Hi. Can anyone help with the best way to get from Cologne to Passau? 4 people. Thanks!

Fly to Munich (25-30 euros x 4 people and 1 hour) and then train to Passau (30-40 euros x 4 people and approx. 2 1/2 hours) ???

Rent a car (approx 100 euros per day, 300+ miles) ???

Train Cologne to Passau (approx 100 euros x 4 people and 6 hours) ???

Fly to Linz and then train to Passau ???

Thanks for any suggestions...

OK, train Cologne to Passau for 2 adults and 2 children is 232 euros, making this look like the best option, I think. Does anyone agree? Thanks.

or flight Köln -> München and Bayernticket München -> Passau.

The train seems like the best option to me...a lot less palaver than getting to an airport, checking in for a flight, going through security, landing, and then catching a train. How old are the kids? Will they enjoy/tolerate a 6 hour train ride?

The ride is fairly scenic...you go along the Rhine, then through Franconia.

I've been on this route several times while taking the train from Brussels to Vienna.

If you're taking an ICE train, relax in the dining car for a bit with a salad or a plate of Nuremberger sausages, some wine or beer of the month on tap.

Kids are 12 and 14. They can tolerate anything. Great travelers.

Yeah, the train, while it may be slightly longer, seems to eliminate the hassle of transfers.

I think the bayernticket would be a bargain at 29 euros for the 4 of us, but it seems like it would take too long, right? Slower than the IC/ICE?

From München to Passau, the Bayernticket is what you should use. There are no high speed trains on that route, you're passing through rural (and flat) lower Bavaria. It's a "wide and open" landscape, a few forests and wheat fields. The plane from Köln to Munich is a fast (and inexpensive) option if you're close to the Köln airport. However the train München to Passau makes a stop in Freising, which is very close to the airport. You don't need to go into München to catch the train to Passau.

And yes, try to avoid the food on the ICE train but bring your own, it's just expensive and awful! ;-)