GandCT

We will be traveling to Germany and the Netherlands in May, and need advice on train travel between the two countries. We can buy either a German rail pass for the German part of our travels or the deeply discounted tickets from DB Bahn 92 days ahead of time; the cost would be very similar for our itinerary. My question: if we choose the rail pass, how do we combine it with the Netherlands leg of our journey from Frankfurt to Schiphol (not Amsterdam Centraal)? What city/town would be at the border crossing, and about how much should it cost from there to Schiphol? I assume we can purchase that ticket in Frankfurt. I know that we can buy discounted tickets that take us all the way; however, the rail pass is much more flexible. We very much appreciate any advice on this subject; thank you so much.

PalenQ

If coming from Frankfurt then the border town I believe would be Arnhem - you can also investigate the Germany-Benelux Railpass good in Germany and Netherlands, Belgium and Luxembourg - but I think it may well be more cost-effective to do the German Railpass Twin - and if the prices of the discounted non-changeable non-refundable bahn.de tickets approximates a railpass then it is a no-brainer IMO to do the railpass as you can hop on almost any train anytime with very fw exceptions that the average tourist will not encounter (ICE Sprinters and Thalys trains) - for loads of great info on trains and passes in these countries I always spotlight these fantastic IMO sites - www.budgeteuropetravel.com; www.seat61.com; www.ricksteves.com. As for the exact border point if not Arnhem go back to www.bahn.de and click on 'show intermediate stops' and the GR. notation will indicate the xact border point for tarifaction purposes - if may be a bit before Arnhem.

hetismij

To got to Schiphol from Frankfurt you will need to change trains at Utrecht. It will cost you about €40-50 pp, if you book ahead. You can't book for May until February though.

Because it is an ICE you would need to pay extra on top of your pass to travel on the train. If you then wanted to buy a ticket at Arnhem you would need to be very quick to get the same train. Or you would have to switch to a local train, which may or may not be direct to Schiphol. That would cost you €15.60 pp.

I doubt very much you could buy that ticket in Frankfurt tbh. Different rail companies. I would think you either buy the through ticket on the ICE or you buy a ticket to Arnhem and buy a new one there.

PalenQ

Because it is an ICE you would need to pay extra on top of your pass to travel on the train>

German ICEs do not charge railpass holders extra - at least that's the way it's always been unless this was a change of policy in very recent weeks. Go to the www.bahn.de site and if it says 'reservation compulsory' then with a pass you would need a reservation but I've checked many ICEs and none that I can find have it. I will check the Frankfurt to Utrecht ICE out to see if it does require passholders to pay extra.

GandCT

Thanks, PalenQ and hetismij. We always appreciate your advice. We will have a similar situation returning to Germany from Amsterdam Centraal, but do not have a problem with that, as there should be no problem buying a ticket for the first leg before we leave Amsterdam. We traveled in Germany on a twin pass a couple of years ago, and thought it exceptionally convenient and reasonable.
If we change at Arnhem, we will not go to Schiphol, but directly to Haarlem, where we will be staying our first few days. We will check that schedule, and also recheck the fares. Thanks again!

PalenQ

I have checked Frankfurt to Amsterdam ICE trains and none of them require anything supplement nor seat reservations for railpass holders - and none in Holland do either that you will be taking. The best way to Haarlem is to take the train right to Amsterdam Centraal and then hop the 3 or 4 hourly local trains that take about 20 minutes to get to Haarlem, one of my very favorite European cities and one that I know base in everytime I go to Holland. If looking for a really nice B&B run by nice folks let me know - in Haarlem that is.

hetismij

The Dutch leg of the journey on an ICE requires a supplement Pal. If you do not have an ICE through ticket, from Germany, but buy a ticket in Holland and then use the ICE you must pay a supplement. The Conductor will fine you if you don't.

If you are going to Haarlem then stay on the ICE to Ams Centraal and get a train from there to Haarlem, no need to change at Arnhem - but do check on the supplement question.

Make sure also you keep your passports handy - they do regular checks on the trains from Germany nowadays.

