allset2travel

I was designated as the planner and tour guide for a family trip with 9 adults (5 had never been to Europe). In addition to do sightseeing, we also want to hit a few great Christkindlmarkts. Here are some top down ideas, followed by a few questions:

· Arrive MUC from USA (call this Day 1). Late November time frame.
· Return to USA from BRU (call this day 15)
· Basically 14 days & nights in these cities: Munich (4 nights + 1 night on CNL train); Berlin (4 nights); Ghent (2 nights) ; Brussels (3 nights).
· Munich to Berlin will be on CNL train (so far I see Chapella)
· Wish list: some day trips from Munich (1 day Salzburg; 1 day Nuremberg) and in Berlin (1 day Dresden; 1 day Leipzig or elsewhere?)
· All trains will be booked into first class (if available).

I am somewhat familiar with bahn de web site when I booked tickets for travel for 2 persons. Booking for my group of 9 may be very different. Here are the Qs.

1. How best to book train tickets for 9 people? I think in bahn . de I can book ticket up to 5 people only. Need to repeat booking for other 4 pax?
2. Is it possible (during the booking proocess from beginning to credit card payment) to select berth in the CNL (Munich to Berlin)? I have been on the bahn web site, but still am confused.
3. When is the optimal time to book train tickets to get est discount? 3 months prior to travel? Or?
4. Should I buy day trip (eg, Munich to Salzburg return) tickets individually, or can I combine dall day trips?
5. From Berlin to Ghent, Belgium. Should I book that on bahn de web site also? And, how to transfer from Brussels Midi to Ghent St Peters? Prefer to make Berlin to Ghent in 1 day.
6. Welcome suggestions for top Christkindlmarkts.

Thank you in advance.

Reindeerflame

Just for starters, 90 days out is about the earliest you should expect to be able to purchase tickets on the DB website. Prices do not show if it's too early. To get an idea of prices, check for a travel date that does display prices, e.g. 90 days from now, etc.

Berlin to Ghent is an easy day trip, taking about 8 hours. Look up the possible connections on the DB website for the whole trip...it shows connections for any intercity rail trip in Europe. Two transfers are required, in Koeln and Brussels-Midi.

One issue: DB no longer sells tickets for Thalys trains (Koeln-Brussels), so you will need to acquire those from the Thalys website. The Brussels-Ghent portion may be a third transaction, as it involves Belgian Rail. DB is kind enough to continue to show the connections via Thalys on its website.

Hint: you will see the precise platform numbers on DB's website for trains in Germany and sometimes in adjoining countries. Sometimes connections can be quite tight, like 9 minutes. With your large group, it may be best to look for a combination of trains that provides perhaps 30 minutes of connecting time...to allow your group to transfer without undue rushing. All this can be seen on the DB website. i

linglingfool

Splitting up ticket orders shouldn't be a problem for most of your trains -- tickets will be cheapest when released ~90 days out, and the trains should be wide open. The DB site will let you select specific seats for most long distance trains, so you'll know exactly who is sitting where.

For the CNL trains, I've never had to reserve more than a couple of berths, so I haven't really cared where I was sleeping, but in my experience you don't get to reserve a specific compartment. It may be worth calling DB to ask if they can book you all together.

Also, keep in mind that you need to present an identification document (usually the credit card used to purchase) when you present the tickets to the conductor, so it may make sense to split the bookings up anyway on different cards in case something happens and you're unable to go.

For your day trips to Salzburg and Nürnberg, look into the Bayern-Ticket. It allows a group of up to 5 people to use local trains to and from those cities for the day, enabling you to hop on to any eligible train without a prior reservation. Group tickets cost €39 in second class, or €96.50 in first class. I know you said you prefer to travel in the latter, but on the non-express trains, the difference isn't particularly notable, so consider than when budgeting. Booking can be done online here. Map of valid destinations can be seen here.

Depending on where you decide to day trip from Berlin, the Brandenburg-Berlin-Ticket may also make sense -- same general ideas apply. See a map here. It will not get you to Dresden or Leipzig, but if you decide to stay closer to Berlin, keep it in mind.

exilencfc

You don't need a Thalys from Koln to Brussels, you can take an ICE which is bookable via DB. I do agree about the tight connections though, but DB's website has a user setting which allows you to specify a minimum connection time.

