Kandace_York

Hello and thanks in advance for your help.

We are a family of four (two parents, two teens), and during our upcoming trip to Germany we're planning a split day from Frankfurt: we'll travel together to Offenburg, but husband and I will go on to Strasbourg while the teens will go on to Europa-Park. I'm trying to do this as cost-effectively as possible (but still taking an ICE train from Frankfurt Hbf to Offenburg).

I'm thinking that the best way to do this is to order Sparpreis round-trip fares from Frankfurt to Offenburg, right?

But then what about the teens' fares to Europa-Park...would it make sense to get a regional pass for them rather than try to buy tickets online (which Bahn.de doesn't seem to want to let me do anyhow, because they'll all be regional trains)? There is a Baden-Wuerttemberg one-day regional pass, correct? Would that cover the bus from Ringsheim to the park entrance as well? We're trying to pre-arrange as much as possible to save time on the day of.

I *think* things are easier for husband and me...we can buy round-trip tickets to Strasbourg at the Offenburg station, correct? That's a shorter trip so the difference of ordering in advance would be much less, yes?

Also, is there a place online where I can find out what regional fares are? When the travel is all within one region I get an error message that fares are not available.

Thanks for your help!

Kandace_York

*Update: the regional passes are good only from 9am onward, I think, so maybe that's not an option after all since the teens will want to take an 8am train from Offenburg to be sure they're at Europa-Park when the gates open. How can we find out what "the network fare" is that bahn.de references?

Or is it better to buy a 24-hour Europass (does that need to be purchased in Strasbourg?)? "EUROPASS, Family 24h Mini, 24 hours unlimited travelling for two persons within the fare zone of Strasbourg (CUS) and the TGO-fare zone 20 (Kehl)*:
€ 10,90"
Source: http://marketing.kehl.de/media-marke...r_9-2015_E.pdf

Michael

The DB offers special fares that for a one time use might be the best deal:

http://www.bahn.com/i/view/USA/en/pr...160201075405:S

bigtyke

The Europass can be bought in Offenburg. It is also good for transportation in Strasburg so I would use it to get between the train station and the old town

Kandace_York

Thanks for the tips. This makes more sense now!

Cowboy1968

When you start in Offenburg and want to go to Strasbourg you do NOT want the Europass MINI for 10.90 but the regular Europass for 13.90
The Mini only covers trips to Strasbourg from Kehl - which is just across the Rhine. Offenburg is a bit further away so you need the regular Europass.


But I am not sure I get your full travel agenda right.
Do all four of you leave from Frankfurt for either Strasbourg or Europa-Park - or do you have an overnight stay in Offenburg?

Kandace_York

It's a day trip, so all four of us will go from Frankfurt to Offenburg. Two will depart from Offenburg to Europa-Park for the day, and two will continue onto Strasbourg for the day. Then we'll all meet up again in Offenburg that evening and return to Frankfurt together.

Cowboy1968

I see.
But why would you want to buy extra tickets from Offenburg to either Strasbourg or the station for Europa-Park?

What you (parents) need are return tickets Frankfurt-Strasbourg. And your kids need return tickets Frankfurt-whatever station for Europa-Park.

Kandace_York

Is there really that much of a difference between the teens departing from Offenburg vs. Strasbourg? They'll be on a tight schedule and I figured that departing from Offenburg, rather than going on to Strasbourg, would save them some time.

quokka

You don't get the point. What Cowboy says, and I fully second that, concerns the TICKETS you ought to buy, i.e. tickets for the whole way from Frankfurt to the respective destination. That's Frankfurt to Ringsheim for the teens, Frankfurt to Strasbourg for the parents.

Going via Strasbourg makes zero sense for the teens.

Kandace_York

You're right, I did miss that.

However, according to Bahn.de, the trip to Europa-Park hubs through Offenburg anyhow, and it won't let me order advance tickets from Frankfurt all the way through to Ringsheim. A regional Laender ticket isn't possible, either, because it's only valid 9am or later, and we'll be traveling earlier than that so the kids can get to Europa-Park before opening time.

I was hoping to take care of everything ahead of time, but it doesn't look like that will work. I think our best option is still to all go to Offenburg together and arrange for a reasonable time between train transfers so we can buy the tickets there that the kiddos will need. Then husband and I continue to Strasbourg while the teens continue to Europa-Park. The EP site references a Kombi-ticket that includes park admission and round-trip transportation (bus + train)...however, that's only available at staffed DB offices in Baden-Wuerttemberg.

quokka

>it won't let me order advance tickets from Frankfurt all the way through to Ringsheim

Of course it does. I just checked.

However, I found an alternative which might be more convenient for you. There is the so-called Europa-Park Kombi-Ticket. This covers travel from anywhere within Baden-Württemberg on local/regional transport (in your case: the train from Offenburg and the bus) plus the entrance fee to the Park. The price depends on the number of persons. So your teens would need this plus ICE tickets to/from Offenburg. These tickets can be bought online or from any DB ticket machine.
http://www.europapark.de/en/services...g/getting-here
http://www.bahn.de/regional/view/reg...k_ticket.shtml
http://www.europapark.de/de/service-...deutschen-bahn

Kandace_York

Thanks. I actually mentioned the Kombi-ticket in the post above yours.

Europa-Park's site said they could be purchased at DB vending machines or staffed offices, but you're right, according to one of your links they can be ordered online 30 days in advance through DB.