I am a 65 year old recent widow. I have traveled to these places many times with my husband. He was

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I need help determining which would be the best for me - point to point tickets or a rail pass. I want to visit 5 villages/cities in Germany and a small village south of Interlaken, Switzerland. I'm having trouble with the rail Europe website. Also, when I try to research it I get the message that Staufen, Germany is not accessible by rail, but I know from Rick Steves that it is. So . . . . I am confused and need help.
I'm not a railpass expert, so my only recommendation travel agency in texas is to look at the German RR website www.bahn.de . There are a variety of countrywide or regional passes available that may be good for your needs.
travel agency in texas I am a 65 year old recent widow. I have traveled to these places many times with my husband. He was the driver travel agency in texas and I was the navigator. This will be my first solo trip and my first time to utilize train travel. That is why I am somewhat nervous and hesitant in figuring all this out.
It is possible to get P2P tickets for this trip for about $200. But it depends on your travel dates (which you haven't provided) as the advance-sale tickets at the German Railways site are likely to be available only if you purchase them in a timely way. They go on sale 92 days in advance, and that's when they should be bought in order to get a great deal. The following prices are based on getting the advance-purchase price for the longer train rides.
Cochem to Freiburg 9/19: Buy this one at the DB site TOMORROW, 92 days in advance, for the best price and choice of departure times. travel agency in texas Pay close attention to the conditions for use/refund. If you get it for 29 Euros, you'll save more than 40 Euros over the price of a regular Cochem-to-Staufen ticket.
travel agency in texas For a final night in Germany, I usually recommend Mainz, which has a pleasant Marktplatz with outdoor dining, a nice old town area, and car-free shopping area, all located near the Dom. It's about 25 minutes from Mainz to FRA, 3.90 Euros, on the S-Bahn or the RE train. The Mainz Ibis is very near the Mainz R misches Theater train station (so named because travel agency in texas of the Roman theater travel agency in texas being unearthed at the rear platform); it's also closer to the old town than the hotels near the main station (Mainz Hbf) but the Hbf station has more hotel choices. Both areas are generally safe places to overnight.
Russ: I went online to try to purchase the ticket from Cochem to Freiburg on the DB website today, but ran into some problems. First of all there were 3 different possibilities for Cochem: Cochem (Mosel), Cochem (Mosel)KD and Cochem Bahnhof. I know this is a small village, so was a little confused as to how there could be three possibilities and which to choose. So, anyway I chose the first one, and a departure time, but was never able to follow the link through to allow purchase. I am sorry to be such a bother, but if you can help me with this I would be so grateful.
travel agency in texas For towns of any size there are often numerous stops listed at the DB site. These stops include include common destinations (like the KD boat docks) for which you must walk or proceed by bus after leaving the train and alternative names for stations (like "Cochem Bahnhof".) In larger cities, the stop choices include suburban stations.
That's because I goofed and mistakenly used 9/16 for your travel date when I tested it myself. You have to wait a little longer. Sorry. You should try again on Sunday travel agency in texas afternoon, when the clock strikes midnight in Germany. I believe that this error messed up the two other dates I gave you for the other two advance-purchase tickets as well. You should recheck that 92-day window for both.
Again, make sure you read the conditions of sale for the cheap advance sale tickets. They have worked great for me in the past and saved me lots of $. This spring, I got from Bacharach to the northern Black Forest town of Bad Liebenzell for 19 Euros, and from Stuttgart to Z rich for the same price. Regular tickets would have cost 100 Euros. But I'm the sort of traveler who plans his time and doesn't mind keeping an exact schedule. There are fees for changing your departure time or itinerary, and you lose out if you change your mind at the last minute or miss your train at some point, meaning you'll need to buy an additional, more expensive ticket.
If you sense that getting or using these tickets will be too much trouble, travel agency in texas you can always opt for the more expensive railpass. There's currently a small discount on the 5-day German railpass - $273 - which would take care of almost all your German routes. In Switzerland you'd pay 43.50 for Basel-Interlaken-Luzern and the same going back into Germany (some itineraries for Rothenburg take you back through Basel anyway) so add $100, meaning a total price of $373, about $150 more than buying individual tickets at the best prices. But for this price you do get more convenience and more piece of mind - there's less computer angst, more flexibility when you travel should you miss a train or want to stay somewhere travel agency in texas longer, no need to purchase tickets as you go (within Germany anyway.) Railpasses are more forgiving of error and allow you to make extra trips, should you want to, on any particular railpass travel agency in texas day. So if you got to Bacharach, checked in, and were ready for adventure, you could hop on another train that same day to see another village.
