I will be travelling with two children, ages 10 and 12, in Austria and Germany this summer for 16 days. We will spend 5 nights in Vienna, then 2 nights in Salzburg. From there we will go to Munich for 1 night, Hohenschangau for 3 nights, Rothenburg ob der Tauber for 2 nights, onto Wurzburg for 3 nights and then fly from Frankfurt back to the States.
My questions: should we get a selectrail pass or buy tickets point to point - are there other passes we should consider? Also, do we need reservations or can we arrive at the station and be on our way? Any help would be appreciated. Thank you.
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You can get a Bayern ticket for all the trips you mentioned, including Salzburg-Munich, for 27 Euros/day. It covers your whole family for regional trains (RE, RB, basically) within Bavaria. Use it anytime on Sat or Sun, after 9 am weekdays. When you go to Frankfurt from Wuerzburg, get a Bayern ticket to use as far as Kahl, where Bavaria ends, and buy a regular ticket for Kahl-FRA at the Wuerzburg station before you leave.
The RE and RB trains are slower than the IC and ICE trains, but they will save you a TON of Euros; check the travel times for RE and RB to make sure they%26#39;re not TOO slow for your liking by stipulating %26quot;local transport only%26quot; on the english itinerary search pages at www.bahn.de.
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Vienna - Salzburg - Munich
Buy a single ticket Vienna to Munich. Such an international train ticket is valid 2 months and allows stopovers en route (= Salzburg).
With this ticket (like with domestic German ones) your children will be free. Strange result: Vienna - Munich is cheaper for you than to buy a domestic Austrian ticket Vienna - Salzburg.
DB timetable
http://reiseauskunft.bahn.de/bin/query.exe/e
From: Vienna
To: Munich
But you have to add your children to the travellers, i.e. they must be listed on the ticket. Only then they are free.
Munich to Hohenschwangau
Hohenschwangau to Rothenburg ob der Tauber
use the Bavaria Ticket (EUR 27,00) for these trips. This is a mini group (2-5 persons) day ticket covering all regional trains in Bavaria. Plus nearly all other local public transport. E.g. the U-Bahn, trams and buses in Munich and the buses from Füssen to Hohenschwangau.
Validity:
Mo-Fr: 9am till 3am next day
Sa,So: midnight till 3am next day
Select at the DB timetable as means of transport %26quot;only local transport%26quot; to ensure connections you can use with this ticket.
Rothenburg - Marktbreit - Würzburg.
Normal tickets. Too short to make sense of the Bavaria Ticket.
Würzburg - Frankfurt - Frankfurt Airport
Normal ticket.
%26gt; Also, do we need reservations or can we arrive at the station and be on our way
Not really. The longest trip is Vienna to Salzburg. But it is not common to reserve for domestic Austrian trips.
On regional trains you cannot reserve seats anyway.
Peak travel times are Friday and Sunday afternoon and evenings.
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Generally Russ is right that the Bavaria Ticket is also a good idea for Salzburg to Munich and Würzburg to Kahl. But in this case (with 2 children 10 and 12) the Bavaria Ticket is not the best solution for these trips.
1a)
Vienna to Salzburg EUR 87,20 (1 adult + 2 children)
Salzburg to Munich EUR 27,00 (Bavaria Ticket)
1b)
Vienna to Munich EUR 72,00 (1 parent + 2 children)
(and you can use also the faster trains from Salzburg to Munich)
2a)
Würzburg to Kahl EUR 27,00 (Bavaria Ticket)
Kahl to Frankfurt Airport EUR 14,50 (RMV tariff 1xEUR6,60 + 2xEUR3,95)
2b)
Würzburg to Frankfurt Airport EUR 33,00 (1 parent + 2 children)
(and you can use the direct fast ICE trains)
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Thank you all so much. I think you saved me a bundle. I would have been inclined to buy the Eurail pass - but that dates me...back to my backpacking days in the eightys!
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That%26#39;s quite a good fare from Vienna to Munich direct, abalada!
Follow abalada%26#39;s detailed ticket advice for the routes in question... I was mistakenly thinking 2 adults and 2 kids, and that does make a real difference.
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%26gt;but that dates me...back to my backpacking days in the eightys!
Back then, the Eurail pass was a good deal. Not any more...
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Thanks again everyone...you%26#39;re a big help!!!
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