Some questions about Mannheim / Germany

[A S Leib]

1. Is the most reliably relatively cheap way of going between Hemel Hempstead / London and Mannheim by train using an Interrail pass and going via Brussels and Frankfurt, avoiding ex-Thalys services?
2. Living in Mannheim for at least ten months, is it fair to say that the My BahnCard 50 would be worth the cost? Two return intercity journeys per month at €10 for saver fares each way saves €10 per month, and as far as I can tell there's no minimum spend or time limits for the discount to apply.
3. Apart from the D-Ticket (or Semesterticket), are there any other discount cards worth getting? The Carte Fluo for TER in Grand-Est's €1 for under-26s so that's worth it even for one journey. I'm interested in discount cards for museums etc. as well, not just transport. The only one I've been able to find is the Museums Pass Musées, which at CHF 149 is more expensive than I'm willing to pay.
4. I'm looking for recommendations for day trips from Mannheim. So far near-ish (doable in a day without intercity services) I've got Heidelberg, Mainz, Frankfurt, Luxembourg (City), Heidelberg and Strasbourg as places I've been to before and want to go back to, and Mulhouse, Stuttgart, Tübingen, Karlsruhe, Koblenz and Trier. I'm looking for further away places as well, provided it's possible to spend most of the day there / enough time to see enough of the destination.

Thank you.

 

[rvdborgt]

1. What's cheapest depends on the available regular fares. I'd indeed avoid Thalys.
2. The discount always applies, except for most Verkehrsverbund fares. Discount is 50% on Flexpreis fares and 25% on Sparpreis fares. If you won't buy a lot of Flexpreis tickets, then a My BahnCard 25 might also do.

 

[Sir Felix Pole]

The 'Schwarzwalbahn' (Offenburg to Konstanz) plus associated branch lines in the Black Forest are worth a visit. Lake Constance, Lindau, Romanshorn (CH) are all very pleasant.

 

[gordonthemoron]

Karlsruhe is great

 

[A S Leib]

Thank you.

There's probably more obvious questions that I'm going to end up asking at some point, but, given that there's a strike in Baden-Württemberg, Bremen, Hessen, Niedersachsen, Nordrhein-Westfalen and Rheinland-Pfalz today, what are rights with tickets affected by strikes?

For flexible tickets, are breaks of journey allowed (I'm fairly sure starting / finishing short is) and how do definitions of reasonable routes compare to in the UK where there's multiple options? Is starting / finishing short on saver tickets allowed, especially in case of disruption?

 

[rvdborgt]

There's probably more obvious questions that I'm going to end up asking at some point, but, given that there's a strike in Baden-Württemberg, Bremen, Hessen, Niedersachsen, Nordrhein-Westfalen and Rheinland-Pfalz today, what are rights with tickets affected by strikes?

Strikes of the own staff are not force majeure, so all regular passengers' rights apply.

For flexible tickets, are breaks of journey allowed (I'm fairly sure starting / finishing short is)

That's normally all allowed. Not sure if really all Verkehrsverbund fares allow it, but they're often time-limited fares, with hardly any further restrictions.

and how do definitions of reasonable routes compare to in the UK where there's multiple options? Is starting / finishing short on saver tickets allowed, especially in case of disruption?

Finishing short and starting later is always allowed.
Reasonable routes depend on the fare system (Verbund / Land / national). Verbund fares are often zonal, the national fares are km-based, and I believe the Land fare system in BaWü is also largely km-based.

 

[A S Leib]

Strikes of the own staff are not force majeure, so all regular passengers' rights apply.

That's normally all allowed. Not sure if really all Verkehrsverbund fares allow it, but they're often time-limited fares, with hardly any further restrictions.

Finishing short and starting later is always allowed.
Reasonable routes depends on the fare system (Verbund / Land / national).

Thank you.

 

[dutchflyer]