GandCT

Thanks again, hetismij and PalenQ. PalenQ, we took your earlier recommendation, and are staying at the Bot B&B. We had thought to take the train to Schiphol rather than Amsterdam Centraal, as we understand that the bus from the airport will let us off within easy walking distance of the B&B. Your opinion?

PalenQ

Yes I have taken the bus from Schiphol to Haarlem and it does, according to Bot web site stop a 100 metres or so from the B&B - I always walk from Haarlem' main train station and it is about a mile at most - an intersting route thru the heart of the pedestrian shopping zone - and you can easily hop buses from Haarlem station to the same bus stop near the Bot B&B. It seems it would cost you a bit extra - paying for the train to Schiphol from Amsterdam and then the bus fare to Haarlem - maybe enough of a difference to equal a cab from Haarlem's train station - and again you can take the bus from Haarlem's station to right near the B&B.

GandCT

Yes, PalenQ, I understand, but we would not take the train from Amsterdam to Schiphol. We would go directly to Schiphol from Frankfurt, missing Amsterdam Centraal entirely. Probably nickel and dime stuff, really. I am just trying to figure out the best way -- if we decide to buy the discount tickets rather that the rail pass, we must purchase as soon as they are available for our dates -- meaning this Sunday or Monday. Normally a one mile walk with light luggage would not be a concern, but we are getting a bit older and a bit tireder. I do appreciate all the time you are taking to help us with this!
Carol

PalenQ

Well there are buses right from Haarlem train station to a few feet of the B&B - any the transfer in Schiphol can be hectic - crowded platforms, going outside to find the right bus stop, etc. In any case either buy a Strippenkaart or the new fangled device that is like London's Oyster Card to use on the bus - last year I used the Strippenkaart and bought it in the A & O newspaper stand right in the Schiphol train station - if you pay on the bus, if even possible, you will pay a lot more plus you can use the new Oyster-like device all over Holland I believe and in Amsterdam - hetismij obviously knows more about this new thing than I. One thing about discounted tickets you should leave a lot of transfer time as they are not changeable in many cases - to me the flexibility of a pass is priceless and reduces such worries as I must be on that train!

PalenQ

The Dutch leg of the journey on an ICE requires a supplement Pal. If you do not have an ICE through ticket, from Germany, but buy a ticket in Holland and then use the ICE you must pay a supplement. The Conductor will fine you if you don't.>

but if someone has a railpass valid in both Holland and Germany there is no supplement nor seat reservation requirement on ICEs even in Holland I believe - last Jan I rode ICEs four times from Holland to Germany and back and just hopped on with my pass. But individual tickets are different. thanks for that info!

Tot Ziens!

GandCT

Thanks, PalenQ, great advice! I think we will go ahead and try to get the discount ticket from Frankfurt to Schiphol, and consider the railpass for the rest. The Frankfurt-Schiphol train we are considering has only one change, in Utrecht, and we would have 15 minutes. That should be OK. If not, we will just have to try to buy a Dutch discount pass and go from there by train, or even by bus. Should be doable; we plan to leave reasonably early.

PalenQ

Don't think there is any Dutch discount ticket - at least for a Utrecht to Schiphol trip, which would not cost more than 10 euros or so I would think. And the discounted ticket may only be to get to Utrecht - the other ticket for the commuter train to Schiphol may well be open ended - if not since those trains leave at least twice hourly why not build more than 15 minutes into the change? Changing in Utrecht is straight forward and 15 mins should be fine but trains - especially German trains in recent years can always be late. And if you wanted to use a German Pass on the train from Frankfurt to Schiphol and according to bahn.de the fare to Arnhem would be 90 euros (actually to Emmeriech the actual border point a few km's from Arnhem) and you would then pay 106 euros to get to Schiphol so if subtracting full fares is any indication you would pay just 16 euros Arnhem to Schiphol - via Amsterdam where you can change to the commuter train to Schiphol as well. And then you'd have a full fare ticket with no worries about changes, etc.

