Dampfspektakal 2014 Neustadt

[theageofthetra]

Hi am thinking of going to this. Any recommendations of the best base to stay in (am thinking Heidleburg or Neustadt) & the best reginional ticket to get as normal tickets are being accepted on the steam services. The best flight seems to be the £19 Ryanair into the airport near Baden Baden, however what is the train service like from near there? I want to avoid having to rent a car so some advice on how good local transport is in this area would be appreciated. Thanks

 

[30907]

the info on the dampfspektakel site is all in English. the VRN area day tickets will do the job except for the airport bit for which theres almost certainly a local bus to Karlsruhe.. I'm going for 3 days so am using a 3day all zones VRN ticket. will gladly advise further but not till tomorrow as out of country.

also: updated timetable only via German page currently. Main change is class 38 replacing 23.

 

[theageofthetra]

It is the slow update of the English page that bothers me. The location to stay in has been vital at previous Plandampfs so not sure whether to just stay in Neustadt.

 

[30907]

The update is only a couple of days old, and there's no change to routes or (significant) change to timetables, though I think there are some other loco swaps (within the original list?), so I don't think you need be over-anxious.

In terms of hotels, depends a bit which days you want to be there and what you want to do. I checked out Mannheim and Bensheim - business-type hotels tending to be cheaper over the long holiday weekend - and Bad Duerkheim, as there didnt seem to be much in Neustadt/W. The VRN ticket would cover you from places like Kaiserslautern too.

 

[theageofthetra]

Does the regional ticket cover to Heidleburg? Also isn't it only a public holiday in the UK?

 

[30907]

The UK public holiday is May 26. The German public holiday (Ascension Day) is Thursday May 29 which explains why there's a lot happening in terms of steam that day.

Unfortunately the Tageskarte (day rover) info is only in German:
http://www.vrn.de/vrn/tickets/einzelfahrkarten/tageskarten/tages-karte/

The area of the VRN is here: http://www.vrn.de/vrn/tickets/tarifsystem/tarifgebiet/index.html - including the blue bits.
IN THE STEAM TRAINS ONLY you can cross the boundary to the relevant terminus (Heilbronn/Darmstadt/Karlsruhe) as well.

All you will need then is tickets from the airport to the first station inside the boundary or to your hotel, depending on the time of day.

Info here http://www.baden-airpark.de/anreise-bus-und-bahn.html?&L=1

 

[theageofthetra]

That's reall helpful, thanks. Is that holiday on 29/5 likely to mean many Germans taking a bridge and being off all weekend? I presume it is also a national holiday not just a regional one.

 

[30907]

Yes to both, though not everyone will - for example, schools in that area will be open on the Friday