1.the very best buy of course is the monthly DE-ticket at this yr for 58/month (discounts may apply even for that, but very unlikely for your case-asume to be some ´exchange - student? IF having that, there is of course NO need anymore for any ´Verbund´ tickets, as these are all covered-unless perhaps for a few final/first days at start//end of month of your btotal stay. But even for like just using 5-6 days this works to 10€/day=covered in a short return of 40-50 KMs usually. I would rec. this via mo-pla solutions: an easy app, can be set to pay via Cr-cd (as I assume you will also get into banking problems with just a GBP-UK account). This does NOT have the ´all before the 10th´ forward need to think that other providers hold-but of course you are free to choose - it does not have to be the local Verbund around Mannheim/Ludwhafen
This will also mean that IF you want to make some longer distance trips on DB you can limit that to just the IC/ICE sector-which may lower the total price. OR-like so many a saving German does-first seek how the trip would be on just regional trains- set bahn.de to ´nur Nahverkehr´.
Other tip: IF really aiming to make more IC/ICE trips: set up DB-account and also for what is called ´BahnBOnus´=gives you airline style points for free bees if having enough-aim for the free trip.
2.the ALT for the trip to/fro home is via Paris + direct ICE Paris-some point in DE- what works out best/fastest/cheapest will vary by day and how long advance etc-that homework you have to do yourself.
3.OH-and if having interest a little beyond and/or not too averse to that: also try FLIX - bus or IN DE also TRAINs on some routes.
And do not come back after a few weeks to complain about the endless delays and cancellations etc- thats simply the current state of trains in DE
4.basic info on tram/metro-DE has some 66+ such systems: urbanrail.net - has maps + info and at least a list of what cities have them
Specific German questions+finer details: the german equiv of this forum is DSO; drehscheibe-online.de, once you gt enough grasp of the german language

And what sprang to my mind a little later: DO look into InterRail-as youthprices: 4d/1 Mo for 212 or 10d/2Mo for 335€, say count 100 OFF for that trip home=Scot to DE and you then have ´traveldays´ for like 30€/day=a great bargain and even less as 2x (day return!) the lowest priced DB supersparpreis=17,99. PLUS that you could f.e pop into Switzerland or do a 3-country round tour=back via FR from Mannh. Its probably for the schoolyr from sept ´25 to june ´26-well, there will certainly be another sale before=giving % off, so you can stock up.
In your particular case its always either a ´discussion´ or a bit unclear what is ´home country´- holding a UK passpt (as you do not even have ID-cards, afaik) so use that also to your advantage. FRom what I understand-DE will count as such after 6 mothes stay there-but with a Brit pspt of course you will then need some locally issued ´Ausweis´ to show that. Effectively its only to limit the ´homecountry´ passdays. But it might be usefull for you at the very end, as then you get unlim. travel in super-expensive UK=GB on the trains.

 

[rvdborgt]

In your particular case its always either a ´discussion´ or a bit unclear what is ´home country´- holding a UK passpt (as you do not even have ID-cards, afaik) so use that also to your advantage. FRom what I understand-DE will count as such after 6 mothes stay there

Interrail's conditions of use do not specify any period. It's enough to be able to prove, with a government-issued document, that you live somewhere.

 

[A S Leib]

2.the ALT for the trip to/fro home is via Paris + direct ICE Paris-some point in DE- what works out best/fastest/cheapest will vary by day and how long advance etc-that homework you have to do yourself.

That's the route I took a few weeks ago; it's the TGV cost which I suspect would push the cost up a lot of the time compared to going via Frankfurt and Brussels. That depends on the exact time though, as you said.

And do not come back after a few weeks to complain about the endless delays and cancellations etc- thats simply the current state of trains in DE

I've noticed, although in my own experiences (all since 2023) I wouldn't say that it's felt much worse than the UK.

Specific German questions+finer details: the german equiv of this forum is DSO; drehscheibe-online.de, once you gt enough grasp of the german language

Thank you.

 

[Gerald Fiennes]

Yes, on balance I would say that the route via Paris is better. But you need to book ahead to get the IR discount on Eurostar. There are c.3 TGVs/day which go direct from Paris and it's pretty easy. Quite nice views as you cross (under) the Vosges as well. There's c. 1 ICE/day as well, although the ride quality of these is not quite as good on the French lines.

The route via Brussels is good as well, but always be prepared to miss the connection into the ICEs from there. The timekeeping from London is not brilliant... and that's even before DB's many problems although hopefully this summer the section from Frankfurt to Mannheim (the Riedbahn) will be better following the major renovation completed recently.

In Mannheim, I would second Karsruhe but also the line to Saarbrucken (through Rhineland-Pfalz). Very scenic and Saarland has some interesting places as well.

Closer to Mannheim, also visit Bad Duerkheim, which has both a rail and a tram connection, and is the jumping off point both to vineyards, castles and the Pfalz region as well.

 

[181]

I don't know whether this is of interest to the OP, but it is reported that the fireless steam locomotive at the power station in Mannheim (by the river in the southern part of the city) is (or was recently) still active, albeit not used a great deal: https://www.internationalsteam.co.uk/trains/fireless06.htm.