GandCT

Thanks, PalenQ. I think we will allow 30 minutes for the change. The discount German ticket from Frankfurt to Schiphol is only E78 for two people, so worth it.
By Dutch discount card, I meant the kortingskaart with annual fee. We will be in the Netherlands about two weeks, almost all outside of Amsterdam, and will be using the trains a lot, so I think it will be worth it. (We have visited Amsterdam before.)And we will add the senior citizen option, if possible.
Thanks again.

PalenQ

A thought since extra days on the German Rail Pass above the minimum are about $20 p.p. or about 14 euros you may consider buying the extra day and using it to go to Arnhem - and then for 16 euros it seems take any train from Arnhem to Utrecht - and I think you may be able to buy the Arnhem (Emmereich actually - the border point) to Utrecht ticket in Frankfurt so you can stay on the same train - in Utrecht buy a ticket to Schiphol (if you cannot buy a Emmeriech to Schiphol ticket in Frankfurt. Could be cheaper than $100 for two - seems could be a whole lot cheaper?

anyway just a thought - fun to beat these things around.

Wish I were going to Haarlem!

GandCT

The deadline was upon us, so I went ahead and bought the special ticket Frankfurt to Amsterdam Schiphol. It should not be a problem to make that specific train, as we land in Frankfurt the day before and will spend the night; we also allowed for a 30-minute connection time in Utrecht.
Now I just have to figure out the rest of the schedule! We will be going from Amsterdam Centraal to Regensburg -- long journey. There is an ICE leaving at Amsterdam at 8:04 with only one change, at Frankfurt airport, 11 minutes, with the connecting train leaving on the same track. If we use the German railpass, we will have to get from Amsterdam to Arnhem, -- is this correct? If so, we will either leave on an earlier train or pay an ICE supplement. (And what is the ICE supplement? I can't seem to find it.)
I know I am too detail-minded. It seems to grow on me with advancing age!

PalenQ

Well using a German Pass you just in Amsterdam go to the ticket counter and buy a supplemental ticket for your Dutch part of the journey and this should include any ICE supplement in it - at the German border - Emmereich according to bahn.de your German Pass kicks in and then since you can take any train anytime once in Germany with the pass (with no supplemnts for ICE at all nor seat reservation requirements) if you do miss the connecting in Frankfurt Airport (only a few platforms there to change between) you can be assured there will be another train within an hour if not 30 mins - thus I would not take an earlier train from Amsterdam to Arnhem but board the actual ICE train to Frankfurt in Amsterdam Centraal - no need to get off the train in Arnhem and IME would be unwise to take an earlier train there as that train could be late and you could actually miss the ICE train that tends to be more on time IME

I never heard of the ICE supplement in Holland but hetismij is a Dutch resident so I give that credence but it is a non factor for you since you are buying a ticket for the Dutch portion on the ICE and they will charge you for the supplement as well. And once in Frankfurt Flughafen check the overhead signs on each platform - platform changes can indeed happen so I always like to have the train number (easy to get at bahn.de) and match it to what is on the overhead monniker as to what the next train really is - at times trains are late and other trains may surprisingly appear on a different platform. But it is all straight forward and easy - German train conductors and staff are usually on the platform should you need to ask any questions.

GandCT

Thanks again as usual, PalenQ. Sounds good; I think that is the plan we will follow. I do feel more comfortable with the pass rather than the train-specific tickets. We used the pass a couple of years ago in Germany and found it excellent.
Carol

PalenQ

Thanks for the thanks! a note about activating your German pass - you could do it ahead of time when landing in Germany at Frankfurt Airport's train station but once a pass is activated it is no longer refundable and in life one never knows when one will break a leg, etc -and then you will not get any refund since once a pass is activated it is no longer refundable (if not activated it is usually refundable in full minus 20% and can be done up to usually one year) - vut there is a special caveat for folks coming into the country their pass is valid in from another country - usually you must go up to a ticket window and have a railway clerk activate the pass - but when coming into say Germany on a train then and only in that case will the conductor activate the pass on the train, for free - thus you need not get off the train to activate the pass - IME the conductor may not have the ncessary stamp to activate it and will tell you to simply activate it when you get off the train.

anycase you could extnd the period you can get a refund (-20%) of the pass by postponing activation until actually using the pass.

Not a big deal but just a thought.