what kind of buses you talking about. City buses have few special areas but buses that may be replacements for trains should have luggage racks and bins underneath the bus.

I have used a number of buses in Germany, but usually it is for travel from my base, so I don't have luggage with me. However, on the few instances when I have traveled with luggage by bus, I have taken it with me on the bus. I use a "Europe through the Back Door" (Rick Steves) regulation size (21x14x9) carryon bag, only partially full. It has never been a problem putting it on the seat next to me or, rarely, in my lap.

As for the SEV buses around the track maintenance work near Traunstein, the buses will obviously be more nearly full and everyone will have some luggage. I am sure that DB has allowed for this.

What denomination of money is used for the ticket machines at the train stations? Coins and paper money?

Since we will be initiating our Twin Passes the first time for the Rhine Cruise am I right to assume that we fill the date out there and the boat man signs it?

Thanks again!

First, you have to validate your railpass(es) at a Bahn ticket counter somewhere after you arrive in Germany. You will have to show your passports and they will indicate the starting date for the month of validity. You can do that at the Frankfurt airport. You can't do that in Bacharach, it is an unmanned station. There is just one very lonely looking Nahverkehr automat in an otherwise empty room.

In the morning of each day you travel, you put in the date in one of the boxes on the pass. Make sure you do it in European format (dd/mm/yyyy), and use German characters (their 1 looks like a droopy seven; their seven has a bar through it). I have heard of someone using the pass the first time on the seventh, and putting down an American seven, which looked more like a European 1. The conductor claimed it was a one, and they had already used that day, and made them use a second day.

If the pass had been used on the 1st, wouldn't the entry have been overstamped by the conductor that day? I'm missing something here.

Was there any appeal to DB?

I only know what was reported on a website like this. Was there an appeal? They didn't say. Maybe they didn't know how.

But, you are right that it should have been stamped. The only German Rail pass I have used this century is stamped over each date I wrote in. However, it is possible to "miss" the conductor. I've had him come into the car just as we pulled into my station. Maybe it doesn't matter if it is stamped. As long as you write in a date, you have cancelled one day of the pass.

I've used Eurailpasses for years in Germany and they don't always stamp the date box - usually but not always.

And i do know a man - an old US GI returning to Germany to visit and he forgot to put his date in on the flexipass and the conductor put it in for him and then used an additional date as a penalty - he paid two days for forgetting to put date in. So be diligent and use European style numbers.

I was accused of cheating by a Dutch conductor once after i took the Paris-amsterdam night train (no longer running) and as it passed thru Belgian the Belgian conductor stamped the flexi day place with the date of the evening before midnight after i had written in tomorrow's date as per 7pm rule - Next day on a local Dutch train the conductor claimed i had changed the date and fined me about $45 - i complained but to no avail.

> do it in European format (dd/mm/yyyy)
or even better in standard German format.
(dd.mm.yyyy) or (dd.mm.yy)

Let's see if I have this straight...In the Frankfurt airport(July 5th) we get the passes validated even though we won't be using them until the next day when we do the Rhine Cruise(July 6th). That is to show when the month of travel begins, correct? When we ride the boat the next day (July 6th) and use the pass, what do we do with the pass? Do we write in the date again to have the boat conductor man sign it? Then the other three days we will ride using the pass we again write in the dates on the corresponding dates? Since we will use it on the next following day to go from Bacharach to Baden-Baden (July 7th) and we will again be starting in the unmanned Bacharach station, does the person on the train sign off on it? I hope that makes sense to everyone because it is confusing for me to write! Thanks again for your help!

I've used various passes (Eurail, German Rail) on the K-D boats, and no one has ever asked to even see one, much less cancel a day according to the rules.

Each day you use the pass, write in the date dd.mm.yy as you board your first leg and the conductor will (probably) overprint your numbers with his machine. Then you're good for the day, no matter how many more legs you ride. For you, this will mean printing 6.7.07 on July 6th (don't forget to put a slash through each of the sevens), 7.7.07 on the 7th, and so on.

I hope you haven't purchased your rail passes yet, because I have news that could change everything. Go to the German language homepage of German Rail and you will see about a new offer through the end of this year. The description is in German, but we are traveling to Germany, aren't we. It is called Dauer-Spezial, and features travel between any two point in Germany for as low as €29 per person. As with any of these specials, they are limited in quantity, non-refundable, and require a three day advance purchase. When the €29 tickets are gone, they offer them at €39, €49, €49, €59, and €69.

