Very dumb train travel question-how do the changes work?
 

I apologize in advance for this one. I have not been to Europe before nor have I travelled by train, and am arranging this trip for my mom and I. We will be taking the train from Venice to Munich, and again from Fussen to Salzburg. Both trips involve 'changes'. I am assuming I have to get off one train and get on another. How difficult is this. Do you sit in specific cars and how much time to you have?

Thank you....

It's like changing flights - except the luggage isn't checked through, there's no security checkpoints & the distances are shorter

You check on the timetables when your connection is supposed to leave. When you get to the station you need to change at, you get off the train with all your luggage and look for the platform where your next train is supposed to be. There will be different signage and announcement systems, but it's usually not difficult to find, and there should be someone to ask and other people looking to make the same connection. If you've bought your ticket in advance, it should tell you whether you have a reserved seat. If you haven't bought the ticket, you need to allow time to do so.

Here are a couple of pages that will help you get oriented to the trains
www.enjoy-europe.com/hte/chap17/rail.htm
www.enjoy-europe.com/hte/chap17/rail2.htm

it would help to have bags with wheels and telescopic handles. You could be forced to walk to a different platform. Sometimes no ramps, but usually an elevator. Still you could have to walk and with heavy bags its no fun.

As a rule, the trains all run at the same level, and unless you get a lucky connection at an adjacent track, you have to go down and up a level to get to your connecting platform.

Although elevators are usually provided at larger stations, you have to prepare for the many cases where they aren't: this means packing light enough that you can schlep your gear up and down a flight of stairs without assistance. As kr said, the more mobile your luggage, the better.

And in general European trains run on time and you will need to scurry since some connections are pretty short.

Are you both fit and are you packing light? If so you won't have any problems. But if you are taking a lot of luggage it can be a problem.

The information you have received so far is very sound advice. For the Füssen to Salzburg trip, the German rail web site will tell you the exact track numbers.

For the Venice to Munich trip you will have a change, most likely in Verona. The listed time on the schedule is about 15 minutes. That should be ample, but you need to be ready to get off the train. For this trip, I do recommend seat reservations. You will be assigned a seat in a specific car in a specific class. The cars are numbered as are the seats.

You could leave Venice at 13:29 and take a train that requires no changes between Venedig (Venice) and Muenchen (Munich).
This train arrives at 20:26.

Depending on when you leave Füssen, you may need to make two changes to reach Salzburg. Also, please note the correct spelling of Füssen. The ü (u umlaut or ue) is required if you query the Deutsche Bahn web site. Put in Fussen, without the ue or the ü and you get something else entirely.

In Munich, however, you will have to walk from the commuter rail area to the main part of the station. It is no big deal, but you must know that you are arriving in a separate part of the station. I think the walk will take you perhaps 10 minutes assuming normal conditions. The schedules show a connect time of 15 minutes or more.

The route between the two parts of the main Munich station is fairly flat, but as I recall from last summer, I had to negotiate a few steps, nothing major.

The main items to notice when boarding a train in Europe are these:
Which class? 1st or 2nd
Smoking or not.
Car and Seat number IF YOU HAVE A RESERVE SEAT.

Some of the regional trains are 2nd class only. The inter city express (ICE) trains always have 1st and 2nd class coaches.

I don't know if those local commuter type trains have assigned seats or not. I doubt it. The ones I have ridden seemed to be designed for standing room!!

The main EC and ICE trains sometimes require seat reservations, but I don't recall any of the Munich - Salzburg trains having such a requirement.

The main thing is to make sure you have the right track number. The German term for track is Gleis.

I might add that if you are not in a huge rush, you can make the whole trip from Füssen to Salzburg on a Bayern-Ticket. This ticket limits you to regional trains (no express trains) but the price is right.

This subject has been discussed elsewhere on this forum. Basically the idea is that a family up to 5 people can buy one ticket for 25€ (internet price) and depart at 9:00 or later. The ticket is good in Bavaria and as far as Salzburg and Kufstein in Austria. (the Deutsche Bahn serves these two cities)

If you are going to be riding trains in Europe, I strongly recommend that you become familiar with the Deutsche Bahn website it can be easily accessed at this link:
http://bahn.hafas.de/bin/query.exe/en

The captions for this section of the web site are in English. The schedules are comprehensive for most of Western Europe. Many people use it extensively for schedule information even for trips not passing through Germany.

You can do it, I have (not your route, but different ones).

