Try http://www.Seat61.com/Germany.htm This site lists different ways of getting to Germany by train and different prices.
I live in Germany and find that airfares are far cheaper than the trains though of course if you can't fly then there isn't much choice.

Thanks Judith

I had seen that site but as you say it is very expensive. It is much cheaper to fly either BA via London or KLM via Amsterdam. I quite fancied the train, plus I would be doing my bit for the environment.

In all honesty, the real reason is I have been watching National Geographic most of the day all about air crashes!! so I thought I would look at other options.

I have travelled to the UK by train in the past (I live in Ulm which isn't far from Munich) and it's a really long tiring journey and I only went as far as Nottingham not Scotland.
If you fly to Munich you will have the option of hiring a car for the rest of your journey or get the train to Mittenwald, two trains actually, 1st into Munich then down to the mountains so you'll be able to do a bit towards reducing your carbon footprint. Are there flights to Innsbruck? if so it's only a few miles from Mittenwald. Though I expect you have checked out all the possible ways of travelling.
I hope you manage to get there it's a lovely area.

Thanks Judith

We had a holiday in Seefeld a couple of years ago and took the train into Mittenwald a couple of times and also Munich. We have always said we wanted to go back to Mittenwald and as you say it is very beautiful. It wouldn't be so bad if we could do it in one flight but from Aberdeen you are very limited as where you can fly to, unless you want to go to Norway or Tenerife!!

We did the Glacier Rail Tour in Switzerland last year and travelling around Switzerland by train was a dream compared to the UK. I do agree that it would be a long tiring journey from Scotland though. Hubby wants to take our car by driving to Rosyth and taking the ferry to Zebrugge then driving through Europe. I really don't fancy that and the cost of the ferry is extortionate as well as long (18 hours) It certainly looks like the cheapest way is to fly.

Don't let the length of the Rosyth to Zeebrugge ferry journey put you off. We have done it 3 times with small children and it's great. Once you get to Rosyth you feel you are on holiday because the boat is so relaxing and unlike other crossings you get a proper night's sleep because it isn't docking at stupid a.m.
Driving on the continent is a dream compared to driving in the UK as the motorways/equivalents are much quieter and the driving is much more civilised. Three years ago we drove from Zeebrugge to Annecy with a 3 year old and an 8 month old and emerged from the experience totally relaxed.

Thanks Elaine, that is good to hear. Hubby would love to do this and select our accommodation as we travel, as you say it is all part of your holiday!

For us the other advantage of sailing back into Rosyth is that we know we only have a 40 odd mile drive home instead of coming off a ferry at the channel ports and facing a 450 mile drive.

I've tried to post instructions on how to get across Germany by train cheaply but the system won't let me post links to other sites because I'm new - and without the links the instructions would be meaningless. If you are still interested leave a message and I'll try again next month.

Offers were;

€19.99 from any airport to any station in connection with certain airlines including at least one that serves Edinburgh

€33 for up to 5 people to cross Germany on a Saturday or Sunday

Steve, I presume these offers are on the Deutsche Bahn website ... http://www.db.de, and the site will show in English if you choose the right button!

I strongly recommend the Rosyth ferry .. it's just like a cruise, and well stabilised too. I suppose you could always get a train from Zeebrugge to Brussels and then on by international rail connections. A long way round (but scenic) would be Brussels - Basel - Innsbruck and then by local rail or car hire.

Have a great trip!

No they don't show on that site because that is the "Business" site. The "Travel" site is bahn.de , it does have an English option (which is usually slightly hidden and moves around from time to time!) but the easiest way to find the two offers I mentioned would be to use the search option for "Rail & Fly" and "Happy Weekend" respectively. It might also be useful to look for info on the "Sparpreis" offer for advance purchase. If the link to Railteam is showing try that as well, this is an airline style alliance starting soon and should offer good deals on through international tickets (it says in their press release...)

I've also just noticed that the original post said that a failed attempt had been made to get a ticket price from the de site. DB has an sales site based in London and priced in £s which may be more helpful but probably dearer, replace de with co.uk

Steve

Thanks for the reply and useful information. As I couldn't get a price from the website I did email them and after a few days got a price from London to Munich which they said would be approx £340 for 2 adults.

Cannot wait until this new Railteam that is supposed to be launched as that is supposed to make travelling around Europe cheap and simple!!

I wouldn't build your hopes too high for Railteam, this is a repeat of something they tried back in the 50's and again in the 80's. Third time lucky perhaps? But you still have to get to London, try Scotrails Caledonian Sleeper advance purchase deals to London Euston (which is only a short walk to the new Eurostar terminal at St Pancras).

Personally I would look at a Germanwings cheap flight from Edinburgh to Cologne with a Rail & Fly ticket to Mittenwald - book them together at the right moment and you ought to be able to get there and back for around £120 - £150 each.

By the way, once you're in Mittenwald a "Werdenfels Ticket" may be useful - put the phrase in the search option of bahn.de and it will give the details. Also, if you have to pay extra for the Munich - Mittenwald bit check that two tickets don't cost more than a "Bayern Ticket" which covers up to 5 people for the whole of Bavaria.

