AnhaltER1960

As an alternative to trains, Lufthansa are running a shuttle bus from Frankfurt to Strasbourg. No hassle with changing tracks, it goes nonstop between the airport and Strasbourg downtown. two and a half hours travelling time are competetive with trains. Look here: https://www.lufthansa.com/de/en/lufthansa-express-bus They run only a few times a day, so you have to look, if the times fit in your timetable. Look at Lufthansa timetable, dep FRA, arr. XER for connections.

a) Hamburg - Kiel You did not mention the weekday, esp in Hamburg there might be issues with traffic on working days. Generally I would calculate Taxi Steinwerder Hamburg Hbf at 30 min. Regional trains from Hamburg to Kiel run every half hour and need 1.15 hrs, so calculate 2 hrs total. There are some long-distance trains,too, but they are only 10 min quicker and do not run often - just take the next train you can catch. Taxi from Kiel Hbf to Ostuferhafen 30 mins, making it a total of 3 hrs... just a fit, if the ship is on time and you are off the ship quickly. Recommendations: Prebook taxi. Consider changing at Hamburg Dammtor (not Hbf). All trains leaving Hamburg Hbf for Kiel call at Dammtor too. Does not save time, a bit longer taxi, bit less time on the train. But saves nerves, as Dammtor is a much smaller station and shorter walk from street to platform. Consider Taxi for the full distance. With prebooking roundabout 150 Euro. b) Kiel - Warnemünde Taxi Ostuferhafen to Kiel Hbf 30 min. Train to Warnemünde minimum 3,5 hrs, depending on connection, some connections take 4 hrs+. No need to change into taxi at Rostock Hbf, take the train to Warnemünde, as the cruise terminal there is in walking distance from the station. But still, that looks too tight, if youve got only 4 hrs. Even car/taxi will take 4+ hrs, as there is only partly motorway.

@retep55555 Are you cruising on the Beyla which sails into Wittenberg tomorrow/Sunday ? Must have been plenty of rain in Bohemia recently, from the water amount, which runs down the Elbe right now... The Viking ships on the Elbe Astrild and Beyla have a draft of roundabout 85 cm (as well as the Elbe Princesse of CroisiEurope). The readings of the water level do NOT give the depth of the navigation channel; they are just a reading of the water level against a fixed scale, which makes the interpretation a bit difficult. But for now youre fine, as are any cruises of Viking before the summer break.

Storm does not fill a river - rain does :-). But although you might not like the weather in Prague right now, that is exactly the region, which needs rain to fill the Elbe for your cruise. And from the data I see, the Elbe is looking much better than last week. So, while not being a Viking captain, I dare the forecast that sailings should be possible next week.

Now it has been too hot and dry in the Elbe water system, the rainfalls last weekend sent only a shorttimed wave downriver. Viking have switched into dry-cruise mode and are not sailing any longer. Passengers are bussed instead between the ships.

Weather forecasts in Germany predict some real summer in the next days with no rain and temperatures well in the nineties (maybe even hitting 100+ Fahrenheit), ship captains have a sceptical look on the water levels of the Elbe. They have been on the low side recently, though still sufficient for sailing, as the graph @notamermaidrecently posted shows. The general downward trend continued, but some rainfall in the Czech republic brings some relief with a stabilizing wave. As Viking will pause their Elbe sailing from early July until September, they might just be fine until then. In the last years, Dresden level below 75 cm was an indication for trouble. PEGELONLINE1506.html

Yes, it is valid on trains from Bavaria (Freilassing) into Salzburg Hbf (Central Station). Also Switzerland to Basel Bad. Bf (not Basel SBB) and Schaffhausen. The ticket is not valid in Belgium and also not in Luxemburg. But all public transport in Luxemburg is free anyway, you dont need a ticket there. So just stay on the train into Luxemburg....

You are fine on all routes (if you use RE/RB orS-Bahn trains, of course). No confusion, as long-distance trains cannot be used anyway.

