I will be traveling to Germany to visit my son and his family. I am looking for things to do when I am they. They are military and have small children, so I am looking for something for all of to do on day trips. How can I get information on the Eurorail and the cost? What are the best sights to see. I know I want to see some castles and have heard of the Fairy Tale Route, but not sure if that is something to do with the little ones (2 and 7 months old). Any suggestions are welcome.
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%26gt;How can I get information on the Eurorail and the cost?
I don%26#39;t think you will need Eurail%26#39;s services (it is a travel agency) when you are already in Germany. Train ticket info and pricing is on www.bahn.de
With children it might be useful to do some combination of train and rental cars since many castles and such are not well connected by public transpot. On the other hand in cities you don%26#39;t need a car.
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Will depend where your son and his family lives.
Some installations are pretty remote, i.e. from there train or other local public transport is not the best choice.
With small children you should concentrate on the sights of the region, thus keeping the travel times short. Longer trips are not exactly what small children are keen on. Normally also no problem in Germany to find interesting sights not that far.
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For rail tickets, you would be best suited with a single country rail pass for Germany. You can get them through www.raileurope.com. Rick Steeves also sells them and gives you a one-time 20% discount on any of his travel gear. If you are looking for inexpensive train tickets and are staying in one particular %26quot;state,%26quot; you should buy a %26quot;Länder Ticket%26quot; which are sold on a daily basis from www.bahn.de. Depending on where your family is stationed, there are lots of things to do right in the area.
Länder Tickets are sold at the train stations either at the Deutsche Bahn information and ticket stands or in the automatic ticket machines located all over the various stations. They cost between EUR 22 and EUR 25 for two adults and up to 5 children. You must begin your journey after 9:00AM and you may not travel on ICE or IC trains (the very fast intercity trains), but the RE (Regional Express) trains are plenty fast enough.
Traveling with infants and toddlers can be character building. The good news is that German locals travel by train with children all the time. In cities, many people don%26#39;t even own a car. Another suggestion is to check with local travel agencies in the closest medium-sized city to where your son is stationed. They will have good ideas about what to do with children and most speak English.
Also, if your son is in government housing on a base, he will have lots of friends who have small children and the wives will have lots of suggestions. The other bit of good news is that places in Germany are close. The entire country of almost 100 million people is the size of Montana. There is nothing too far away.
Hope this helps.
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I forgot 4 other things. You mentioned castles. Remember that for defensive reasons, castles were built on the highest ground in the area. The towns are in the lowest parts of of the region. A 20 - 30 minute trudge up (and I do mean %26quot;up%26quot;) cobblestone streets can be very taxing, especially if you are pushing a baby buggy and carrying and infant. Make sure that taxi service is available if castles are your thing.
Second, make sure that you have thick-soled shoes! Cobblestone streets with thin-soled shoes don%26#39;t mix.
Consider hiring a babysitter for a couple of days and give your kids a break. I am sure they would appreciate it.
If you are near Rothenburg ob der Tauber, it is a good place to visit in March. While it is very touristy, it is Europe%26#39;s best medieval town. One tip about Rothenburg. It is at the end of a rail line. Make sure that you know the train schedule. Have a great adventure!
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Thank you both for your assistance. I do have a little more information about my beginning point and the area in which we would like to travel. We will be traveling from Kaiserslautern, which if I am figuring correctly, the closest trains would be in Stuttgart and we will be traveling to Bavaria, and definitely want to see Neuschwanstein Castle. So I guess I am asking now for more information on the Bavaria area, and what we could do in a day or two. Thanks
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Actually, you are not in Bavaria, but there is a lot to see with short trips. The towns along the Rhine and Mosel are very convenient to you, as is Trier with its Roman ruins; Idar-Oberstein with its church built into a mountain and semi-precious gem mining is close. I%26#39;ll start with those first.
Along the Mosel River (Mosel wine country) you will find the town of Cochem. It is a lovely little tourist town that has a great castle. The hike to the castle isn%26#39;t bad (I saw plenty of baby carriages being pushed up the hill to the castle), and the castle (Reichsburg), while actually pretty recent (1840 or so) is super and gives good English tours. Next is Bernkastel - Kues, a town known for its wine growing and world famous wine fest. It also a lovely town with lots to do. It is actually 2 towns, they make up the prettiest villages on the Mosel, in my opinion.
Next, Worms is an ancient city that predates the Romans. It is where %26quot;the Diet of Worms%26quot; was held, and Martin Luther appeared to defend his beliefs. The is a marvelous cathedral there. From there, the Rhine River is possible. Trains run on both sides of the river at frequent intervals. There are also ferry%26#39;s going back and forth. There won%26#39;t be many tourists and all the towns from Rüdesheim to Boppard are worth a visit. This is the area that Rick Steeves talks about and if you wanted to make it a two day trip, it would be ideal. The question, of course ,is the children and how much they can manage. You could visit Worms, train the Rüdesheim station, tour Rudesheim and the %26quot;Droesselgasse%26quot; (Droessel Alley), have a late lunch, train to Bacharach (I think that Rick is right about this wonderful little town) to spend the night. In the morning have a leisurely breakfast, tour the town, and head for St Goar. Visit this town leisurely, have lunch, and make your way back to K%26#39;town.
I am describing places that I have been to recently, but I was coming from the other direction. I don%26#39;t remember whether it was by train or bus. You will have to check the schedules.
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Kaiserslautern is in the VRN local public transport network.
vrn.de/IMAGES/…vrn_tarifgebiet.jpg
notably on the S-Bahn lines S1 and S2
vrn.de/IMAGES/…S_Bahn_linienverlauf_gross.pdf
You can buy 24 hours mini group tickets for a few zones or the whole VRN area (EUR 18,50). Valid for 2-5 persons. If bought on a Saturday this ticket is even valid till Monday 3am.
A few highlights inside the VRN area
Heidelberg
http://www.cvb-heidelberg.de/index_eng.html
cvb-heidelberg.de/e886/e887/index_eng.html
http://www.tiergarten-heidelberg.de/
bergbahn-heidelberg.de/englisch/index.html…
Speyer
www.speyer.de/de/tourist/sehenswert…
http://www.technik-museum.de/uk/speyer/
Holiday Park Hassloch
www.holidaypark.de/hp_englisch/indexset.html
Neckar Valley e.g. Neckarsteinach
www.burgenstrasse.de/showpage.php…
You can access the castles there from the %26quot;frontside%26quot; (Neckar side) via the Schlosssteige alleyway also with a stroller.
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The info that you got from abalada is great. I wish I had thought of it. Save the things I suggested for when the kids are older. The Rhine will always be there.
This message is for abalada. I have been watching your advice. From now on I am just going to sit back and read. I hope that you are a travel agent because your advice is so %26quot;to the point.%26quot; Do you have an email address where I can send you my itinerary for suggestions.
Thanks, Don
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