# Germany, train or car?



## united4ever (Mar 11, 2006)

Spending just 3 days in Germany and will spend a night in Munich, a night in Heidelberg, and a night in Frankfurt. With 5 people plus luggage, do you think it's better to rent a car or use the train? Also, I want to make a short triip to the famous Bavarian castle (forgot the name, but the one that Disney based their castle on) from Munich, is this trip easily done? Also is Heidelberg castle in the centre of town? Any advice welcome.


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## Bahnsteig4 (Sep 9, 2005)

There are hardly any countries with better developed transport systems than Germany - both public and private. Luggage might point towards a rental car. However, the ICE system could also be efficient for you.

The castle's name is Neuschwanstein.


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## schmidt (Dec 5, 2002)

Rent yourself a Porsche and go by car!


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## Küsel (Sep 16, 2004)

Unfortunatly for tourists the Deutsche Bahn is quite expensive (even for us Swiss) if you don't have some kind of Eurodomino or another special offer. If you are 5 and travel together on the other hand you pay much less - for every person pays less then the first. Check www.bahn.de. And there is another problem: the connections between big cities are perfect. If you want to go to the countryside you will already face connection problems. And also: for ICE a ticket is not enough, you have also to pay for a reservation (even if you don't get a seat because it's booked out - it can happen!) and an "ICE Zuschlag". That can get very anoying and expensive. 

I am a huge train fan and I prefer it by far over the car - but with 5 people I think I better advice you to take the latter option


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## Justme (Sep 11, 2002)

There are special fares for 5 people or so which are really cheap and cover the whole country, but you must only use the slow trains.

Otehrwise the ICE is very expensive for tourists. I have a bahn card which costs quite a bit, but cuts the fares down in half.

The train between Munich and Frankfurt either passes straight through Heidelberg (stopping at the main station) or in Mannheim, which is part of the same metro area and only 15minutes away by local suburban train. It then passes to Frankfurt, so they are good connections. 

Whatever you do, if you travel by train, pay extra for the seat reservation. It is worth the little extra. You don't want to stand up for the whole journey.

I would recommend a car. Germany has excellent and free autobahns. You can test your driving skills by seeing how fast the car can go, as on most intercíty routes there are no speed limits. These autobahns will get you faster to your destination than ICE's, door to door (in most cases). Although the Munich to Frankfurt line is quite fast about 3-4 hours all up from memory). However, Neuschwanstein is a bitch to get to from anywhere by train, and much faster by car. You also have the wonderful benifit of driving through Wank on your way to Heidelberg, so you can stick your head out of the car and yell "wankers!" at everyone without causing offence.

Seriously though. A car would probably be better. Chuck some CD's in the player and turn up whilst driving as fast as you can on the Autobahn whatching the German scenary roll past. Just keep in mind, parking is not always easy in German cities.


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## DiggerD21 (Apr 22, 2004)

Rent a van and drive. You can always do some sidetrips spontaneously. When entering the cities (Frankfurt and Munich) park your car at a park&ride place in the suburbs and buy a day ticket or group ticket for the PT system of the respective city.


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