Lexma90

This fall, we will be traveling from Berlin to Prague, with a short overnight one-night stay in Dresden. Using Fodorite advice, I have found the place on the bahn.de website that allows me to add Dresden as a stopover. To give us the maximum flexibility, we are willing to purchase standard (normal) tickets, which allows us to take any train.

But I'm not sure how that works.

The description of "normalpreis" fares in the popup is: "Fully flexible (no specific train). Exchanges and refunds free of charge. Fee charged from 1st day of validity." What does "fee charged from 1st day of validity" mean? Iif we take a different train, do we go to a ticket window and exchange the tickets, or because it says "no specific train," does that mean that we can just get on whatever train we choose for that day (that doesn't seem logical)?

Does this all mean that if I buy a ticket that leaves at 12:47 on Monday, for example, we can actually take any train on Monday? And if I put the stopover time at 40 hours, then can we take any train from Dresden up until that 40 hours?

Thanks for your help - I was so proud of myself when I located the "stopover" option!

Man_in_seat_61

With a standard price ticket you can hop on any train, and simply show your ticket.

It's not necessary to pre-program in any stopovers - you can break your journey at Dresden or anywhere else en route as you like within the validity of the ticket - can't remember whether this is now 15 days, 1 or 2 months, whatever. In other words, get off and get on, no formalities.

It's that simple.

The stopover facility on www.bahn.de/en is only for pre-programming stopovers with a train-specific Spezial fare.

The reference to fees is only about the fee for cancelling or changing.

traveller1959

Once you board a train with a "Normalpreis" ticket it is valid only on this day and the following day until midnight. So it would work with a one-night stay but not with a two-night stay. In this case you would need two separate tickets.

As long as you travel within two days you can take every available train. The function "stopover time" is only for finding connections, not for the validity of your ticket.

Lexma90

Thank you both; you make it sound so easy, and exactly what we want - the flexibility to decide, probably the night before, at what time we want to leave Berlin for Dresden, and then to leave Dresden for Prague.

Ingo

International "Normalpreis" (standard fare) tickets are valid 15 days, not two days.

PalenQ

for lots of great info on trains check Man in Seat 61 who posts above his commercial site - www.seat61.com and www.budgeteuropetravel.com and www.ricksteves.com. If not on a low budget consider first class where there are typically more empty seats, bigger seats and more room to stow luggage, etc.