Many of the lower priced tickets have already been gobbled up, but I was able to find tickets for Freiburg to Rothenburg on the 10th and Salzburg to Berlin on the 18th (just guessing about the dates since you weren't specific) for €39 each. That is €156 for four for Freiburg to Rothenburg and for Salzburg to Berlin, €312 total. Since you have realized that a long boat trip isn't effective and are going with Bacharach to St. Goar, that day could cost €55,72, €25 for a RLP ticket and €30.72 for four €9,60 K-D tickets at 20% off. In addition, you can use a €25 RLP ticket from Bacharach to Karlsruhe and then a €13 KVV group ticket to Baden-Baden.

That totals €406 (about $552), a savings of $140 over rail passes.

If you take my advice and decide to see a part of real Germany instead of rushing down the Rhein, you can go from Freiburg to Rothenburg via Donaueschingen, Sigmaringen, and Ulm using a Ba-Wü- and a Bayern-Ticket for €54 and save another $140.

By the way, there is no free fare for a child traveling with parents at this rate. If you put in your son's age as 15 (not 6-14), the website will show four x €39=€156. If you say he is 14, it tries to make him free and he can't be free with this fare, so it shows three at full fare. I don't think it means you can't pay an adult (Dauer-Spezial) fare for him, it just means the website doesn't know how to handle it.

<Germany for as low as €29 per person. As with any of these specials, they are limited in quantity, non-refundable, and require a three day advance purchase. When the €29 tickets are gone, they offer them at €39, €49, €49, €59, and €69>

and if you have to pay 69 euros as seems possible that takes any savings that Larry says ($70 p.p.) over the railpass away.

My advice - go for full flexibility and pay the $70 more - if the 29 euro ticket would be available but perhaps save none if you had to pay 69 euro


For your question:
Since we will use it on the next following day to go from Bacharach to Baden-Baden (July 7th) and we will again be starting in the unmanned Bacharach station, does the person on the train sign off on it

once the pass is activated you just write in the date yourself and show it to the conductor - whether the Baccarach station is staffed or not is irrelevant to you - if i have the question right.

All your other assumptions about activation are correct.

Too bad. I already bought the rail passes. That is a great deal though! Thanks for letting me know about it anyway. I like to have some parts of the trip planned out ahead of time ie. -transportation and lodging . I enjoy the flexiblity of day events though. I am a planner. I have made reservations for the restaurant at the top of the Reichstag and for the tour at Neuschwanstein. We will do a few bike tours and go to EuropaPark, but besides that I take a list of what we might like to do in each town and we will decide when we are there what sounds best. I appreciate everyone's help in my trip planning. This has been fun, as well as helpful!

kkk: as they say in Germany Have a Gut Fahrt (sp?) or nice ride - i always laugh when i see this on railway advertising.

and report back please, especially with the train aspect which interests me greatly.

PalenQ,

actually, its "gute Fahrt".

German is an interesting language, far more complex than English, which may explain the technical orientation of Germans.

The "e" on gute is a feminine ending corresponding to the feminine noun Fahrt.

Some people don't think adjective ending matter, but they do. A friend of mine wanted to tell the hostess at a dinner party in Vienna that she was a new bride, but her vocabulary was a bit lacking - all she knew how to say was "young wife", so she announced that she was a "Jungfrau" and proceeded to introduce, much to the hostess's shock, her husband. "junge Frau" is correct for "young wife"; a Jungfrau is a virgin.

How would you recommend dividing up our days of sights? We will arrive in the early afternoon to Kempten (12.07) and pick up the rental car to drive around the area. These are places we want to see and things we want to do: Neuschwanstein (tour scheduled for the morning of 13.07 at 9:45), Linderhof, Zugspitze, Wieskirche, and luge. Any suggestions on day planning and any other things that might interest three teenagers? We leave the area and head to Munich on 15.07. By the way we will be staying at Das Beck in Reutte. My birthday's the 15th...any sugggestions on favorite restaurants in Munich?

teens - how about a Swim in the lakes by Neuschwanstein - i did it long ago and fun. But be warned many local gals are topless as you see lots all over Europe.

Depending on how early in the afternoon you get the car in Kempten, I would suggest that you go first to the Illertal, to Oberstdorf and the Kleinwalsertal. Oberstdorf is kind of a prototype for Vail, except like is its natural look. Kleinewalsertal is a gorgeous alpine valley that is part of Austria but isolated by mountains from it. You can drive all the way up to the top of the valley, to the little villiage of Baad.

Come back down to Sonthofen, then turn east to Hindelang and up the mountain side (not a road for the faint-of-heart to the ski village of Oberjoch. From there you can get into Reutte from the south through Weissenbach. An alternate via Wertach, Nesselwang, and Pfronten is also very pretty and perhaps less mountainous.

I might be faint of heart! I am not used to mountains having lived all my life near the coast. I will check out the roads and might go the lower route! I love the scenery just not sure I feel comfortable driving through it! Thanks for your advice.