I have two tips (one Bob touched on inadvertantly):

1. Make sure you know how the City's name is pronounced. You won't hear Venice, Florence, Rome or Munich.

2. Be sure to validate your ticket at the machine on the platform before getting on the train.

Your trip sound wonderful. Relax, do a little homework in advance as to the stops, etc., on your trains, and you'll be fine.

Use DB site to get the details:

http://reiseauskunft.bahn.de/bin/que...quest=yes&

Key items when changing trains
- Is the connection within the same station?
- Use digital display at large stations to find which track Binario/Gleis the next train will arrive. At smaller stations, it is a "fixed" assignment written on piece of paper, but sometimes you are told about the last minutes track change by PA system in local language only.
- The train info use train number and the FINAL destination of the train. You either need the train number or the FINAL destination plus scheduled departure time to make sure it is the right train. I note both to make sure. For example, if you take a train from Venezia S. Lucia to Munich requiring change at Verona, the Venezia-Verona section leg's final destination is usually Milano.
- Long trains have car assignment chart posted on the platform. If you have a reserved seat or want sit in certain car, look at this chart to know where on platform you should wait.
- Before hopping onto the train, check again the destination at the door of the car; either a sheet of paper, fixed sign, or a digital display.

You get off of one train, and then on to the next one, sometime changing platforms. I have asked personnel on my 1st train what to do. Some places things are more clearly marked than others. 1st and 2nd class cars say so on the outside. Even with specific seat assignments, you can always get ON the train as long as you know it's the correct one (if you are worried you are late) and walk thru the cars once the train is in motion to your proper place. Don't be afraid to ask the train staff or even fellow travelers if you feel confused. Most of all stay calm and remember, there is always another train!

p.s. Having only one suitcase, on wheels, and 21-24" max. makes it all a lot easier.

If you have a short time to change do not stay in your seats until the train pulls into the station. Get up, gather your luggage and go to the door of the train so you're ready to move as soon as it stops.

(Have seen people miss a train with a 6 minute conection because they were still trying to pull their luggage down from the overhead rack when the other train pulled out.)

If you're on a straight-through train, be sure that you get into the car with the name of the final destination on it. Once in Italy we didn't notice that part of the train went on to Germany and part did not and had to run for the right section as the train pulled out.

Once you're on the train, is the final destination marked somewhere in each car?

I'm wondering what would happen if you boarded the train in one car, but ended up sitting in another car that maybe had a different final destination (as Underhill mentioned).

Yes, the final destination should be marked on the side of the car, so be sure to know what that final destination is, just in case the train continues after you disembark. In most stations (if you have time to look), there will be a chart that shows the car arrangement of each train and the position of that car when the train is in that particular station. Usually, though, that chart is about halfway down the length of the train, so you need to have some time to toodle around in order to study it. J.

Maire, read the site that hopscotch posted. It answers everything you have asked, and then some.

www.enjoy-europe.com/hte/chap17/rail.htm
www.enjoy-europe.com/hte/chap17/rail2.htm

We wouldn't have had the problem if we had purchased seat reservations. But we didn't know enough to do that and as a result were sitting in the wrong car. Never again!

Wow - thank you all for the great information! I am taking only carry on luggage and have limited my mom to the same:) After my months of research on this great site that was one of the biggest take aways! Yes, I have being using the Deutsche Bahn site for planning.

I am printing this to take with me - getting ready to hop off before we stop is good advice and I had not thought of that.

Thanks 'bob brown' for the detailed Munich train station information. We will be going on to Fuessen from there so it is great to know about the commuter being a separate part of the station.

For some strange reason driving in Italy and Germany does not make me nervous but I feel so unprepared for the train travel! We are picking up a rental car in Berchtesgaden after visiting Salzburg & I was even considering renting in Munich to avoid the 2 changes from Fuessen to Salzburg. Pathetic, I know!!

Thanks again...31 days and counting!!!!

flurry, do what I always do. I print off the "tentative" detail train schedules from the Deutschebhan site and carry them with me. Don't laugh but even with all the times I've ridden the trains, I always have the fear of accidently getting on the wrong one therefore I can double check my little "cheat sheet" when the train makes a stop to be sure I'm heading in the right direction!

Granted, these will not show platform numbers for destinations outside the German influence, but they do come in handy.

Others are correct in that sometimes you will only have a short time to make your connection, so yes, be at the door, luggage in hand and ready to exit as soon as the train stops. Another reason for the print-off, you will know the next to last stop and can prepare yourself accordingly.

When in doubt, just ask the station attendant. They've always been helpful when I've asked.

Have a wonderful trip with your Mom!!! That's the ONE thing I wish I could do with mine is take her to Europe but it's just not possible because of health issues and her extreme fear of flying. I envy you both!