 

[A S Leib]

Yes, on balance I would say that the route via Paris is better. But you need to book ahead to get the IR discount on Eurostar. There are c.3 TGVs/day which go direct from Paris and it's pretty easy. Quite nice views as you cross (under) the Vosges as well. There's c. 1 ICE/day as well, although the ride quality of these is not quite as good on the French lines.

The route via Brussels is good as well, but always be prepared to miss the connection into the ICEs from there. The timekeeping from London is not brilliant... and that's even before DB's many problems although hopefully this summer the section from Frankfurt to Mannheim (the Riedbahn) will be better following the major renovation completed recently.

In Mannheim, I would second Karsruhe but also the line to Saarbrucken (through Rhineland-Pfalz). Very scenic and Saarland has some interesting places as well.

Closer to Mannheim, also visit Bad Duerkheim, which has both a rail and a tram connection, and is the jumping off point both to vineyards, castles and the Pfalz region as well.

I don't know whetehr this is of interest to the OP, but it is reported that the fireless steam locomotive at the power station in Mannheim (by the river in the southern part of the city) is (or was recently) still active, albeit not used a great deal: https://www.internationalsteam.co.uk/trains/fireless06.htm.

Thank you.

 

[30907]

Specific German questions+finer details: the german equiv of this forum is DSO; drehscheibe-online.de, once you gt enough grasp of the german language

...or even if you post in English. Your average DSOler has fair to good English

Marburg is said to be nice, but if the connections work I'd suggest Erfurt and Weimar.

 

[DeverseSam]

Interrail's conditions of use do not specify any period. It's enough to be able to prove, with a government-issued document, that you live somewhere.

For a 10 month stay in Mannheim I’d be looking at getting multiple 3-month Interrail tickets. Mannheim is so well connected to Germany, Switzerland and France that it would be easy to get value from it.

 

[A S Leib]

For a 10 month stay in Mannheim I’d be looking at getting multiple 3-month Interrail tickets. Mannheim is so well connected to Germany, Switzerland and France that it would be easy to get value from it.

I'll be there as a student, so for most of the year I'd only be able to use it for two days of the week, and I'd want to take shorter journeys which wouldn't necessarily be worth using Interrail passes on during the weekends as well. During holidays longer Interrail passes seems like a good idea, especially given e.g. the cost of tickets in Switzerland otherwise.

 

[dutchflyer]

Still: go for the 10d/2 MO @ 335€-even less if you can score one on discount-sale.
Take #1-you could even use day 1 In UK if wanting that, from the 2 ´@home´ days allowed, for the start- using 2 days for weekend trips (student=travel cheap, use seat in overnite train, f.e. a triangle on SAT/early to CH=Swiss, overnight to Wien=Vienna, then back on SUN. You probably need first to settle down and get organised, but using 2 days/w.end gives you 4 more weekendtrips-spread out over what can be 9 weekends.
Take #2 for around Xmas+1/1-assuming you may also want to visit home by then, still use UK as ´home´, allowing again 4 more weekends. There is most often a special sale for blackfriday-just before that.
Then #3 for at the end-youre smart enough to set the dates to also include the final trip back home-then use your AUSweis to prove youre living in DE and can-if so wanted, use many more days in the UK.
This way you also have free choice of IC/ICE trains on DB-whereas lower priced Sparpreis etc will tie you into long advance and times you do not want. Nor need for all that organising re BahnCards etc.
Use the DE-ticket for other trips in between.
In DE reductions/special prices for youth/junior=jugend or even more Student are common and probably more worthwhile as various other passes. You will make friends after a while and they will be the best source of info for that.

 

[E94]

Depends what you’re into, but for a daytrip I’d recommend Darmstadt- interesting architecture and museums, plus on a handful of days in spring and early autumn a steam train runs trips through the city on the municipal tramway (€6 per way when I did it).
I also recommend the Kuckucksbähnel out of Neustadt. Not expensive (by UK standards) and the first and last runs feature about 7km of mainline running with a very vintage train.

 

[A S Leib]

Would I be correct in thinking that the cheapest combination of tickets between Saarbrücken and Metz would be to split the tickets at Forbach? The Carte Fluo Jeune doesn't seem to be valid for journeys involving Saarbrücken.

I don't know if I'm doing something wrong, but the cheapest price I can get that way is ~€30 return for non-Petits Prix tickets, which feels expensive for 60 km.

 

[nwales58]

I don't know if I'm doing something wrong, but the cheapest price I can get that way is ~€30 return for non-Petits Prix tickets, which feels expensive for 60 km.

Not expensive, typical TER normal fare.

You've found Carte Fluo. Hunt around the dozen or so cross-border fares on www.ter.sncf.com/grand-est and you may find something that fits the area, some are weekend only, some only good value for 2+ people and so on.

