Stop between Munich and Cochem (long train ride)
 

Hi !




We will be travelling from Munich to Cochem july 31 (sunday). Since we have Young kids with us (4 ans 8 years old) we are looking for a 3 hours stop on the road. That stop would allows us to make some sightseeing and have a quick lunch. There's many options of road (of course no direct train between those two places).


First we thought about a stop to Cologne but it's quite a detour. Ulm can be a good stop but it's not far from Munich. Train leave Munich at 9:15 arrival in Ulm at 10:45 (Ice), Then it's IC Train to Koblenz (13:56-17:41) and last leg Koblenz-Cochem (RE18:06-18:41)


Could anyone suggest us a stop on that long day of train riding ?

Stuttgart? Not the most picturesque of German cities, but it is halfway the trip, and a few metres from the railway station there are parks, an impressive palace, and what older things nearby to make it more than just a functional stop.

Stuttgart, Heidelberg, or Frankfurt.

Heidelberg is fantastic - one of the few German cities not blitzed to bits in WW2 - kids will love the great castle on the hill and the funicular or cable car ride up to it. Not on mainline so a slight detour I think.

On the direct route between Munich and Frankfurt the train stops at Wurzburg- a wonderful looking city surrounded by vineyards.

Five hours may not be that long on a train because you do have to transfer at least once or twice with a little stretch time when changing trains.

stopping off sounds neat but you have to put your bags in a station locker and train stations are not always in the heart of towns, etc.

Maybe just go straight thru and create a little more time at places you have to transfer - German stations are little shopping malls in their own right.

Some or more than some German ICE and IC trains have family compartments with kids toys, etc. This may make the trip less long for the tykes.

https://www.bahn.de/i/view/overseas/...en-index.shtml

also check www.seat61.com for such info and www.budgeteuropetravel.com and www.ricksteves.com for general info on German trains.

Würzburg woulg have been an option but we will already been there since we have 4 nights in Nuremberg before going in Munich.

I already got some infos on trains. The probleme we got with family ompartment is that we can't reserved seats in those compartments. We can only choose the compartment , not the seats.

Other people told me that Mannheim, Stuttgart or Heidelberg (already been there but it was 16 years ago)could be good stops.

It's also a deception not to be able to go to Ulm or Cologne, Cathedrals are something special that we dont have muche her in Canada.

Is not a Family Compartment just for one family - you reserve the compartment with all the seats? I don't know but if you have researched that I'd be curious to know.

I dont know how that works. I can believe they make a whole wagon just for one family of four.

I don't find train rides tiring and I don't think your kids will either. Remember they're not strapped into seats. They can move around and play on the floor, even nap. Just bring toys and books.

If you do a mid-trip detour into a city, that might be more stressful. Storing your bags, finding your way around, getting back in time to retrieve your bags (what if there's a line?) and catch your next train.

And on the train, the WC is at the end of the car.

Kids don't value seeing yet another sight. They like spending more time in one place, getting acquainted, making it their neighborhood.

The one advantage to a stop in Cologne for the cathedral is the fact that the cathedral is directly across the street from the station.

>Is not a Family Compartment just for one family - you reserve the compartment with all the seats?<

Compartments in the narrow sense oft the word are available on ICs and older ICEs only; the newer ones don't have compartments any more. What you will be given instead is just a table with 4 seats (facing two to two) in a so-called "family aerea", i.e. in a car whre more ramilies are seated, so that your children can get into a scrap with other ones. ;)

The second picture at https://www.bahn.de/i/view/overseas/...rvations.shtml
may give you an impression what to expect.

>Could anyone suggest us a stop on that long day of train riding ?<

Mainz would be a good option: fine romanesque cathedral (one of the three best in Germany), lively city. Please note: if you are travelling on discounted tickets (which I guess from the fact that you will transfer to an IC at Mannheim) you are bound to a specific train. If you want an intermediate break, you have to indicate that when booking (by clicking on »add intermediate stops« and indicating respective town and time span).

BTW, did you note the remark on your train in the time table:

"Please note:
ICE 610: Construction work. Train is running 15 minutes early. Please check your itinerary again shortly before departure."

yes I've seen that remark !

Thanks for all those sugegstioons. we got something like 24 hours to decide (saver fares will be avaible tommorow). We still looking at all our options. Mainz seems to be a good option since most of the trains between Munich and Cochem stops there.

Travelwise, Heidelberg would even be a better option. There is a direct train to Heidelberg from München (9:46-12:46) and from Heidelberg to Cochem there is a connection with only one change in Koblenz (15:55-18:41). This gives you three hours in Heidelberg, enough to visit the most impressive castle and a bit of the Old Town.

You will probably enjoy Heidelberg more than Mainz. And the route via Mainz requires changes of trains in Mannheim, Mainz and Koblenz, so one change more.

another vote for Heidelberg - much more romantic that Mainz or Mannheim - two nice enough but not dreamy looking cities.

>There is a direct train to Heidelberg from München (9:46-12:46)<

EC 390 takes it's summer break between Jul 30 and Sep 11, so there would be a change either in Stuttgart or Mannheim.

"Mainz seems to be a good option..."

