We will be adding periodic small entries to this post and dating each sections as we go instead of having separate posts for each July update.
July 2, 2012 Update
Today we purchased our Bus Ticket from Munich, Germany to Prague, Czech Republic. This was the first opportunity inside the 92 day pre-purchase time frame for the October 1, 2012 date of our travel to Prague. There were two morning departures, one at 7:50 AM and one at 9:45 AM. After some discussion, we opted for the earlier departure. The duration of the bus ride on the express bus to Prague is approximately 4 hours and 39 minutes, arriving at 12:39 PM. This will give us a little longer to arrive in Prague and then transit to the hotel, arriving just about check-in time. The later bus departure arrived in Prague at about 2:30 PM, lessening the time we have in Prague on the first day. As we stated previously, the quickest way to get to Prague from Munich is on the express bus, the train routes are longer and more expensive. Since these buses are owned by the German Train Company, DB Bahn, they arrive and depart from the main train station in each city. Now we just need to research to understand how early we need to be in line for the bus. Although there are reservations and they are seat specific, we did not see anywhere to select actual seats from a seating chart, other than to choose upper or lower deck. We also did not see any option for 1st or 2nd Class tickets. It appears your seats are first come first served. The buses are double deck, and it is supposedly better to be on the top deck, which was what we chose.
Here are a couple of pictures of the buses to Prague.
DB Bahn Express Bus to Prague
DB Bahn Express Bus
July 4, 2012 Update
The 92 day pre-purchase window opened today for purchasing our bus ticket from Prague to Nuremberg. We purchased our ticket through the German train site DB Bahn, and the electronic tickets were delivered via email without issue. It is a pleasurable experience using the DB Bahn website, it is so easy to use, can be loaded in English, and has no problem accepting US credit cards. We have a morning departure at 8:38 AM, arriving in Nuremberg at 12:17, roughly a 3 hour, 40 minute trip. This bus was only listed as having one deck.
This concludes all of the rail and bus ticket pre-purchases. The remainder of the trip transportation will be via the Swiss trains, using the Swiss Pass we will purchase once we arrive in Basel, Switzerland, and by car rental. The next planning activity is to reserve our car rental for the portion of the trip in southern Germany, ending in Munich, and for the last leg, starting in Nuremberg and ending in Frankfurt.
July 6, 2012 Update
We have reserved our 7 Day car rental from the town of Kehl, Germany, ending in Munich, Germany. This will cover the portion of the trip where we are staying overnight in Simonswald, Schwangau, Oberammergau, and Munich. Kehl is a small town just across the border from Strasbourg, France. We will have to take some sort of public transportation from Strasbourg to the rental car location, either a train, bus or possibly a taxi. We have reserved a VW Golf Wagon through AutoEurope, which is a rental car broker. The car will actually come from the Europcar Company in Kehl. We return the car at the Munich Train Station Europcar office, which is only 210 meters from our hotel, so that will be very convenient on the drop off end.
Next up will be the car rental for the last part of the journey, from Nuremberg, Germany to the Frankfurt, Germany airport. Our hotel in Frankfurt is about 4 km. from the airport, so we will plan on keeping the rental car until the morning of our flight, and just driving it to the airport when we head over to fly home. Parking is free at the hotel so this will be more convenient that taking the free hotel shuttle. The rental is short term, so the additional day is already incorporated into the rate, since the minimum cost is equivalent to a 5 day rental anyway. This is the only portion of the trip that is not very efficient, due to the October 3 Germany Unification holiday falling on the day we are returning to Nuremberg, as explained in a previous post. However, the advantage is somewhat recovered on the Frankfurt end, waiting for a crowded shuttle to the airport, which only leaves every 20 minutes is always risky, and adds stress to the flight home. Also, we now avoid having to return the car to the airport the evening before our flight, and having to shuttle back to the hotel like we did last time in Frankfurt in 2010.