I am attempting to book tickets online at bahn.de and I would like to obtain the cheapest tickets available, but also with the least restrictions/problems. We are a family of four, two adults and children aged 11 and 13, and our itinerary is as follows:-
31 July 2007: Stuttgart centre to Lindau, leaving just after 10am
4 August: Lindau to Munich, leaving Lindau mid to late morning
8 August: Munich to Rothenberg ob der Taube, mid morning
12 August: R-o-d-T to Stuttgart airport, early afternoon
The Bayern and Bavaria tickets seem to offer significant cost attractions but it is difficult to tell from the site whether one ticket definitely covers all of us (Euro 27 per trip seems very cheap for two adults and two children and the site doesn%26#39;t appear to ask for details of those travelling, whereas the normal bahn.de site does). What will be the penalty in terms of multiple connections and journey times? Presumably I would need to buy a Bayern AND a Bavaria ticket for the first and last trips as we are crossing state boundaries?
Your assistance will be much appreciated.
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I can%26#39;t offer you much advice but a Bavaria (English) and Bayern (German) are the same. These are tickets to travel within a Lander (German state), in this case Bavaria. Baden-Wuerttemberg also has a Lander ticket. Basically Laender tickets are good for travel wihin the same German state and a few stations just ouside their borders, and usually include other local transportation. There are restrictions on the tickets such as valid hours of travel and travel must only using the more local and regional trains and not the high speed trains (ICE) beween major cities. You family of four will easily qualify for such a group ticket, but I can%26#39;t answer if in all cases that will be the cheapest or fastest option. There is also on weekends a slightly more expensive %26quot;beautiful weekend ticket%26quot; with similar restrictions that is good for entire Germany.
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You are quite right, of course, Marcopolko, I%26#39;ve got my terms mixed up and I can see now I%26#39;ve mis-spelled Baden- Wurttemburg in the title. I%26#39;m grateful for confirmation that a single Lander ticket will cover all four of us, provided one is valid (and not too onerous in terms of added train time and/or connections) for each of the four trips we are looking at. Or is it two Lander tickets for the first and last trips? Anyone?
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You can do all this on the Laender tickets. The info below is available at www.bahn.de ; stipulate %26quot;only local transport%26quot; when doing your search. I have given you sample itins but for each trip there are several other possibilities that might work for you too.
Compare for yourself the %26quot;penalty%26quot; in time and connections by searching WITHOUT the %26quot;local transport%26quot; condition (standard search).
31 July 2007: Stuttgart centre to Lindau, leaving just after 10am
Baden-Wuerttemberg Ticket, 10:02 direct to Lindau, just under 3 hours on the IRE train.
4 August: Lindau to Munich, leaving Lindau mid to late morning
Bayern Ticket, 10:03 to Munich with one change in Buchloe, about 3 hours, beautiful ride on the RE trains.
8 August: Munich to Rothenberg ob der Taube, mid morning
Bayern Ticket, 10:30 w/ changes in Treuchtlingen and Steinach, about 3.5 hours on the RE and RB trains
12 August: R-o-d-T to Stuttgart airport, early afternoon
Happy Weekend Ticket, 12:06, 3.75 hours w/ 3 changes on the RE, RB and S trains.
I would be cautious about allowing extra time on your final day to the airport in case you miss a connection.
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It looks like the first trip Stuttgart Lindau is covered with the Baden-Wuerttemberg ticket..
The second and the third trip is covered with the Bayern ticket.
The return trip from Munich to Stuttgart is of course not coverded by one of the tickets, but fortunately it is a Sunday and is therefore covered by the weekend ticket.
Unfortunately since you are bound to regional trains all four trips take between 2 3/4 and 3 1/2 hours.
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I should mention that Lindau is one of those connecting towns that qualifies for travel with either the B-W or Bayern ticket.
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railroads/station covered by the Baden-Württemberg Ticket
bahn.de/regional/view/mdb/pv/planen_buchen/l…
Lindau is covered, albeit in Bavaria
railroads/stations covered by the Bavaria Ticket
bayerntakt.de/media/…Gesamtnetz07.pdf
Both are valid for up to 5 persons travelling together.
Both have also the family option, that (grand)parents can travel with a unlimited number of (grand)children below 15 years.
Validity:
Mo-Fr: 9am till 3am next day
Sa, So: midnight till 3 am next day
At the DB timetable
http://reiseauskunft.bahn.de/bin/query.exe/e
select as means of transport %26quot;only local transport%26quot; to get connections you can use with the above tickets.
Both tickets cover nearly all local public transport in the respective state, notably the U-Bahn, trams and buses in Munich and Stuttgart.
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Your responses are most helpful, thank you all. I will now book with confidence!
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%26gt;Your responses are most helpful, thank you all. I will now book with confidence!
Don%26#39;t book the Länder Tickets. Just buy them when you are there. In case you change your plans some way you are stuck with the ticket. Buying it from a machine just takes a few minutes.
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