foggy27

We plan to spend our first night in Bamberg after arriving early at FRA airport. I understand a change of train is required in Wurzburg. Shall we buy the ticket to Bamberg at FRA? If it does not rain, we would want to get our luggage stored, have a walk in Wurzburg (perhaps see a sight if we are not totally exhaused from the flight), and catch a later train to Bamberg. Will the ticket remain valid?

Larryincolorado

I am often asked about using discount tickets to get from a flight into FRA after arriving. These discount tickets are for a specific express train and non-refundable on the day of travel, so if your flight is late you take the risk of losing your ticket.

Another option is to purchase a Bayern-Ticket (€28) for 2-5 people and local district (RMV) tickets to Kahl am Main for €6,95 each. The local tickets get you to Kahl from where you can use the Bayern-Ticket. The Bayern-Ticket is a pass valid for unlimited rides after 9 AM on regional trains in Bavaria. There are hourly regional trains (RE) from Frankfurt airport to Würzburg that take a little longer than the express trains, but it would probably get you there sooner than providing a big buffer in Frankfurt to allow for a late flight. The trip by all regional trains takes about an hour longer, but you could save over half.

Larryincolorado

You can also buy full fare tickets for the trip using an ICE part way for €51 per person.

TimS

Adding to Larry's comments. If you buy standard full fare tickets when you arrive, either the express to Wurzburg and a regional train from there to Bamberg or regional trains all the way, you certainly can stop over in Wurzburg. These are open tickets and you are not limited to specific departure times.

ira

Hi fog,

A ticket from FRA to Wurzburg + a ticket to Bamberg will cost almost the same as a ticket from FRA to Bamberg and allow you to stop over as long as you wish that day.

See http://reiseauskunft.bahn.de/bin/query.exe/en?rt=1&

Larryincolorado

According to the Beförderungsbedingungen (conditions of carriage) of the Bahn, for any standard fare open ticket for over 100 km, the period of valitidy (Geltungsdauer) of the ticket is the day of purchase, if purchased for immediate use, plus the following day until 3 AM of the day following that.

So, you could purchase a ticket to Bamberg in Frankfurt on Monday and travel with it to Bamberg with a stopover in Würzburg as long as you completed the trip by 3 AM Wednesday.