Transportation around Germany

I'm planning a Germany trip (I'd say at least five years from now; I like to do that sort of thing) and I was trying to think of re-doing my itinerary to go around the trains instead of cars like what I plan for my USA itineraries. Now, let's take Belantis for example. The closest train station to it (Leipzig Knautnaundorf) is only about 5 km away. While that's pretty close, that's a decent walk, I'd say about 45 minutes at bare minimum. I can walk that, but it would take a while. Here are the coordinates for Leipzig Knautnaundorf: 51????????? 14.830'N 12????????? 16.368'E I tried entering bicycle rental I looked up both Bicycle Rental and Fahrrad Vermietung (yes I can speak German; although that did procure results, I'm not sure if it's grammatically correct) and I got results in downtown Leipzig, for example, and that's a good 20 km away, which would be an hour bike ride. Again, I could do that if I had to, (I wouldn't mind getting the workout) but I'm trying to look for an easier method if possible.



I'm 18 years old, and I stay almost exclusively in New York State, only venturing outside two or three times a year, never outside this timezone. I feel trapped.

[hyyyper]

The problem with trains is that they only get you from city to city. Which is great if you're doing a city-tour, but not if you want to get to themeparks.

A car will work much better, you can go anywhere you like, when you like. In total, I think it is cheaper, even with the high gas prices. You are also not limited to the hotels in the city area, but you can get cheaper ones near parks or next to the highway. Also, Germany isn't that big. North to south is only about 500 miles, or from DC to Atlanta, for instance.

Just one question: What parks will you visit?

[AyTrane]

Every train station has an information desk. They will be able to give you pamphlets and information about where you need to go.

^^^I know Germany isn't that big; area wise, it's about almost exactly as big as New York, Pennsylvania, and Indiana combined.

^^Remember, this won't be for several years, but this is my itinerary:


Day 1: Fly from Syracuse to New York City, fly from New York City to Frankfurt.
Day 2: Rest and/or normal tourist stuff in Frankfurt.
Day 3: Ski-und Rodelarena Wasserkuppe
Day 4: Belantis
Day 5: Freizeitpark Plohn
Day 6: Freizeitland Geiselwind
Day 7: Bayern Park
Day 8: Skyline Park
Day 9: Erlebnispark Strasswalchen (I know, it's in Austria, but it's really close; I have to edit the itinerary as this is a recent addition.)
Day 10: Legoland Deutschland
Day 11: Conny Land (Again, I know, it's Switzerland, but it's really close.)
Day 12: Europa Park
Day 13: Erlebnispark Tripsdrill
Day 14: Holiday Park
Day 15: Wild-und Freizeitpark Klotten/Cochem
Day 16: Nuerburgring (hopefully Ring Racer will be open by the time I go over.)
Day 17: Phantasialand
Day 18: Movie Park Germany
Day 19: Fort Fun Abenteuerland
Day 20: Heide Park Soltau
Day 21: Hansa Park
Day 22: Fly from Hamburg to home.

I decided to not do the fairs for two reasons: 1, it was a royal pain trying to find the schedule for them (still can't find them) and 2, I want to add something more onto my Southern Europe trip I had in mind. (Italy, Austria, etc.)

A couple of questions:

1: What's the status of Olympia Looping? Is Bruch going to sell it to a park, or did he decide to keep it?

2: Is two days better for Europa Park?

3: Anything else I should do?

Remember, I cataloged every single amusement park on the planet onto Google Earth, so it will be relatively easy to add destinations onto the trip.

[hyyyper]

Europa Park is a 2-day park for sure, but if the crowds are light or you only want to do the coasters, then you need only one day.

You could also consider Toverland, which is about one hour from Movie Park or Phantasialand.

You should really plan for Oktoberfest, or at least find a smaller fair that has Olympia Looping.

^I was considering that. But my main problems is the scheduling of my other high priority flats. The flat rides I want to go on the most are:

Airwolf (Owner: Eberhard)
High Energy (Owner: Kaiser)
Test Strecke (I miss Laser)
Hoellenblitz
Devil Rock (Owner: Hanstein)
Flash High Voltage (Weber)
Phoenix (Owner: Gusowski)
Rocket (Owner: Goetzke)
Transformer (Owner: Schmidt) - or any other Top Star Tour
And the obvious Olympia Looping, Alpina Bahn.

Is there any fair that anyone can recall that the majority of these rides were in the same fairgrounds? Or, is there a way that I can find a schedule of each fair owner, so I'd be able to coordinate the trip so that I might go to a few fairs and get most of the ones I want?

yes the Canstatter Wasen in Stuttgart has some of them...it opens on 09.23.2011 an closes at 10.09.2011. Here are some of the attractions but not all of them http://www.cannstatter-volksfest.de/index.php?id=4

Airwolf, Tansformer, H?????????llenblitz, Test Strecke and perhaps Alpinabahn will be there for sure....we have these ones every year.

I`d recommend you 2 days for Phantasialand,heidepark and Europapark,if the crowds aren`t light.Belive me,its worth it.I stayed or will stay(Europapark this summer with two pals) for 2 days and to really enjoy the parks,especially Phantasialand.
And damn,you`re one lucky guy,thats a huge ass trip.If you come for crappy Connyland,visit me.

[Dirk_Ermen]

Originally posted by Tanks4me

^I was considering that. But my main problems is the scheduling of my other high priority flats. The flat rides I want to go on the most are:

Airwolf (Owner: Eberhard)
High Energy (Owner: Kaiser)
Test Strecke (I miss Laser)
Hoellenblitz
Devil Rock (Owner: Hanstein)
Flash High Voltage (Weber)
Phoenix (Owner: Gusowski)
Rocket (Owner: Goetzke)
Transformer (Owner: Schmidt) - or any other Top Star Tour
And the obvious Olympia Looping, Alpina Bahn.

Is there any fair that anyone can recall that the majority of these rides were in the same fairgrounds? Or, is there a way that I can find a schedule of each fair owner, so I'd be able to coordinate the trip so that I might go to a few fairs and get most of the ones I want?

Airwolf is going to be hard. Since there are rumors that the this year will be the last year it's traveling under Eberhard. Not sure what is going to happen with the ride after that.

But if you'd want to know where some of the rides are going:
http://themepark.nl/scripts/kcorganizer/
It's mostly used for the Dutch fairgrounds but the German and Belgium fairs are mentioned as well. On the bottom you can search on ride (Zaak) or you can search on location (plaatsnaam). I hope that helps.

Let us know when you'd be stopping by. I'm pretty sure some of the members would be able to join in a couple days with the trip.

I went to Europa park last September and was recommended two days. This wasn't really necessary at all. I managed to get on everything important in 1 day.

I guess it depends on what time of year you are planning this trip for and how busy it is.

So peak times: 2 days. Off-peak: 1.

The german fairs are some of my 'must go' places. Although every time I watch a video of them I expect Hard Techno or Schranz music playing with a billion techno vikings stomping around...

Freaky poop.

Need I remind everyone that this trip will not be for several years? I just like to plan very far ahead. It's fun. I am currently saving up for a stateside trip that I wish to do in 2012, but 2013 will be more likely, due to the fact that it's so expensive. Actually, speaking of which, I think I'll make a thread about that.