lizzy911

I have gathered that Sunday is a busy travel day for rail. I gather further (both from trying to book rooms and this forum) that long weekends increase travel demand considerably. I am travelling with my boyfriend from Bacharach to Munich on Sunday, May 28 which is the Sunday following the Ascension Thursday long weekend in Germany. Should we book this journey in advance from bahn.de? We really don't want to end up without a seat... but on the other hand if it is cheaper to get the day of maybe that is better? Journey looks to be about 5 hours, 70 Euro a person. Also unsure if we would want to leave at 10:30 or 12:30 but I guess we could make that decision now if it will be advantageous.

Thanks for any insights.

Lily

I will also be travelling to Munich on May 28th but by car. I didn't realize that it was a long weekend. I assume then that traffic will be heavier. Lizzy, do you know what will be closed on the 26th?

lizzy911

Not sure if things will be closed the 26th. From the look of the State Department's webpage:

http://foia.state.gov/mms/holidays/h...al+Republic+Of

it looks like the 25th (Thursday) and 29th (Monday) are holidays in Munich. I am mainly planning on going to the Hofbrauhaus (my boyfriend's first time in Munich, so a touristy must), Nymphenburg, and the main square since I need to catch a plane to Cairo on the 29th. The castle's website made it look like it will be open.

treplow

I checked the connections on www.bahn.de. There is a train every hour from Bacharach to Mainz, with connections to Mannheim and on to Munich.

First of all, you cannot reserve a seat for the B. to Mainz section. Those are Regio and Interregio trains (slowpokes)that don't take reservations..

From Mainz to Mannheim are Intercity Trains, and from Mannheim to Munich the trains are Intercity Express. Those will take reservations, in fact for the ICE it is advisable, less so because of lack of seats than you may want to get window seats.

Now, that Sunday May 28, the main traffic on the trains and on the autobahns (that's for Lilly) will be northbound, when everybody will come back from their vacations in the south. You will be heading south, in the opposite direction..

I assume you will be in Bacharach for more than a few hours. That will give you plenty of time to reserve your seats for the Mannheim to Munich ICE, at the Bacharach station.

lizzy911

Thanks for the advice! Yes, we will be in Bacharach for 2 days. I assume the cost is the same in person as on bahn.de.

logos999

http://foia.state.gov/mms/holidays/h...al+Republic+Of

Memorial Day May 29
Independence Day Jul 04
Labor Day Sep 04
Columbus Day Oct 09
Veterans Day Nov 10
Thanksgiving Day Nov 23

How could these sneak in as a local German holidays. Never heared of them.. No these aren't holidays in Munich ;-)

lizzy911

haha... good I was wondering about that... hopefully means stuff will be open on Monday!

Thanks for letting me know once again that I shouldn't trust our government!

logos999

I'll be working that monday, along with everybody else. Trusting governments is always a bad idea ;-)

JoeE

I don't know if you will be able to make reservations at the Bacharach staton because I don't remember the Bacharach station having a ticket counter.

Larryincolorado

I have to concur with JoeE. When I was in Bacharach two years ago, there was only a Nahverkehr ticket automat in the otherwise empty lobby of the Bacharach station. There was no ticket counter.

Mimar

For foreign holidays, check timeanddate.com. I found it courtesy of somebody in some travel group, to whom I'm now giving credit.

Lily

But Logos, the 25th of May is a holiday so likely will affect the weekend traffic? And would you know what services will be affected by this holiday? On the 25th we will be in Cochem.

logos999

> likely will affect the weekend traffic
Yes, it will. It will be this years first hot weekend with extensive traffic jams. Not like the HUGE jams in June, but it might be wise to start your voyage in the early morning hours. Anyway, there's always a Bundesstraße you can take instead of the Autobahn.

logos999

Shops are closed, Restaurants, gas stations are open, trains run on weekend schedule (no big difference). If you're lucky, you can watch a procession.

Lily

thanks!