Hello All:
There are Six of us going arriving March 3 in Cologne and leaving March 11.
We are in our early 30%26#39;s...so we like a little luxury...but of course for the best price!
We are thinking more of taking trains than driving.
We would like to see classic Germany ie, small quaint towns, maybe a river tour, see some castles (maybe spend a night in one?)
I know this is a lot to ask but if anyone has done something like this and could help...I would be forever grateful.
Your fellow traveller,
JB
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For what you want to see, heading south from Cologne is the way to go. You%26#39;ll find lots of information on the rhine river valley on this forum, including hotels, castles, river cruises. Another suggestion is the Mosel valley going from Trier to Traben-Trarbach to Cochem to Koblenz (or vice versa). It is very pretty as well, lots of small villages, castles, lots of fine wine and dining and a tad less touristy than the rhine valley.
Also nice: The Neckar valley going from Heidelberg to Heilbronn (river cruise, castles, small towns, the whole set)
These are all wine growing regions, so you stand a chance of somewhat warmer weather in March than e.g. round the black forest.
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KW:
Thank you so much!!! I will starting looking into those areas.
I did start looking into Romantic Road...I was thinking staying in Cologne for 2 days...romantic road for 3 days and Salzburg for two and Munich for 2 days...last night back in Cologne.
We are thinking of renting two cars and driving...Does this seem feasible?
Thanks again,
JB
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quite ambitious, but doable, depends on how much driving you want to do. Maybe consider to do car and train trips.
It could look like this:
Sightseeing in Cologne (no car), rent car and drive the rhine river valley. Then either join the RR in Würzburg or drive down to Heidelberg, drive the Neckar valley to Heilbronn and join the RR in Rothenburg ob der Tauber. Drive to Füssen/Neuschwanstein (if you like to see it), maybe stop in Dinkelsbühl on your way. Drive to Munich via Reutte (Austria), and Garmisch. Drop the car in Munich, no car needed in Munich or Salzburg, dirty cheap train ticket (Bayern ticket) can be bought for the Munich-Salzburg trip. Take train from Munich to Cologne. Just a word for the romantic road: it%26#39;s not the road that is romantic , it%26#39;s the stops, so you don%26#39;t miss a lot if you just want to get from Rothenburg to Füssen and take the autobahn. If you want to have stops in between, stick to the RR. If you run behind schedule, skip Salzburg, things could get a bit cramped. Early March can still mean snow and ice on the roads esp. near the alps (Füssen, Garmisch, Munich,Salzburg), just keep that in mind!
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KW:
First and foremost, THANK YOU!!!! I really can not thank you enough for your helpful ideas and time.
So now we are thinking of not renting cars and using your wonderful rail system. Is there any website that has an actual schedule printed of the rail system? I know you can go to website and type it all in, but I like to look and work it all out at once. I also know that the time table does change, but I would at least like to get an idea.
Also if we buy Rail passes just for Germany do happen to know what the supplement charge is to go over the border into Salzburg?
another question.... how much time do you think we need to spend in Cologne?
Thanks again,
JB
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%26gt;Is there any website that has an actual schedule printed of the rail system?
No way :-)))
There are several thousands of trains running through Germany every day. There is a printed schedule book available at most stations - called Kursbuch - which weighs about 5 kg and costs about 25 Euro. I somehow doubt you would want to carry this with you.
Most if not all stations have small printed timetables (for free) for any given connection. But they usually only contain local trains and not long distance ones.
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The %26quot;Kursbuch%26quot; is a bargain - if you want to fill a book shelf.
Comes in 8 volumes, a railroad map and a train number booklet. And this for just EUR 19,00.
bahn.de/p/…kubu_updates_index.shtml
There are nearly 40.000 trains per day in Germany. The (online) DB timetable does however know also about virtually any other public transport in Germany: U-Bahn (metro), trams and buses. And even some boat schedules. Altogether some 700.000 %26quot;runs%26quot; per day.
You can also use the DB ticket machines to query the timetable when on the road. There are also some others means like WAP, but this is a bit complicated and the instructions are mostly in German only.
%26gt; Also if we buy Rail passes just for Germany do happen to know what the supplement charge is to go over the border into Salzburg?
The border between the German and Austrian railway systems is not identical with the political border. Salzburg Hbf is an Austrian and a German station at the same time. Thus you can reach it with a rail pass covering Germany.
With 6 persons you qualify already as a %26quot;group%26quot; - not just a mini group (2-5 persons). You can get discounts up to 70% for group tickets. It is however not possible to buy such tickets online.
bahn.de/p/…price_familiy_group.shtml
You could also make use of the mini group day tickets good for local trains only. As they are only for up to 5 persons you would need 2 of them. Or a mini group plus a single version if existant (like for the Bavaria Ticket).
bahn.de/p/…price_tourist.shtml
That%26#39;s an option for shorter trips in first place. E.g. like Munich to Salzburg or Munich to Neuschwanstein Castle.
A further plus of these tickets is that they cover also mostly also the other local public transport (U-Bahn, trams, buses) besides the local trains (S-Bahn, RB, RE, IRE). Something normal train ticket or rail passes won%26#39;t.
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Wow!! You all are amazing and detailed in your responses!!!
So now we are thinking of just doing rail passes. If I am reading correctly, you think that 1st class German Twin passes for 6 days in a month is our best bet for this trip:
Cologne March 3-4
Würzburg March 4-5
Rothenburg ob der Tauber March 5-6
Dinkelsbühl March 6
Fussen March 6-7
Salzburg 7-9
Munich 9-10
Cologne 10-11
Please let me know if I am staying too long or too short in one place because of my limited time contraints.
Is there anything on my list that you would not do? or add one place for another?
Thank you in advance!!!
JB
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We too are doing this trip in mid April, Cologne---%26gt; South (wife and 6 yr old), so this information is helpful, bottom line is taking the train easier than driving, meaning taking the train means a lot of luggage pushing in towns to get to your hotel vs just taking it out of the car%26#39;s trunk. Also do you recommend booking hotels in each town or can you just %26quot;wing it%26quot; upon arrival?
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oops
I think we are going to stay in Hohenschwangau instead of Fussen
March 6-7
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I was also thinking of booking the first night and the last night hotels is this ok for the cities I have choosen in March?
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