Schönes Wochenende Ticket
 

Any German experts out there that can confirm the operation of this ticket? I know it's good on weekends but need to confirm the hours it can be used. I've seen conflicting info of 12pm or midnight start time which makes a huge difference.
Will be leaving from Bacharach and traveling to the Swiss border (Basel) and would like to use this pass for my brother and i to save some money. I know it will take us about 2 - 2 1/2 hours extra but saves a good bit of money. I'd like for us to be able to get out on the first regional train on sat or sun whichever day we leave instead of having to wait until 12pm. Basel would not be our final destination (Bern) that day so leaving early would be best. I know it expires 3am but really need to confirm if we can use it first thing saturday or sunday morning maybe 6:30am or so.
thanks!

It works like this:

- Valid on Saturday OR Sunday from 0:00 (Midnight) until 3:00 the next day (thus 27 hours). So, if you buy a ticket for, say, Saturday, you can use it from the very early morning on Saturday until 3 a.m. on Sunday.

- Good for up to 5 persons.

- Price: 33 EUR on www.bahn.de or vending machine; 35 EUR at the counter.

- Valid only for regional trains (S-Bahn, RB, IRE, RE), not long-distance trains (IC, EC, ICE).

See:
http://www.bahn.de/international/vie...many/swt.shtml

BTW: I am not too familiar with the American system of measuring time: What is the difference between 12 p.m. and midnight?

Here in Europe, we count from 0:00 to 24:00, with 24:00 on Friday being the same as 0:00 on Saturday. You should make yourself familiar with this system when you use public transport.

12pm is noon for Americans. 12am is midnight.

The 12 PM question came up a few years ago concerning a no parking sign. According to the National Bureau of Standards in the US, there is no 12 AM or 12 PM. They are officially Noon and Midnight.

Thanks a lot for clearing that up! I'd gotten use to the timing on the bahn.de site for the trains compared to here in the US, but didn't understand the whole 12pm thing.
That's a big help.

The weekend trains can be crowded. You might want to purchase reservations a day or two in advance.

The trains on which the Schönes-Wochenende-Tickets are valid are only regional, and there are no reservations possible on regional trains.

I traveled on regional trains on weekends in Bavaria this last October, and I never had any problems with crowds.

Note additionally that, for your travel from Bacharach to Mainz or Frankfurt, regional trains are probably your only options. On the route from Mainz to Karlsruhe, there are very nice, modern, double deck, Regional Express (RE) trains.

You have several other options that will use reservable express trains (ICE/IC/EC). If you book far enough ahead, you can get a Dauer-Spezial fare for that route for as low as €29 per person. Not quite as good would be to book a round trip for two with a ficticious return trip a week later. This would get you there on express trains for a SparPreis 50 fare of about €50 per person.