Trains, Planes & Automobiles

My first trip to Bavaria in 2017.

Remarkably, all the travel went according to plan!

This trip involved 2 cars, a bus, a plane and 2 trains. It gave plenty of scope for problems.

Stagecoach

My son drove me to the local park & ride to catch the 07:35 bus to Edinburgh Airport. It’s free because I’m over 60, so why pay (say) £30 for airport parking? In any event, driving would have involved the grim Edinburgh rush hour but the bus whizzes past the jams using the bus lane! Quicker, stress free and no cost.

On Time

Time for breakfast at the airport before EasyJet’s 10:25 to Munich. The flight arrived about 10 minutes late, but in view of the Edinburgh weather (a bit foggy and frosty) that was OK. They had to get the plane’s wings de-iced before take off and that doesn’t happen often in Scotland.

Waiting

£64 return for this flight this time. That’s a bargain.

Munich Airport

Usually I’m collected at Munich Airport and then it’s a 50 minute drive to my destination (near Ingolstadt). On this occasion the arrival time meant I had to get the train. 45 minutes on the S-Bahn into the Hauptbahnhof and then 70 minutes on a Nürnberg bound “regional express”. All very comfortable and civilised compared to a typical British train experience.

15:29 to Nürnberg

DB offers a Bayern ticket which gives unlimited travel within the state after 9am. €25 for 1 person. A good deal even at today’s exchange rate.
I could have bought a ticket for €19 which would have been a quicker journey (an ICE to Ingolstadt) but - like comparable British tickets - if you miss the train you have to buy a new ticket. It doesn’t matter which airline you use, you can never be certain you’ll arrive on time.

I’ll end with a question. Why is flying so often stressful and taking the train often relaxing?