Germany / Austria – visiting multiple cities

[A S Leib]

What would be the best option for visiting Oldenburg, Bochum, Rostock, Halle(Saale), Mannheim, Tübingen, Augsburg and Klagenfurt? From Hannover, I think all of them except Klagenfurt and possibly Tübingen should be manageable as day trips, but I think some of them would take quite a while to get to.

Would the best option be

• Sticking with Hannover for most of them, then somewhere else (München or slightly further east?) for Augsburg and Klagenfurt
• Splitting the trip up more, e.g. staying in Berlin for Halle and Rostock instead
• Another option?

I'm not decided on dates yet, although I'm not sure how the cost of multiple Sparpreis fares would compare with an Interrail pass (I think too far distances for the Deutschlandticket to be practical); it's the timings / practicality I'm focused on for now, rather than cost.

 

[The exile]

What would be the best option for visiting Oldenburg, Bochum, Rostock, Halle(Saale), Mannheim, Tübingen, Augsburg and Klagenfurt? From Hannover, I think all of them except Klagenfurt and possibly Tübingen should be manageable as day trips, but I think some of them would take quite a while to get to.

Would the best option be

• Sticking with Hannover for most of them, then somewhere else (München or slightly further east?) for Augsburg and Klagenfurt
• Splitting the trip up more, e.g. staying in Berlin for Halle and Rostock instead
• Another option?

I'm not decided on dates yet, although I'm not sure how the cost of multiple Sparpreis fares would compare with an Interrail pass (I think too far distances for the Deutschlandticket to be practical); it's the timings / practicality I'm focused on for now, rather than cost.

How long do you need to spend in any of the places?
Kkagenfurt is the awkward one, as I’m sure you realise. If you’re actually based outside the area might it be worth starting or finishing there and flying to/ or from a convenient Austrian airport for the appropriate leg?

 

[A S Leib]

How long do you need to spend in any of the places?

A day (as in at least ~10:00-18:00 in each) would be preferable.

I know that Klagenfurt's the awkward one – I don't think it's possible to get there before 23:00 from St. Pancras in a day by day trains – but I'd rather avoid flying if possible. If I go with the 'constantly moving' approach, maybe I could go via Mannheim and Tübingen for a day then Augsburg on the outbound journey, get the night train to Villach and change there, before going back via Halle and the northern ones?

The main problem I can think of is that a) I think that uses up a whole day travelling to get from Klagenfurt to Halle / Leipzig, Berlin etc. (not necessarily a deal breaker) and b) I think the nearest airports with UK (at least, London) flights to Klagenfurt are Vienna and Venice, neither of which are particularly close.

It might be easier to split the journey into two trips, and visit Klagenfurt (and possibly Augsburg, as the easiest to reach from there) separately to the others.

 

[signed]

I would have thought taking the Nightjet to Wien from Brussels and then onward, but onward from Wien is 4h and you only arrive at 10am with the NJ

 

[The exile]

Do Ryanair no longer fly Stansted - Klagenfurt? (I know you’d prefer to train it….)
Or Easy from Gatwick to Ljubljana?

 

[A S Leib]

Do Ryanair no longer fly Stansted - Klagenfurt? (I know you’d prefer to train it….)
Or Easy from Gatwick to Ljubljana?

I somehow missed both when I looked before; thanks. I'll keep those in mind.

 

[30907]

An interesting collection - I thought tramway but Klagenfurt would be odd-one-out.

I would be inclined to do Mannheim, Tübingen, Augsburg from a second base rather than spend hours up and down the HSL.

For Klagenfurt, I would suggest a sleeper one way. Graz-Zürich would be an option, or even Vienna-Zürich for the double-decker. Depends how much of a trip you want to make of it.

 

[dutchflyer]

Greets from HIldesheim-just so of H(annover), and on my DE-ticket. I would say that only Oldenbg-BO and H(alle/Saale) is really do-able as day trip from H-Halle only with IC-for some others you can turn back just after arrival-perhaps get a cf in the HBF-after the inevitable delays/cancels.
To get an idea of what times are just check the bahn.de planner-can set to ´only regional´ for excluding IC/E=what the DE-cheap monthly covers. The 49€ you can probably also get worth out as it also covers all city transp in all these towns and the regional-last leg trains. To get an idea for -advance prices just check again.
As I think I know DE pretty well, I really wonder what makes you choose just these cities-except nearly all have a uni-many special ones for specific studies. But so do many, many other DE towns. (Of those you mention, I´ve been in OL-BO-H-MH-S-HL-A and Klft this year. BTW: Oldenburg has a magnificent and just restored ´Bahnhofshalle´=station hall. Here in DE anyone knows these 1-2-3 letter digits from the car signs to signify towns/areas. Even on bahn.de one can use these for short (A will work for Augsburg, B=Berlin, but Bremen=HB).
I really do not see much advanatge in making those overlong daytrips-just get a HTL in any-perhaps combine those that are indeed very close together with frequent trains. HTL prices can vary enormously here if some event (MEsse!) is going on. I myself often use the hotel BB chain-nearly all are close by train stations-basic and usually like 50-60€/N. They have taken over a lot of former IBis HTLs=comparable. IF you fancy UK style (incl that brekkie): premier hotels has now also arrived in DE but has only around 30 HTLs and not all cities are covered yet.
Its daft easy to plan visits: go to next town, dump luggage in a locker (yes, take care to have the exact money in coins for that-you canNOT completely escape paying cash here)-see town and go to HTL by 17/18 hrs to check in. That you travel fairly light should be obvious.