I found this page on group travel which may be useful http://www.bahn.de/i/view/GBR/en/pri...discount.shtml and also this one about seat reservations http://www.bahn.de/i/view/GBR/en/pri...rvations.shtml

I think Capella is the only direct overnight train from Munich to Berlin

david7031

I concur with exilencfc. Take a look at the "Gruppe& Spar" offers available - there is a button to clieck to go there. I also arranged a trip for 10 people about 2 years ago. If I remember correctly, you can make a group booking up to one year in advance, not just 90 days. Also, if you are willing to be flexible with your departure times and/or willing to change trains once instaed of travelling direct, you may really be able to save up to 70% compared to the standard fare. (I did!) Also, I think that the seat reservations are included in the Gruppe & Spar prices - either that, or there is a global proce like €15 for all 9, which is a lot cheaper than purchasing individually.

Good luck!

allset2travel

Yes, that’s what I figured. Thanks for confirming.


I see the Berlin-Brussels fare on DB. Are you saying I can not book it (have not tried) that way. I have to book Berlin-Klon with DB; and then book Koln-Brussels on Thalys web site?

Good advice. Thanks.

allset2travel

Oh, this is good. I don’t have to book the journey on two separate tickets on 2 web sites, as I thought in previous post.

These 2 links are great. Somehow, I never saw them before. Thank you.
I also saw only Capella showed up for Munich-Berlin as CNL.

allset2travel

David,
Thanks for chiming in with info regarding group travel. I will play with the DB site.

Anyone has info regarding the CNL train (Munich-Berlin). We want to book with either 2 pax per cabin; or 4 per cabin. Not exactly sure how I wuld do that on DB site. We will deal with the 9th person separately.

david7031

Just try a test booking for a date less than 90 days out. If you put in "4 passengers", after you choose the connection, you get a screen offering a choice of booking seats, 4- or 6-person couchettes compartment, or 4-person sleeping car compartment. If you want a two-person compartment, the web site seems to only allow that if you only have 2 passengers. However, that may be a more expensive option: often there is a discount for additional passengers beyond the first one. Again, if you really plan to have 9 on the train, I would try to contact the DB group reservations team via e-mail or phone. You might get a pleasant surprise on the price.

exilencfc

Part of the problem is that you're looking at two different things. The trains have basic compartments, called couchettes, which have either 4 or 6 bunks and more luxurious compartments which have 3 bunks but can be booked for 1 or 2 passengers. Have a look at seat 61's info page which will give you a good idea http://seat61.com/citynightline.htm#.U0Z2kKJ8Bw0

I think David's advice to call/email DB is excellent, it doesn't seem very easy to book groups via the website and you may find that contacting DB gets you a better deal anyway. Here's a booking enquiry thing on their website (UK version, not sure where you are) http://www.bahn.de/i/view/GBR/en/hom...-enquiry.shtml and I think they have a UK call center if you want to phone them

allset2travel

Yes, I have been browsing over at Seat61. Very informative stuff.

Thanks for the contact info. Will definitely call when the time is right.

757DUD

If you want to use the group tickets I would recommend to book this as early as possible, since they are limited. Also the number of first class in the night train from munich to berlin is limited. You have only 4 2-person de luxe compartments (including shower and toilet) and 4 normal 2-person compartments in the train. All other compartments are bigger,
757DUD

allset2travel

Recommendation acknowledged. Thank you. My understanding is DB allows group booking 6 months in advance. Is this correct?


757DUD,
You have answered a nagging question that I had. What you mentioned above are 2 types of 2-person compartments (deluxe and NOT deluxe). What about the 4-person bunk-bed type compartments, how many are there? Just in case we might have to resort to them.

allset2travel

After poking around on belgiumrail be/en page, trying to figure out the day return fare in vain. There seem to be many types of fares, such as "family" and "age-related" fares.

Want to do day-trip from Brussels to other smaller towns, such as Bruges & Gent etc...

I don't think our group of 9 can be considered for "family fare" since we don't have children with us. Questions below:

1. Given our group, which fare should we (could we) use? OR is it just buy 9 individual tickets

2. Can I book tickets online?

3. If we decide to go straight to Gent from Berlin (Berlin-Koln-BrusselsMidi-Gent), we need 2 tickets, right? One from DB and the other from belgiumrail?

4. How much time should we allow for transfer at Brussels Midi?

Thank you !!

exilencfc

Berlin to Gent is bookable via DB provided you don't want to use Thalys to get there. Not sure which trains you'd get reserved seats on though, I suspect it would depend on exact routing and train type (the journeys they want to sell you aren't necessarily via Brussels).

I'd allow an hour at Brussels Midi, the platforms are basically built on top of a shopping center which can make it a bit of a maze and you also want to allow for delays, this would change if you weren't booked on a particular train from Brussels in which case 30 minutes would be adequate.

No idea on your other three questions though.