Should we rent a car or use public transportation?
 

My wife and I are planning a 6 day trip in mid of Novenber starting from Frankfurt, Germany to Salzburg Astria, Prague Czech, and ending at Frankfurt. Should we rent a car or take public transportation from cost and convenience point of view? Thanks.

You would have to run the numbers as to cost.

But = you are trying to cover a LOT of territory in very few days - so I would think a road trip (stopping where you want to see cute towns etc) isn;t really a possibility. You just don;t have time.

In fact, you don;t really have time to see the places you have listed when you include travel time - only about 1.5 days per city.

I assume you already have tickets and are stuck with flying in and out of Frankfurt - versus, for instance into salzburg (o Munich) and out of Prague - to avoid a giant circle.

I would go by train. There are good connections between the cities you will visit and you won't need a car in those cities - and you don't WANT a car in Prague. I agree that if you were planning to stop along the way and see things, then a car would make sense, but you will just be getting from Point A to Point B, so take the train.

With only 6 days though, I don't think I would go as far as Prague. I would stick to southern Germany and Austria - less time travelling to and from places, more time in the places you do visit.

Thanks for reply. Frankfurt is only the point to flight in and flight out. If I change our plan to visit Neuschwanstein Castle, Salzburg and The Danube Valley, do we have to rent a car?

To get optimistic travel time and minimum expenses, load you destinations into http://www.viamichelin.com/.

I think your metrics, cost and conveniences, are too simplistic.

1. You are not automatically allowed to bring a car rented in Germany into Czech Republic. Look at car rental fine prints.
2. Many people compare best case car rental cost (no fines, no deductable damages, no opportunity cost spending your time submitting claims, etc) to worst case train fares (Raileurope prices.) Some people count hours looking for a place to park as a benefit of renting a car while others consider this as cost.

Depending on where you are from, Prague traffic is either just as home or madness.

Unless you are doing FRA in FRA out because you are using award tickets, you are probably looking at a less favorable itinerary from cost and convenience point of view already by not doing multi-city flights. You have to travel all the way back to FRA and you have to stay an unproductive last night in Frankfurt?

f I change our plan to visit Neuschwanstein Castle, Salzburg and The Danube Valley, do we have to rent a car?>

definitely not - all those places are easily done by train and or boat - trains go frequently to Fuessen, a few miles from Mad Ludwig's fantasy castles and you can take a train to Melk, on the Danube then take boats thru the famous Wachau Valley to places like Durnstein and Krems, from where you can take a train back to Vienna.

If doing that much train travel in Austria and Germany consider the Germany-Austria Railpass which lets you hop on virtually any train in either country anytime - complex flexibility - those types of tickets can often cost an arm and two legs.

For lots of great info on trains in those countries I always spotlight these IMO fantastic info-laden sites - www.seat61.com; www.ricksteves.com and www.budgeteuropetravel.com - check out the latter's free for download European Planning & Rail Guide for lots of possible rail itineraries in those countries if looking for ideas on how to fit it all together.

I would definitely recommend getting a car for your german stops, and get a good one. The highway (autobahn) is toll free and an experience itself, great driving experience and the freedom you have with a car is worth the extra money. no problem parking or driving around the towns you mentioned.As far as driving in Czech as stated above many rental companies will not insure the car once you cross the border so look into that . I drove from vienna to dresden all the way around the border of czech republic, it took about 6 hours and then the next day from dresden took a one hour train into prague while in prague everything seemed ok for drivers and cars but i really dont know. if I could have driven through czech it would have been a two hour trip. I was not aware when I booked my rental car that i was not allowed in czech. Good on you for doing your research

You'll only be in Germany a few days. You'll have to pick up the car and take the car back before you go into Czech.

Take public transportation.

I am usually pro car, but for your trip I would say take public transportation. Connections are excellent between those cities, you don't have much time to explore anyway and you are lugging a load of stuff (ie strollers, kids etc.)

You should review your priorities for your trip- you try to do much too much in your short time in my opinion. A good portion of your trip would be spent in transfers whether train or auto- - then add Check in / check out of hotels- not much time for actual sightseeing.

Also review some recommendations given above -not accurate- example- a recommended trip by boat Melk- Krems - you travel in November- these boats cease operations for the year the end of October.

Most find point to point tickets less expensive than a pass.

Numerous special offers allow trian travel at cheap prices.
Bayern ticket for example and other similar offerings in Germany.

Most find point to point tickets less expensive than a pass.>

It all depends on whether you desire flexibility to hop on any train anytime if a pass is good for you often. Such full fare fully flexible tickets can cost a ton - a few trips could make a railpass - like a German Railpass or a German-Austria Railpass - pay off quickly. But if you want to book yourself into usually non-changeable non-refundable trains weeks in advance (to get the limited in number tickets that often sell out weeks before the actual train then that may well be the best way.

So it depends on flexibility and if the total cost of discount tickets even approaches the cost of a pass go for the flexibility the pass offers.

Thank for your replies. I did not know that many tourist sevices will be close in Nov. I need to adjust my plan. I checked that Neuschwanstein Castle will be open in Nov, so this is a place to visit for sure. With many tourist sevices closed in Salzburg and The Danube Valley , are they still good places to visit in middle of Nov.? Any sugguestions are welcome.

Regarding train travel and inexpensive options without need to buy a pass-
much available.

Bayern Ticket - unlimited regional rail travel in Bavaria-

includes travel Munich - Salzburg - any regional train--
travel from 9 am to 3 am next day weekdays- no restriction on weekend

22 euro + 4 euro more for extra tracveler up to 5 - includes Munich public transport system-
thus trip from Munich accomodation to Salzburg and return - cheap-

Travel for example Vienna- Salzburg by Westbahn Train

25 euro
fully flexible with many daily departures- you can even buy ticket on the train- no reservations needed
other offers too including international bus service with this firm

www.westbahn.at

Salzburg still makes for a good visit in November - in later November Christmas markets too.

Danube Valley/ Wachau - much is closed . not just tourist boat Melk- Krems but many hotels, restaurants, shops.

Regarding train travel and inexpensive options without need to buy a pass->

but this is comparing apples and oranges IMO - regional trains in Germany are significantly slower than IC trains - fine for some folks but the extra hour or more is not for others. Plus IME of riding zillions of German trains regional trains are also much much less comfy than faster trains and IMe can be very crowded at times, especially when groups of schoolkids swarm aboard at times on these trains that also act as school buses.

So you get what you pay for and again it is fine for some but perhaps not the cup of tea for others.

Interesting - I never noticed any traffic in Prague. Cars - yes, traffic - no. But then I guess if you're used to the Cross-Bronx or the LIE

Cars yes traffic no - no traffic would mean no cars?