 

[A S Leib]

cities-except nearly all have a uni-

You've got it; I want to at least try to see what the options for the year abroad for my degree are like before deciding (Graz is an option as well, but I've already been there).

Thank you for the information.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 20 Aug 2024 ==

When does booking for the third / fourth week of January normally open?

 

[A S Leib]

Given today's (well, yesterday's) news that allegedly temporary border controls are going to be reinstated on all German land borders*, what's the likely effect on rail transport going to be? Delays or longer scheduled journey times, mandatory reservations? At least having the right documentation shouldn't be an issue providing I stay within the 90 in 180 day limit as I'd need a passport and, once they're introduced, ETIAS** to get past St. Pancras anyway.

*I think they'd already been in place on some borders, but I don't know how long or when they had been meant to have expired

**Depending on when exactly I travel; off the top of my head there's a grace period until May, but I may be wrong on that

 

[rvdborgt]

Given today's (well, yesterday's) news that allegedly temporary border controls are going to be reinstated on all German land borders*, what's the likely effect on rail transport going to be?

This article suggests it's an extension of what was already happening this summer:

Germany introduces checks at all borders, moves to refuse entry to migrants | Euractiv

Following increased political pressure, German interior minister Nancy Faeser announced on Monday (9 September) that she will introduce checks at all border crossings and developed a model to refuse entry to irregular migrants.

www.euractiv.com

 

[Austriantrain]

You've got it; I want to at least try to see what the options for the year abroad for my degree are like before deciding (Graz is an option as well, but I've already been there).

Don’t bother with Klagenfurt if Graz is an option Except for the lake, maybe. Apart from that, it’s a very boring place (whereas Graz has a wonderful student scene).

 

[stuu]

Given today's (well, yesterday's) news that allegedly temporary border controls are going to be reinstated on all German land borders*, what's the likely effect on rail transport going to be? Delays or longer scheduled journey times, mandatory reservations? At least having the right documentation shouldn't be an issue providing I stay within the 90 in 180 day limit as I'd need a passport and, once they're introduced, ETIAS** to get past St. Pancras anyway.

*I think they'd already been in place on some borders, but I don't know how long or when they had been meant to have expired

**Depending on when exactly I travel; off the top of my head there's a grace period until May, but I may be wrong on that

When I was on the Vienna-Nuremberg train a few weeks ago, they announced a slight delay for a border check at Passau. It involved a couple of police officers walking through the carriage and nothing more. They didn't stop to speak to anyone or ask for passports or anything, but I assume that they would do for anyone they would have doubts about

 

[rvdborgt]

When I was on the Vienna-Nuremberg train a few weeks ago, they announced a slight delay for a border check at Passau. It involved a couple of police officers walking through the carriage and nothing more. They didn't stop to speak to anyone or ask for passports or anything, but I assume that they would do for anyone they would have doubts about

The Bavarian border police regularly cause delays. It looks like you were lucky.

 

[nwales58]

It is not clear to me how extensive this will be nor where the manpower to do it will come from. As above, Bavaria has done this with its own border people for years but are not the real borders federal?

I look forward to border checks at places like Bad Brambach and re-introduction of the DDR-era corridor at Ostritz (station in Poland, village in Germany across footbridge).

 

[The exile]

It is not clear to me how extensive this will be nor where the manpower to do it will come from. As above, Bavaria has done this with its own border people for years but are not the real borders federal?

I look forward to border checks at places like Bad Brambach and re-introduction of the DDR-era corridor at Ostritz (station in Poland, village in Germany across footbridge).

Bayerisch Eisenstein could be fun as well!

 

[nwales58]

Bayerisch Eisenstein could be fun as well!

At Brenner I've seen Austrian and Italian police together on the platform. As usual, only the odd younger person being checked.

 

[A S Leib]

It is not clear to me how extensive this will be nor where the manpower to do it will come from. As above, Bavaria has done this with its own border people for years but are not the real borders federal?

I look forward to border checks at places like Bad Brambach and re-introduction of the DDR-era corridor at Ostritz (station in Poland, village in Germany across footbridge).

On my last trip, I had three (well, four) border crossings involving Germany. I think the European Sleeper is mandatory reservation so that should be relatively simple to control, as should the Nightjet from Berlin to Zürich; the minibus replacement service from Kostrzyn nad Odrą to Küstrin-Kietz, less so (even though looking at timetables it seems to have gone back to a train service).

 

[Thebaz]

I visited Klagenfurt last month by rail on the way to Slovenia - It's a 3 hr journey from Salzburg, latter half of which is through spectacular scenery. The Worthersee is wonderful for swimming but the town itself is fairly bog-standard.

 

[30907]

Bayerisch Eisenstein could be fun as well!

It would be a well-informed migrant who took that route