange for Euros here, in the US, wait til I get to Europe. Oh-boy-I was trying to avoid the ATM's. I have credit cards for emergency.Wouldn't that work? I figure just get enough Euros at the Frankfurt airport for the bus &amp; train to the hotel, then find a bank and give them the cash for their Euros?

virgi

I could go to the bank here tomorrow &amp; put the money back, I'm so embarressed. I seem to have a mental block after all &amp; I mean alot of info given to me about this same thing. Oh boy;;;;;;

J62

virgi,

you certainly can bring all the cash for your trip in $US and convert them to euros.

I would never do so for these 2 reasons.

1. You will be paying a 5-7% premium over using ATM. Exchanging cash is always more expensive and less convenient than using an ATM.

2. Security. How much cash do you plan to carry? With an ATM card your cash stays secure in your US bank, and you only need to carry &amp; keep secure enough cash to last for a couple of days.

virgi

Thank you for that J62: I didn;t think that it would be more costly to exchange cash. I'll go to the bank tomorrow, redeposit, and just use the ATM at the airport. Now, should I take out what I figure, $1500.00 at once, (I am not afraid to carry money - I got it figured out). Wouldn't that be the lowest way to avoid all those charges, Transaction fee and whatever else?

Cowboy1968

virgi.. you cannot withdraw $1500 or the Euro equivalent at an ATM at once - at least not in Germany.
I doubt that you could in the US.
The fees for withdrawing several times are outweighed by lowering the risk of losing a lot of cash.

You will find ATMs everywhere. Get 100 or 200 Euros in cash from the ATM. Pay for larger amounts (20 Euros or more) with your CC whenever possible.
The only points of sale where CC are usually not accepted in Germany are supermarkets. Also some restaurants won't take CC.
But I never carry more than 100-150 in cash with me. Usually less.

When in Frankfurt, follow the directions to the regional train station. Your train ticket to Frankfurt main station will also be good for the bus you mentioned.

veseo

Need assistance with plotting our train schedule... We will be relying on public transportation while in abroad.

Arriving in Munich on 12/22. The hotel looks like it is near the Hauptbahnhof.

We will be based there for 4 days but plan on taking day trips to a few cities to walk about and visit the Christmas markets:
1. Nurnberg
2. Rothenburg ob der Tauber
3. Regensberg

We have never been to Germany before. Assuming we might be able to combine two of the cities listed above into one day but not sure. I will rely on the seasoned travelers here to provide some guidance.

We also would like to walk about and see some sights in Munich as well.

On the 26th - we are planning on going to see some castles. We would like to see Neuschwanstein and Linderhof. Our hopes are to stay somewhere near one or the other - so the order is not ciritical. Would prefer most direct/fastest route with least # of train changes as we will be carrying luggage. There are four in our party. I have seen some mention of the Bayern. Not sure if this would apply.

I have seen some postings that indicated best to take a train to either Garmisch-P or Fussen. Also some postings indicate it might be a bit of a challenge to see both in one day without a car. Your thoughts?

On the 27th - if it seems doable we would like to swing through to visit Stein am Rhein (Swiss) on our way to Baden Baden. We wouldn't mind getting into Baden late in the evening. If, however; due to the travel time &amp; train schedules it would a wasted effort - we can go straight to Baden.

We plan on leaving Baden Baden on 12/29 and heading for Paris. We will be staying over by the Effiel Tower

Paris - near Eiffel Tower

ira

Hi V,

Train schedules, prices and tickets are at www.bahn.de

You can't train to Linderhof, but there is bus service, I think. IIRC, it takes to long to get from N to L to do in one day.

It's abut 4:30 hr to SaR from Munich and
about 3:30 from there to Baden Baden.

altamiro

&gt;Regensberg

If you go to Regensberg you will end up in an (admittedly pretty) small village near Z&uuml;rich. You want to go to Regensburg, I think.

As to combining N&uuml;rnberg, Regensburg and/or Rotheburg o. d. T. - I wouldn't recommend it. Better drop one than waste your time racing from place to place without having time n the cities/towns themselves