Train tickets in Europe
 

Hi Everyone,

We (my husband, a friend and myself) are travelling to Europe from 8th Oct, 2015 till 19th Oct, 2015. In this time schedule we are covering Austria(Vienna+Salzburg), Munich + Neuschwanstein, Belgium (brussels+brugge) and Amsterdam. We have done our hotel/hostels booking. wondering for commute, should be book the train tickets before hand or buying tickets at that time would be preferable? we have only one overnight journey i.e from Munich to Brussels. Please suggest. Any other help in terms of scouting the places(must dos) or food is welcomed :)

You should book the train tickets early. Booking a week in advance is almost always cheaper than booking on travel day. You can buy most European train tickets online from anywhere. There are two basic options when it comes to purchasing advanced train tickets for European trains:

Rail ticket sites that make it easy and charge extra for it

Or

Official rail company sites for each country

P/s: When you travel to Vienna, don't miss to discover Viennese vino. This is the only metropolis in the world that grows enough wine within city limits to be worth mentioning. :)

Buy your tickets ASAP

www.bahn.de

Thanks Guys. @KimFionafromUK192 and @traveller1959 :)

Hey, i hope it should not be much of concern, if i book second class for over night journey from Munich to Brussels?

and In Vienna, is hop on and hop off bus worth going for or should we see the city all by ourself?

Sorry - there are no sleeper trains between Munich and Brussels. You can make the trip at night - but there are a minimum of 2 changes during the night - and it will take about 14 hours. Seems like flying would be a much better choice than sitting up al night.

For loads of gret info on European trains check these IMO informative sites: www.seat61.com - great info on discounted tickets which yes can save you tons of money but as they are train-specific usually can't be changed nor refunded but often huge savings over walk up fares; www.budgeteuropetravel.com and www.ricksteves.com.

In Bavaria use the Bavarian Pass to go to Fuessen and Salzburg for a total of about 30 euros for two people - can only take regional trains and are slower but save so so much.

discounted tickets also come in first class and there are definite benefits to that IME of years of European train riding - especially for folks with too much luggage.

The only reason to purchase the Vienna to Salzburg tickets early would be just to have them on your person, or if you specifically want first class seating. For second class fares Westbahn is the preferred booking over ÖBB; the ticket prices rarely change, and you can even purchase them on board the train.

As for the HOHO buses, you will find as many "yeas" as "nays" on this forum. Vienna is a small city and most of the top tourist sights are easily walkable or a tram stop or two away. One of the sightseeing buses now brings tourists up into the vineyards, but even then, using public transportation is far less expensive (and with better timetables).

44travel makes a great point about Westbahn, a subsidiary of Austrian Railways - a discount train not as plush as Austrian Railways trains - yes especially with first class there being really plus - but a flat fare of 24.90 euros Vienna to Salzburg:

https://westbahn.at/en

But that Westbahn offers flat cheap fares does not mean that the train can't sell out - you still may want to buy a ticket ahead of time - especially if you must be on a certain train at a certain hour.

Vienna to Salzburg on Westbahn trains is about as quick as Austrian State Railway trains and leave Vienna hourly about at :38 after the hour - more frequent than I thought.

1. Vienna to Salzburg: Just hop on any hourly Westbahn train and pay the €24 on board. Easy. So no need to commit in advance.

2. Salzburg to Munich: €23 if you use a bayern Ticket bought on the day, valid on regional trains. If you want the fast Railjet or EC trains, they start at €19 if you book in advance or cost €36 on the day. The cheap fares sell out, the standard price cannot sell out.

3. Regional trains around Munich, buy on the day. Check times and prices at www.bahn.de/en or use a Bayern Ticket.

4. Munich to Brussels. You can book the Munich-Cologne sleeper with a Cologne-Brussels ICE connecting train just by booking Munich Hbf to Brussels-Midi at www.bahn.de/en with 'enter stopovers' clicked and 'Cologne; and '01:00' entered in the hh:mm stopover box.

You depart Munich 22:50, although it means a very early change of train at Cologne around 05:45 to arrive Brussels around 09:35.

To the Man in Seat 61: I use your site frequently (Thanks!!) but I haven't been able to get a clear answer on this. If I buy a länd ticket or the "happy weekend" ticket, do I have to select a specific train or are they good on any of the acceptable trains during that day?

It looks like I can buy happy weekend on the DB site with no train selected, but when I go to buy the Bayern tickets, they seem to only come up for a specific train. DB has so many website variations that it totally confuses me. We have a party of 4 so the discount tickets are really valuable.

Bavarian Pass is valid on any regional train and none faster - you need not select any train in advance. No need to buy Bavarian Pass is advance - same price at stations on day of train.

That's what I thought--no need to buy in advance. Thanks.

Thankyou so much. This is really helping me a lot in clearing my confusion :)

You can also use the Bavarian Pass on city buses and trams and S- and U-Bahns like in Munich during that day - not just regional trains. Only in Germany however not once in Salzburg - pass will get you to the train station there, considered to be a German stationfor tarification purposes - thus the pass is valid to there.

I think if you buy then in machines if credit cards work it may be a few euro cheaper than a manually-issued ticket at ticket windows? And they do not I believe cost that much more in first class.

"...we have only one overnight journey i.e from Munich to Brussels..."

"You depart Munich 22:50, although it means a very early change of train at Cologne around 05:45 to arrive Brussels around 09:35."

It's a real shame that you have chosen not to stop anywhere in Germany besides Munich, IMO. And your plan is to take a sleeper to Brussels which means you may not sleep and you definitely will have to get up at 5:30 a.m. in Cologne to switch trains and you definitely will have a 1-hour wait in Cologne before your train to Brussels. And you will pay a minimum of €200 for transport and an economy sleeper for this trip.

Instead I suggest getting a saver fare with a stopover so you can get some real sleep in a real bed.

What day do you leave Munich?

Check the DB site for this option... It's possible (as of this morning anyway) on the sample date of 10/12 to get a train fare of €98 for two for Munich-Brussels with an 8.5-hour stopover at Frankfurt Hbf and a routing through the scenic Middle Rhine Valley (which you would see the next morning.) Hotel rooms in Frankfurt near the station are often reasonably priced

Lv Munich Hbf 20:54
Ar Frankfurt Hbf 00:04
Lv Frankfurt Hbf 8:42
Ar Bruxelles-Midi 13:35 (w/changes in Mainz and Cologne.)

To find this yourself input an 8-hr stopover in Frankfurt and a stopover of 00:00 in Koblenz (which routes your train through the MRV.) The MRV is where the real castles are - 40 of them in 40 miles:

http://www.welterbe-mittelrheintal.d...php?id=288&L=3

If you do the night train option, you will pass through scenery like this in the DARK:

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikiped...ngen_Rhein.jpg

IMO it would be better to drop the trip to Neuschwanstein (which will take up most of your day just for a 30-minute tour - it's 5 hours of transportation from Munich and back!) and leave Munich a day earlier so you can spend a full day in the MRV (which is on your way to Brussels anyway!) Marksburg Castle is a good one to tour - a real medieval castle that was never destroyed:

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikiped...ubach_2012.jpg

IMO it would be better to drop the trip to Neuschwanstein (which will take up most of your day just for a 30-minute tour - it's 5 hours of transportation from Munich and back!)>

the actual tour to me is just a tiny part of the Fuessen, Neuschwansgtein experience - take time to hoof it up to the Marienbrucke, high above the castle for a wonderful photo op of castle nestled in trees far below - and Fuessen itself is a charming town few take time to explore. Not don't go just to take a 30-minute tour thru Europe's most famous and IMO most riveting castle interior (and exterior too!).