Eurail Pass - Planning

A travel day starts at 0000 Central European time and ends at 2359 CET. In that time you can board as many trains as you want, even if it continues past 2359. 

Given your somewhat fluid plans I would think it best you consider a 15 day in 2 month pass as it is only about $120 more than the 10 day pass (adult first class). This allows plenty of flexibility and leaves a few days for impulse journeys, rather than trying to squeeze your journeys into 10 travel days.

Here is the link for the choices and prices

https://www.eurail.com/en/eurail-passes/global-pass

Hello and good day to you all again.  So I will be in Germany on the 28th of July.  I plan to be in the Ramstein area.  I will be there until about the 5th of July and then I will be going to Amsterdam to start a tour on the 6th of July.  The tour ends in Paris and then I will be going to the Edelweiss Lodge, I believe in Partenkirchen. On the front end of the trip I would like to take the train to Poland to visit Auschwitz. I would like to know what train I would need to take to get there to include high speed trains. Please let me know.  I have additional areas that I am planning to visit but I will ask in pieces.

Assuming you are thinking of a side journey whilst in the Ramstein area I regret there is no easy way and it is likely to take 3 days (2 of which will be travelling). It pains me to suggest if is a must do then you may need to consider some form of flying as a long day trip, but I haven’t researched whether that is feasible.

 

Hello and good day to you again.  Well, I would really like to visit Auschwitz.  I had said if I make it back to Europe I want to visit there.  Where would be the best place to take a flight if I am in the Ramstein area.

I noticed that the price of the Eurail tickets increased by approximately $100 from about a month ago.  Should I be getting them now?  Are they going to have the similar discount as they did last year?  I will be getting the 15 day two months pass.

After I leave the Ramstein area I will be going to Amsterdam.  I will have a rental car to turn in at the Air Port in Frankfurt.  Is there a high speed train from Frankfurt to Amsterdam?

Is there a high speed train from Paris to Munich.  After I complete a 12 day tour which ends in Paris I have to get to Garmisch Partenkirchen to stay in that area for 5 days before going back to Frankfurt for our flight back to California.  Once again thank you for you assistance.

There are quite a few options from Frankfurt to Amsterdam and I would start with the Dbahn planner for choosing. The obvious one is the ICE direct from Frankfurt airport which takes about 5 hours and goes every 2 hours. I advise booking a seat as these cross border ICE can get very full.

You may need to keep an eye on a plan that interrail/Eurail passes on trains between Germany and Amsterdam may be restricted in summer this year, that may force you to travel by other routings, but it is in debate at the moment.

I think you may be better to consider Frankfurt to Krakow or Katowice for the flight. To drive is about 1000km each way. 

As for when to buy a pass there may be a promotion near easter but these are never advertised until near the day. There is no need to rush into buying your pass as prices have only just been reviewed and are unlikely to change. You can get most reservations without needing your pass (main need is if you book through Eurail or want Eurostar or Thalys trains).

Paris to Munich is a little more difficult to plan but the obvious route would be Paris to Stuttgart (high reservation fees) and then Stuttgart to Munich. You could do a couple of changes to avoid such high fees but with a party of 5 and luggage the choice would be yours.

Your wish to visit to Auschwitz is gonna eat you a lot of time, whatever the transportation option. It’s more than 1000 km out of your other destinations. There’s not much logic in that. It’s a very long stretch to the east, whilst the rest of your destinations are more in the west of Europe.

There are WWII - Shoah - KZ memorial centres in Germany too, like Dachau (München area), Sachsenhausen (Berlin area), Buchenwald (Weimar area), Neuengamme (Hamburg area). Any of these, especially Dachau, would fit much better in your itinerary in my opinion, and should be as rewarding and informative as going to Auschwitz.

ICE’s to Germany from Frankfurt to Amsterdam are easy, but let’s hope these still stay in the validity of the pass. (Ongoing discussion to ease overcrowding). It would be wise take into account extra travel time for that connection. You might want to go over Brussels, or take Local trains over the German-Dutch border.

There is one direct tgv from Paris to München, leaving normally daily at 15h55 at Paris Est. More possibilities exist of course, by changing trains in Stuttgart. Best get those seat reservations quite soon.

Hello again and thank you for all your help in planning this trip.  Well, based on your assessment I will give up on going to Auschwitz. I have been to Dachau but my family hasn't so it will be a new experience for them.

You spoke of the Dbahn planner is it an app to use on your phone or a web site.  I currently have the rail planner.  Additionally, I will wait to get my tickets but I will try to see if I can reserve my seat on the trains to Amsterdam and Munich.  I the mean time I will see what I can do instead of going to Poland.  There are lots to do I just have to pick.

Question, where are you located? 

It's the Deutsche Bahn website or the DB Navigator app.

Please don't use it to plan. It's unreliable. That is, to some extent, also true for the planner on the Eurail website.

For Frankfurt to Amsterdam and to Munich with day trains, you can book reservations on bahn.com.