Thanks again Steve. You have given me some useful advice and information which I very much appreciate. It is pretty sad that it is so expensive to travel by train as we would really like to travel that way. We could fly from Aberdeen cheaper than the £340 rail fair London to Munich.

Having had time to apply a little cunning to this I can come up with this theoretical plan based on best prices currently advertised, in all cases you will have to book well in advance.

1 Aberdeen - London : Scotrail sell "Bargain Berths" on the sleeper train for £19 single if you travel midweek . Book via their website.

2. London - Cologne is advertised at £69 return by DB via the UK website,

3. Cologne - Mittenwald €119 return (based on Sparpreis 50 rules) which I make £83 via DB website as a seperate sale.

Total theoretical return price per person £190. But it isn't just the price that you have to watch. With sensible connection allowances in London, Brussels and Cologne you would leave Aberdeen at 21:40 and not arrive Mittenwald until 23:22 next night. Coming back you would have to leave at around 06:00 to get back to Aberdeen at 07:30 and you would be using some of the fastest train in Europe to achieve these times! You also have the small matter of food to consider on a journey of that duration.

A quick look at airlines doesn't show anyone offering Aberdeen -Munich but easyjet do Edinburgh - Munich and they go at sensible times. The best return price I could find by asking for quiet dates in advance was £57 which is a bargain and obviously much better than a 25 hour train ride. Except if you can't book in advance for quiet flights the price rises - I got a quote of £288 for one query.

Just to complicate it even more, DB Nightrains are run as a seperate business so I went to their website and they will do advance purchase seats from Cologne to Munich for €58 return to which you need to add the cost of a Bayern Ticket for the Mittenwald connection. This would bring the total rail price down to around a theoretical £165 but add another 8 hours to the journey (most of which would be spent in Cologne or Brussels sightseeing). They also offer sleeping car berths in a twin compartment for €198 return which would put the price up but make the journey less of an ordeal.

The overnight €58 (£41) return price is also possible from Paris to Munich, so if you couple that with Eurostars bottom line of £59 return you get the magic number of £100. Add the Scotrail sleeper and the Bayern Ticket and you get Aberdeen - Mittenwald for just over £150 return with sightseeing time in Paris.

So the only definite things you can say are that

a) you need to decide to travel on quiet days (Wednesday seems a good choice) then look at prices about 3 months in advance.

b) if you want to go by train you need to know your way around the systems and have more stamina than me!

Steve
What can I say except THANK YOU very much for all the effort you have put in and for all the information you have given me. I really do appreciate this and will definitely look into this.

We were planning this trip for next May however a month ago I won a 2 week holiday to Kenya. Only problem was it had to be taken before end of Feb 2008. As neither of us had sufficient holidays left to take 2 weeks in the winter, we asked if they could offer any alternative. We have been offered a weeks cruise on the Nile in April so only today we have confirmed the booking for that. Quite a bit different from what we were expecting to do. So Mittenwald will need to wait until later in the year. I definitely would like to do Mittenwald by train and make the journey part of the holiday.

Thanks a million

Wendy

You're welcome, I like a timetable challenge! It's a bit like Suduko mixed with geography.

Actually I would recommend leaving it till after summer and not just to get the cheap rates. I always think the weather in the Alps is much more reliable in early September than in peak summer. The first time I went to Mittenwald was in early December, you could do worse than visit when they have the Christmas market, usually first or second weekend in December. Innsbruck and Munich have theirs as well and they are open all week so there's plenty to see.

I can also recommend a couple of places to stay, eat and drink when you're ready.

Steve

Steve

I definitely would leave it until after the summer as we don't like going away at crowded times. It will probably be September and the place we were looking at to stay is Hotel Garni Sonnibichl which looks lovely. Would be interested in your recommendations though.

Thanks

I can only find the Sonnenbichl in the list, I've a feeling I considered it the first time I went. I know the area, very quiet at night and on the footpath down from the Lautersee (and I mean down - go up on the bus!)

I was going to suggest the Bichlerhof, this is smaller and closer to the centre and station although still in a quiet residential street. Rooms seem similar. It costs €3-4 a night more but does have the added benefit of an indoor swimming pool!

Or the Alpenrose which is a bigger old hotel (with sloping floors to prove it) with a good restaurant right in the pedestrianised centre near the church. About the same price as the Sonnenbichl and has free use of the pool at the Bichlerhof.

On the travel front, easyjet have now started charging for luggage (which they forget to mention in any of the newsletters they sent me!) so you need to add at least £4 return to the prices.

And looking at the website I was right about September being good for weather!

Steve

Steve

Thanks for that. Yes it is Gastehaus Sonnenbich. It was the pictures on the website that did it for us. It looks lovely inside and the views are to die for.

Thats a wee bit sneaky of Easy Jet, charging for luggage. If we do fly we will stick with BA via London.