Agree with that. Mainz is a nice place with lots of sights and good walking zones near the Romanesque cathedral, one of Germany's finer examples. Augustinerstrasse has a good vibe and nice places to eat/drink:

http://www.master.economics.uni-main...sse-abends.jpg

https://c1.staticflickr.com/9/8517/8...8e0b61f0_b.jpg

http://familyadventureproject.org/wp...0/IMG_4192.jpg

Market Square is nice too: http://www.sip2014.mainz.jki.bund.de...marktplatz.jpg

There's no direct route to Heidelberg. Like i've said we will travell on sunday july 31 (that date can't be change).

We got 4 options:

1) No stop. Departure from Munich at 8:55 arrival at Cochem at 14:41 (Change in Frankfurt and Koblenz)

2) Stop in Mainz for 3 hours. Departure from Munich at 8:55 arrival at Mainz at 12:46 ( change in Frankfurt). Arrival at Cochem at 17:41 (change in Koblenz)

3) Stop in Heidelberg for 3 hours. Departure from Munich at 8:55 arrival at Heidelberg at 12:44 ( change in Stuttgart). Arrival at Cochem at 18:41 (change in Koblenz). That trip take one hour more than # 2 (same time in Mainz or Heidelberg)

4) Stop in Ulm (for the Münster) for 3 hours. Departure from Munich at 9:15 arrival at Ulm at 10:45. Arrival at Cochem at 18:41 (change in Koblenz)

We could also ass an option #5 :

5)Stop in Cologne (for the dom) for 2 hours and half Departure from Munich at 9:15 arrival at Cologne at 14:05. Arrival at Cochem at 18:41 (change in Koblenz).

All those trains are mix of ICE, IC and Regional trains. Is there a big difference in ICE and IC ?

>Is there a big difference in ICE and IC ?y

IC's are slower and have a more traditional outlook, loco-driven and traditonal cars (where you can, btw, reserve seats in a traditional compartment). Not all IC's carry a dining car (you can look up that in the details on the time table by clicking on the train number), so bring your own food along.

Maybe will do it straight after all......

IC/EC are, as said, slower (just 200 km/h instead of 250 km/h). 95% of the IC/EC trains have restaurant cars. The IC/EC trains run through the Rhine gorge which is very scenic.

Maybe will do it straight after all......

that's what you kids may love - could be in the Cochem municipal swimming pool - a large nice one- by mid-afternoon!

The Cologne stop however would be easy - cathedral smack next door to the train station - off and back on and you have direct trains to Koblenz from there.

but if it were me - I'd - with kids that age - get to my destination and let them unwind a bit.

i'm dumb ! I made a mistake about our travel date. We dont leave Munich july 31 but july 30. Now all the good price are already gone (yesterday was the first day to buy them). I'm not very proud .

>Now all the good price are already gone (yesterday was the first day to buy them). I'm not very proud .<

I can see right now, 19:22 MET, tickets for ICE 726 dep. 7:55, change at Frankfurt to IC 2024 and at Koblenz to RE arr. Cochem 14:06 for 29 Euro. Not cheap enough?

And there are still tickets for 29 available for ICE 724 / ICE 1642 / RB leaving Munich at 8:55, arr. Cochem 15:06.

cheap tickets rarely sell out the first days on many trains it seems in my casual testing of such fares - and keep trying.
Q for sla109, who seems to be a real expert on German trains - once discounted tickets are gone for a certain train do they even come back as the train date approaches - say if lots of tickets remain unsold - or once exhausted they never get that cheap again?

We finally bought 58 Euro tickets for the whole family (+ 9 Euro seats reservations)last night. Leaving Munich at 9:55 arrival in Cochem at 16:06 (ICE 1112 + ICE 1026 + RB).

I Can't see that 8:55 departure.

And must have been the last ones at those price since right after the price jump to 90 Euro.

>I Can't see that 8:55 departure.<

>And must have been the last ones at those price since right after the price jump to 90 Euro.<

No, there are still tickets available for 29 E. One must play a little with that system to get the cheapest options. E.g., you can unclick the fast connections only option, or you can "offer" the system an alternative route. To bring up the 8:55 train (29 E.) I forced it to choose the route via Nuremberg, requesting a stop of 0 min there. Right now (22:32 MET time) it offers me: 30 JUL 2016 Munich dep. 8:55 (ICE 724) - Frankfurt arr. 12:04 dep. 12:42 (IC 2312) - Mainz arr. 13:15 - dep. 13:20 (IC 2312) - Koblenz arr. 14:11 dep. 14:17 (RE) - Cochem arr. 15:06

But 58 E. for the family is a good price, congratulations!

Sounds a lot cheaper than driving!

>once discounted tickets are gone for a certain train do they even come back as the train date approaches - say if lots of tickets remain unsold - or once exhausted they never get that cheap again?<

@PalenQ
Sorry, I cannot answer that. There is some restructuration of the price system under way and DB said recently that, depending on booking status, they are going to sell discouted tickets very close to depature. But I haven't seen details yet.

sla019 - thanks for your continuing education on German trains- I have not ridden any for a few years after decades of incessant riding so I like to know what's up- again thanks for all your seemingly inside knowledge. Fodor's is lucky to have you and a few others who really know what of what they talk!

Cheers!