If you want fully flexible unfettered travel to just hop on any train anytime you want in Germany travel agency in texas then the German Railpass is often a great deal as full fares can be really steep - check out www.bahn.de to see what say Swiss border travel agency in texas to Frankfurt is full fare - of course you have the online advance discounts and things like the Lander or regional passes but these tickets all have restrictions like being train specific - you must decide often weeks in advance to get the cheaper tickets about the exact train you wish to take and cannot change it and in the case of Lander tickets you cannot travel on the fastest trains - so if you want the easiest way look strongly travel agency in texas at the pass and IME of traveling for years on German trains any single 65-yr old traveler should definitely go first class - where you will always travel agency in texas IME find lots of empty seats so you can easily stow your baggage on an empty seat next to you, etc. And the pass compared to first class tickets is even a greater deal - just hop on any train anytime - just go to the station and hop on any of zillions of trains - anyway for lots on German rail travel and passes and Lander tickets, etc check out these fantastic IMO web sites - www.seat61.com ; www.budgeteuropetravel.com and www.ricksteves.com . And again www.bahn.de the official German State Railways travel agency in texas web site for schedules and to compare fares at the station in Germany and online advance discounts with restrictions. The pass would take you to the Swiss border and then just buy regular travel agency in texas tickets to your limited Swiss destinations.
the German Pass special, which is not unique to ricksteves.com I think but offered by ACP Rail, wholesalers or German Passes in North America, ends July 11, 2011 so if buying buy before that date - but apparently only applied to 5- and 10-day passes and not the 6-, 7-, 8-, 9-day passes in between the may better comport to some folks needs - perhaps my quick read missed something but thanks travel agency in texas to Russ for bringing that to light.
travel agency in texas And OP should also investigate the Germany-Switzerland railpass though it is more expensive per day would cover all train trips and either pass - German or German-Swiss would also cover boats - K-d boats on the Rhine in Bacharach area and between Koblenz and Cochem on the Mosel - including a stop at Moselkern for visiting Burg Eltz, one of Germany's most famous and awesome castles, hovering high above the Mosel gorge in a sylvan setting. Trains also stop at Moselkern, just a few miles downstream on the Mosel from Cochem, fairytale Cochem, the type of town most Americans only dream about staying in but never get off the beaten travel agency in texas track of huge mega tourist cities to actually do so! Great choice as is Bacharach!
OP has six days of rail travel inside Germany - a 6-day German Pass (without discount Russ mentions above) costs $322 for a solo adult traveler - that is $54 a day or about 35 euros a day - for totally flexible unlimited travel in all of Germany - not just one district and no restrictions - just hop on - for a single traveler I do not see how this can be beat IF one desires flexibility to hop any train anytime - with the discounted train-specific tickets travel agency in texas you must be at the station at the exact time - if you are like me and prefer to leisurely pack up in my hotel and head to station and catch the next of the usually travel agency in texas twice-hourly trains travel agency in texas this can be priceless. And again the pass covers K-D boats on the Rhine, another plus.
and if more travel days were figured in the extra day on the pass above the 5-day minimum in 2nd class is only $29 or about 20 euros a day for unlimited travel agency in texas at will hopping trains in all of Germany - 20 euros a day.
And, Bacharach has been a favorite village ever since our first European adventure in 1994. I have been there so many times and know exactly where I will stay (If she has a room, and I'm sure she will).
My husband and I never stayed in Cochem, but we stopped there many times. We have stayed in Beilstein, which I love, but the train does not go there. We stayed in Beilstein on our last trip, rented bikes and rode to Cochem. This time I hope to rent a bike in Cochem and ride to Beilstein. Have also stayed in Zell several times and Bernkastel-Keuz.
nanof4 - I am too a denizen of the Mosel, having biked up and down the valley between Trier and Koblenz several times - Beilstein is cute but small and quiet - Cochem is cute but in season a vacation hub - especially popular it seems with the Dutch who come here to see hills one told me. There are freque