Rail and/or Bus travel in Germany on May 2014

For Munich:
you can find more information here:
http://www.mvv-muenchen.de/de/tickets-preise/tickets/index.html

In Munich, there are few different tickets, the system can get quite complicated. There is no weekly ticket available for tourists.
You can buy 1day or 3day-tickets or single tickets, or stripe tickets or..... If you want it easy, go for a Day-Ticket. If there are two or more (maximum 5 adults, 1 child counts as half an adult) go for a Partnertageskarte (Partner day ticket). You can get them for different areas:
If you just stay in the inner city, you need Innenraum only. If you plan to go more outside (Dachau eg), you need XXL or Gesamtraum.
http://www.mvv-muenchen.de/de/netz-bahnhoefe/netzplaene/index.html
Check the map: everything inside the white area: Innenraum
everything in the colored parts: Außenraum
White plus green: XXL
complete plan, including airport: Gesamtraum

If you stay a few days only in the inner city, there is a 3-Day-Ticket Innenraum.

The tickets are valid on the S-Bahn (Suburban train, white S on green), U-Bahn (underground, white U on blue), tram and bus. Usually the machine already prints the date when the ticket is valid, if you buy it. On some old machines you get a blank ticket (no date), which you have to stamp before you enter the platform. Otherwise the ticket is not valid.

There is a City-Tour-Card, including a public transport ticket and access to some sights.
http://www.citytourcard-muenchen.com/?lang=en
check if that is suitable for you. It usually only is if you visit a lot of attractions.

For the Bahncard: This is a card you can buy which is usually 1 year valid an might not suit your needs.

For your last trip Hamburg-Munich, as you might already know, when you need to get that train, try to book it early online, you can get discounts then (usually the ticket is then only for this special train, not an earlier or later one (Zugbindung)).
http://ps.bahn.de/preissuche/preissuche/psc_start.post?

For travels to close places around the 4 big cities, regional Länndertickets might be a cheap solution. They are usually valid for a day within a state for example Bavaria.
http://www.bahn.de/p/view/angebot/regio/laender_tickets.shtml?dbkanal_025=1&dbkanal_007=L01_S01_D001_KIN0014_top-navi-lt_LZ01

Hmm. A week in Cologne might be stretching it. The city will last you a day. Duesseldorf another, Bonn another, Koenigswinter another, Koblenz another, the Eiffel I guess would be another... then I'm kinda running out of options. I'd chop 2 or 3 days from Cologne area, and toss them onto Dresden (easily accessed from Berlin).

Moving on to the trains, http://www.bahn.com/i/view/GBR/en/prices/germany/germanrailpass.shtml lists the pass. So a 4 day pass in a month would suit. That's 202 euros in 2nd class - 162 if you're under 26 - (I wouldn't bother with first class). Alternatively you could get the Quer-Durchs-Land ticket, for all day travel for 44 euros. However, the QDL ticket doesn't allow you access to IC, or ICE. This slows you down, but if you've got all day and don't mind, it'll shave money off your travel costs. For example, Munich to Cologne is 4:50 by ICE, but by local trains with the QDL ticket it's 9 hrs. But it's cheaper. You pays your money and takes your choice.

Alternatively of course, if you intend to take trains to local destinations outside the city almost every day you don't want a 4 days in a month pass, you want a every day in a month pass, and DB doesn't do such a thing so that rules them out.

I would question why you intend to hoof it all the way back down to Munich to fly home. Why not fly outta Hamburg and save 5:50 getting bored on a train?

Finally, Zeittickets are available in weekly subscription for Cologne.

PS You may find it very handy to download the DB app to figure out what you're gonna do next. See http://www.bahn.com/i/view/GBR/en/prices/individual_planning/timetablesearch_mobile.shtml?time=now

PPS Consider using the rail and fly option when you buy your flight to get a cheap ticket from Hamburg back to Munich airport (see details under rail and fly under offers on the DB site).

These are great info!!! Many thanks. Definitely helps me rethink and tweek the travel plans. Will check the links you have provided as well.

Or Berlin. You could fly home from Berlin (i.e do that city last). Probably better connections than ex Hamburg.

i 've been reading the DB rail options in relation to my four-week stay in Germany. i just want to confirm if i understand the following correctly.

** for travelling from one major city to the next, about six cities (Munich-Heidelberg-Cologne-Dresden-Berlin-Hamburg-Munich), the DB German Rail Pass is good value. based on a particular season, the German Rail Pass may offer bonuses such as the current "Discover Germany's South in Autumn and Save Money" promotion.

** the DB Bahn Card, for example, the BahnCard 25 provides a 25% discount on standard saver fares and all saver fares on long-distance routes. that means to say, if i visit Nuremberg from Berlin and Stuttgart from Heidelberg, this Bahncard will provide me the discounted travel to an adjacent city or village. secondly, the BanhCard holder can travel free by bus, s-bahn, u-bahn, and tram in over 100 cities in Germany. majority of the cities i want to visit are listed in the "Anhang I: City -Ticket-Tarifgebiete (Juni 2013)" list. that means to say, instead of purchasing, let's say a Berlin Pass or Hamburg Card or Wochenkarte / Tageskarte in Cologne, Stuttgart, or Heidelberg, the DB BahnCard can replace these tickets, therefore, providing savings in local travel.

some other points i find further clarifications are:

** the DB Bahn's Savings Fare (Sparpreis): BahnCard 25 holders receive a 25% discount.

setting aside the DB German Rail Pass for the main routes, this Sparpreis can be used for discounted travel to other longer routes as a return journey?

** the DB Bahn's "City mobil" ticket

is the ticket still different from the BahnCard's free travel in over 100 cities in Germany?

** the DB BahnCard
will the card also offer discounted entries or free entries to places such as museums or other places of interest similar to what local cards like Berlin Pass, Hamburg Card, or Bamberg Card provide?

your feedback are highly appreciated.

cheers.