Moreover, although the region now is Grand Est, most or all of the passes are Bas-Rhin +/- Haut-Rhin, dating back to the Alsace region of 10 years ago, so don't help in Moselle, Vosges and westwards.

 

[A S Leib]

Not expensive, typical TER normal fare.

You've found Carte Fluo. Hunt around the dozen or so cross-border fares on www.ter.sncf.com/grand-est and you may find something that fits the area, some are weekend only, some only good value for 2+ people and so on.

Moreover, although the region now is Grand Est, most or all of the passes are Bas-Rhin +/- Haut-Rhin, dating back to the Alsace region of 10 years ago, so don't help in Moselle, Vosges and westwards.

Thank you.

 

[A S Leib]

If buying an Interrail passholder reservation from Mannheim to Milan on the ÖBB website (I think ~€15 each way) and a tight connection is missed (e.g. 06:20 arrival and 06:33 departure at Basel SBB and 07:26 arrival and 07:33 departure at Zürich HB), what are the rights concerning following mandatory reservation services? I think there's a route without mandatory reservations as well, but much slower.

There also seem to be some services where the ÖBB app doesn't offer any reservations for Basel / Zürich to Milan; would the only reason for that be that they've already sold out?

 

[nwales58]

Reservations are only needed on the EC services from Chiasso onwards.

Instead, drop off at Lugano, and catch the hourly RE80. Similarly in reverse northbound. Thanks to Lugano-northern Switzerland being half-hourly that often gives the same journey time through to Germany as using the EC within Italy.

Through Basel-Lugano via Luzern is every 2 hours but every half hour there is either a connection in Arth-Goldau or Zürich all with the same journey time thanks to swiss magic timetabling.

 

[A S Leib]

Reservations are only needed on the EC services from Chiasso onwards.

Instead, drop off at Lugano, and catch the hourly RE80. Similarly in reverse northbound. Thanks to Lugano-northern Switzerland being half-hourly that often gives the same journey time through to Germany as using the EC within Italy.

Thank you. Arrival in Milan at 11:17 rather than 10:50 (or from 11:17; leaving Mannheim at 03:33 might not be the most attractive solution) seems like a small enough time penalty in exchange for no mandatory reservations.

 

[nwales58]

The 4 minute changes in Lugano are through the subway but it's Switzerland so it usually works. I don't know the best place to be southbound, it will depend on Giruno/Twindexx 1 versus 2 sets. Northbound I think it's towards the rear of the first unit (Flirt). Anyone have better info?

 

[rvdborgt]

If buying an Interrail passholder reservation from Mannheim to Milan on the ÖBB website (I think ~€15 each way) and a tight connection is missed (e.g. 06:20 arrival and 06:33 departure at Basel SBB

Don't count on this connection to work. It might, but they don't wait for one second.

 

[A S Leib]

I've bought a London to Mannheim ticket through DB's system with a BahnCard 25 discount; I'm guessing there wouldn't be any issue using a BahnCard 50 instead, given that there aren't any cases in which a BahnCard 25 gives a discount and a BC50 doesn't, or in which the former gives a larger discount?

 

[U-Bahnfreund]

The discount always applies, except for most Verkehrsverbund fares.

VRN which is the Verbund around Mannheim does have Bahncard discount: https://www.vrn.de/tickets/ticketuebersicht/einzelfahrschein/bc-ticket/index.html

I'm looking for recommendations for day trips from Mannheim. So far near-ish (doable in a day without intercity services) I've got Heidelberg, Mainz, Frankfurt, Luxembourg (City), Heidelberg and Strasbourg as places I've been to before and want to go back to, and Mulhouse, Stuttgart, Tübingen, Karlsruhe, Koblenz and Trier. I'm looking for further away places as well, provided it's possible to spend most of the day there / enough time to see enough of the destination.

Otherwise, Darmstadt, Heilbronn, Mosbach, Bad Wimpfen, Sinsheim (museum!), Ulm, Freiburg or lake Constance are doable, depending on your interests. Also Google "Freizeitexpress" for the various Sunday or weekend only excursion trains, sometimes whole lines, that might be running. Sometimes with old material

 

[NCT]

I can vouch that Bad Wimpfen is lovely.

 

[Thames99]

Of the places you mention, Karlsruhe and Trier are well worth a visit - lots to see in both and tram-trains in the Karlsruhe area. Baden Baden is also worth a visit. I found that there is surprisingly little in Koblenz itself apart from the cable car up to visit the Festung. There is a lovely journey along the Moselle to Trier with the picturesque village of Cochem along the way.