Germany rail travel help
 

Hi Guys,
I have made an itinerary for Germany-prague and austria(May 2011)...however no clue abt how to travel using the cheapest modes
I am travelling for the first time to germany with my husband and 2 year old bay

day 1 : frankfurt
Day 2 :frankfurt-wurzburg
Day 3:wurzberg-nuremburg-prague
Day 4: prague
Day 5: prague
Day 6: prague-vienna
Day 7: vienna
Day 8: vienna-munich
Day 9:munich
Day 10: munich-rothenburg-dinklesbuhl(day trip)
Day 11munich castles
Day 12:munich-frieburg
Day 13 :frieburg
Day 14: friburg-cologne
Day 15:Cologne
Day 16:Cologne-hiedelburg-frankfurt(departure from frankfurt)

Questions:
1.Should i buy a german rail pass or point to point tickets..can i travel by bus in some places
2.Where should i start and finish my rhine river cruise
3.Should i visit vienna or salzburg
4.Should i book day trips in advance online or book it once i am in the city


Please help guys!!!

www.seat61.com great site for you with good info.

Always do best training like a local booking when I am there

on regional trains works best cheapest for me everywhere.

Pass rarely saves unless you are training relentlessly

Cologne my fav for Rhine Cruise and Salzburg prettier

than Vienna always book my tour on site...

Happy Journey,

The bahn.de site can provide you with just about all of the info you need on most, if not all, of the trains. There are special passes (I can't remember the exact name) that allows up to 5 people unlimited travel within a certain region. These can make travel very inexpensive if traveling with say 3 or more, but there are time limits on when the pass is valid. If I remember correctly the pass is less than 30 euros for each region. Remember, that price is for the entire group not an individual.

dave

A pass can be "helpful" regardless of how much you use it IF you want the convenience of hopping on and off without having to buy tickets, etc. Generally the pass becomes more economical the more you use it and that all depends on how much you spend and how long it is good for

can the pass be used of all means of transport i.e. bus trams,regional trains...

>can the pass be used of all means of transport i.e. bus trams,....<

In general, no.

www.bahn.de will give you train times for all these journeys.

It will also book Wurzburg to Prague from 29 euros (it tends to put you on a railway-run bus from Nuremberg, you can avoid this by putitng 'Dresden' in the 'via' box).

It will book Vienna-Munich from 29 euros, and any intra-Germany journeys.

www.cd.cz/eshop will book Prague to Vienna from just 19 euros.

You only get these deals i you pre-book, and I expect these deals blow a raipass out of the water. On the day you'll pay more expensive full fares, though don't assume a railpass will always save money even compared to those fares.

1.Should i buy a german rail pass or point to point tickets..can i travel by bus in some places>

with you many trains the German Twin Railpass IMO is a no-brainer - and it allows you to simply hop on any train anytime - and as you are using the trains so much the per day rate may well be lower than even those 29 euro online discounts that much be reserved far in advance often to guarantee and then cannot be changed.

For loads on planning a German rail trip and passes,etc I always spotlight these Wunderbar IMO sites - www.budgeteuropetravel.com; www.seat61.com (commercial site of man in seat 61 who posted above); www.ricksteves.com. For schedules and to compare regular fares the German Rail web site is tops - www.bahn.de