Germany itinerary - rail question
 

I had posted a question late last year but can not find it now. Looking at travel in mid May with arrival in Düsseldorf (after an overnight in Paris). We'll be staying with friends in a suburb (Erkrath) so I imagine that we will travel from the airport by local train with them and would likely travel into the Altstadt on Saturday through local train. Hypothetically, on Sunday we might go to Köln. Would the best option be to purchase a SchönerTagTicket for the five of us (myself, wife and 11 year old daughter, and 2 friends)?

On Monday, we'll travel to Rothenburg ob der Tauber from Erkrath. Would it make sense to purchase Länder tickets for Nordrhein-Westfalen; Hesse; and Bayern rather than pay apparently 182 € for the three of us?

We'll spend the next 4-5 days in Bayern - maybe going as far as Salzburg, so again I assume we would best purchase the Bayern Ticket. (If we stay exclusively in München for a day, would a different ticket be better?)

For the second weekend, we will travel to Konstanz. So, the question again is whether it is best to purchase a Bayern and a Baden-Württemberg-Ticket to get there. Once there, I am not sure whether we'll spend more time in Baden-Württemberg, or go into Switzerland.

You obviously have extensive knowledge about all those Bahn offers and tickets which a lot of other people don't so will top this for you.

i assume you've already done the research and absolutely determined that a pass for five is non-existant or completely out of the question, money-wise`

When my wife and I travel to Germany this summer, we plan to do the same thing, i.e. use the Lander tickets, as they seem to be the best option money-wise.
However, I don't know whether I can buy a Baden-Wurttemberg ticket while I am still in Munich, for a journey that would take me from Munich to Black Forest for example. Considering that the time to change trains in any given station could sometimes be as short as 2 minutes, how would I have time to buy a different Lander Ticket in that station, unless I choose to miss the next connection?

Would anyone know how this case works?
If I leave from Munich and I have 2 minutes to change trains in Ulm, how would I be able to get the Baden-Wurttemberg ticket?

I live in the northern part of Germany and I've never heard of that Länder ticket. Another option would be the Schönes Wochenende ticket. It's valid on the weekened for one day for parents plus children up to the age of 14 and only on regional trains. It costs 30 Euros (altogether). Check www.bahn.de for details. (sorry, don't know how to insert the webpage as a link).

>take me from Munich to Black Forest
This really is not such a good idea! It's a considerable!! distance on slow trains. i.e. Munich-Ulm alone is a huge detour compared to the ICE. ("Auf d'r schwäbsche Eisebahne...") I've never bought a BW. Ticket in Munich but it of cause should be possible at the Hauptbahnhof.

>make sense to purchase Länder tickets for Nordrhein-Westfalen; Hesse; and Bayern rather than pay apparently 182 € for the three of us?

The same answer here. No, it wouldn't make sense unless you're a railway freak. There's also the 50% ticket. I'd go for that! It's very different from going Munich to Salzburg or other short distance, "slow" routes, where the Länder-Ticket does make sense.

OK, Munich to Black Forest is a bad example, how about then from Munich to Stuttgart? Would we be able to buy a Baden-Wurttemberg ticket in Munich to combine it with the Bayern ticket and make a cheap trip to Stuttgart?

We wouldn't mind spending 4.5 hrs on regional trains, instead of 2.5 hrs on ICE.

I have travelled with the Länderticket in Saxony, Thuringia and Saxony-Anhalt.

As far as I know you can buy the Länderticket at the railway stations for the Land in which you are - not in Munich for Baden-Württemberg. But no problem, you can buy it on the train. Make sure to search for the conductor immediately upon entering the train and tell him you need to buy one.

Ländertickets are 2 Euros cheaper on ticket machines than on the manned ticket desks. Another option is - hope this is correct - to buy them online (www.bahn.de).

You can use Regional trains only with the Länderticket. These include RB, RE and IRE (the latter InterregioExpress). The IRE is not that bad - it stops only on the bigger stations and is not too slow.

Ingo

Yes, this would be possible. I've done Munich-Stuttgart many times, using the Schönes Wochenende Ticket (Rosarotes Wochenende then) when I was in school. The best connection will not be via ULM but via Aalen. I wouldn't recommend it, since the 50% return ticket Munich to Stuttgart is 39€/person.

Online tickets are a great option. You can print your own tickets, but you have to have the credit card on you that you used when buying them. Totally hassle free :-)

I just checked again. You can have any Länder Ticket sent to you home address per snail mail, if you order online with a credit card. No extra fees.