99.8 % of all RE trains in the timetables are operated by DB Region and can be used with the 9-Euro-ticket. This confusion has bees grossly exaggerated in the media. It applies only to a few trains on a few lines (https://www.bahn.de/service/individuelle-reise/bahn_und_fahrrad/nahverkehrsfreigabe):. * Bremen to Norddeich Mole via Emden * Potsdam - Berlin - Cottbus * Berlin - Prenzlau as part of the Stralsund line * Berlin - Elsterwerda on the Dresden line * Dresden - Chemnitz * Iserlohn - Dillenburg * Rostock - Stralsund and: * Stuttgart - Konstanz- 9-Euro ticket valid * Erfurt - Gera - 9-Euro ticket valid When on the platform, it is quite simple, as a rule of thumb: Long distance trains are white with a horizontal red or green stripe (or green, the private Flixtrain). They are not to be used with 9-Euro-Ticket. Regional trains of DB Regio are red or have different colours, if operated by private operators. Yes, the ticket was a political action and "knitted with hot needles" as we say here, and: German railway tariff starts, where logics ends. Background is, because German railways run, as notamermaid had pointed out, long-distance trains and regional trains. Long-distance trains (ICE, EC and IC) are a profit center with their own tariff and are not subsidised. Regional trains (IRE, RE, RB and S) are subsidised and therefore have a different tariff and access condition for special groups like school children or handicapped people. Only on a few lines, by arrangement with the local authorities, long-distance trains can be used with regional tickets and are therefore labelled both as RE and IC in the timetables. Hope that helps to clarify.

Deutsche Bahn vending machines call it "9-Euro-Ticket" and have it on the front page, one click, then choose the month and here you are. Other transport companies or local tariff cooperatives, and there is a big variety of them across Germany, may handle it differently. But in general the name "9-Euro-Ticket" is the standard term.

Anywhere, where you buy tickets: Online, smartphone, ticket machines, manned stations, bus drivers..... No need to buy early in advance, the tickets dont sell out. So the ticket machine at the airport station after arrival is fine.

They have really done it: The Nine-Euro-Ticket. First aimed as a cost-relief for commuters, it has now become a special offer for everyone. During three months (June, July, August) you pay nine Euro for ALL local public transport throughout Germany for one calendar month. Included are buses, trams, tube, regional trains anywhere in the country. So if you want to travel by train from Munich airport to the Danube cruise at Passau or crisscross the city during your Berlin pre- or post-cruise-stay or want to do some evening-diy along the Rhine, it wont cost you more than 9 Euro. Not included are long-distance-trains (ICE, EC, IC of Deutsche Bahn or the private Flixtrain). Also be careful, when crossing international borders like in Basel (for example, the ticket is valid on trains from Germany into Basel Bad.Bf, but not into Basel SBB; also not valid on the tram from Kehl into Strasburg). But otherwise, it really is a special offer. Will trains be full then ? Good question, it is a big field experiment and noone really knows the outcome yet. Some trains certainly will be, others wont.

Yes they do, they call it "leisurely walking tours". Just a matter of demand - they wont do that just for one or two ppl. The differences from the standard tours depend on the destination, might be less distance to walk by skipping sights or more time on the bus.

Yes, you can. Just make sure you have the time, when you have to be back to the ship before it continues (although unlike ocean cruises missing a river boat is usually not much of an affair - no more than an one hour trainride. In Cologne (cathedral) and Mainz (Gutenberg-Museum) the ship will usually dock right in the city center and it will only be a short walk to your destinations. Strasburg is not located on the Rhine and the ship will berth in a suburb, Kehl, which is on the German side of the river. But there is a tramway, which brings you directly into downtown Strasburg. Ask if the company are offering shuttle-buses back to the ship and where and when in town they leave. Make sure you have got an "address" of the ship location to show a cab driver, just in case. Have Euros in cash, German cab drivers are usually not accepting plastic money.