I'm surprised by the ticket prices for public transportation from Prague into Germany. Bahn.de shows that "savings" fare for a 4 hr bus ride from Prague to Nuremberg costs about $200 each. It appears that this may be a round trip price. ??
I'm not going until later in the year and I can price tickets only 90 days in advance. Renting a car in Prague and dropping it in Paris (our final destination) three weeks later will incur a minimum drop fee of $1100! (could be higher that that)
The drop fee from for a car rented in Nuremberg and dropped in Paris is only about $250.
We are not particular about the initial German city to rent a car...Nuremburg just looked like a convenient stop on the way to Stuttgart. Our group will be 4 - 6 people.
Any suggestions on the cheapest way to get from Prague into Germany?
I checked schedules and fares on www.bahn.de for February 14 and got 48 euro for the bus and 52 euro for the train, one way Prague to Nuremberg. (The bus was actually faster.)
Have you thought about taking a budget airline? You can use www.whichbudget.com to identify routes and and airlines. Unless you have a lot of luggage, that should be the most efficient/least expensive way to travel, especially if you can book early.
I think I was getting a combined price for 5 tickets which I thought was the single ticket price. When I put in the fact that we are all over 60, I get a price of only 19 euros. That makes much more sense!
I had looked at germanwings as a low cost carrier, but I think we'll probably stay with the bus.
The problem is that you are getting 'foreign' prices by looking at the Bahn website for ticket prices. You can just turn up at the ticket office in Prague and buy a ticket to Germany in Czech crowns - it should be much cheaper. You can try checking the Czech railway site at http://www.cd.cz/ but even with Google translate it is very difficult to use.
The Bahn.de website indicates that there are only a few of the "€19 savings fares" for the DB express bus. Do you have experience with this bus from Prague to Nurnberg? Do you think I would be risking missing the lower fares (and having to pay the full €48) if I wait until I'm in Prague to buy the tickets?
I know I can't buy them online until June but would plan to do that if the discounted fares sell out early.
Yes you will miss the cheap fare it you wait until you get there. Buy the cheap one 90 days before you travel.
If you have questions, a great German rail agency with offices in the USA is euraid.com. Buy through them, though and they charge a fee for all your reservations.
The bahn.de prices are the same no matter where in the world you log into the site.
