http://www.franconiabeerguide.com/discuss.asp/ A virtual Stammtisch for discussing Franconian beer en-gb http://franconiabeerguide.com/discussdet.asp?IDKEY=ZZ6LI have been using the DB website to try and find the return fare from Nuremberg to Bamberg,But Keep getting the "fares unavailable" tag.So I thought I would try the VGN site I typed in for fares from Nuremberg airport to Bamberg hbf. and success! it gave me a nice detailed description of available journeys etc,and a fare of 10+t? can anyone explain what this means please,and what the cost would be? Ta.http://franconiabeerguide.com/discussdet.asp?IDKEY=ZZ6L01It means that the fare is the maximum tariff crossing several zones, which is 9,20 EUR for a single journey. Because it is a Verkehrsverbund, there aren't really return tickets as such, only singles, multi-journey and daily/weekly/monthly tickets.http://franconiabeerguide.com/discussdet.asp?IDKEY=ZZ6L0101Thanks, remarkable value then!especially compared to the prices on our dirty, expensive, and unreliable public transport system here in England.http://franconiabeerguide.com/discussdet.asp?IDKEY=ZZ6L010101While DB trains, IME, are generally roomier than trains in the UK, I've yet to encounter a problem worth mentioning in my train travels up there. Dirty? UK trains haven't struck me as necessarily less clean than DB ones, except maybe the blitz-sauber ICE's. I only travel by public transit in the UK (with the odd taxi here and there), and while we have better ticket automats here --at which bus tickets are usually available-- I think it's unfair to criticise UK public transit across the board. But then I've only gone around as a tourist; I haven't had to rely on it for daily living. And don't forget the air conditioning in some ICE's failing when the temperature exceeds 32°, resulting in 50°+ internal temperatures! (A bit ironic to me, since the people here are so crazily anti-air-conditioning...fear of catching pneumonia and arthritis in summer and what not.)http://franconiabeerguide.com/discussdet.asp?IDKEY=ZZ6L01010101I am glad you have been lucky in your use of British public transport Nick,and I do believe you have been lucky. As someone who does not drive I am totally reliant on the use of buses and trains,(and mostly in smaller towns and country areas) I think that the word dirty can best be reserved for our buses,around where I live some are 20 years old! and the trains are often untidy as in unswept and seats covered in old papers food wrappings etc etc..and as for reliability! well if a train turns up at all one is eternally grateful,and my final rant which was the main point of my post,is the cost. Eg a journey from Ipswich to Colchester about(20 mins)£5.80 single. Any way I hope you keep your lucky streak when visiting blighty.http://franconiabeerguide.com/discussdet.asp?IDKEY=ZZ6L0102The DB website never gives ticket-prices if the journey is within a Verkehrsverbund. http://franconiabeerguide.com/discussdet.asp?IDKEY=ZZ6L010201Ah Ha! I See.http://franconiabeerguide.com/discussdet.asp?IDKEY=ZZ6L02These can also be a better deal than regular simple one-way tickets. For example, a Streifenkarte has 10 strips, and costs 9,20€. So, a strip is 0,92€. The trip from Hirschaid to Erlangen (for example, since I just took that train earlier) is a 5-zone journey. A single 5-zone ticket costs 4,60€, but 5 strips on the Streifenkarte costs 4,10€. The only catch is that you must use at least 2 strips per journey, i.e., there is no 1-strip journey with this particular kind of 10'r Streifenkarte. (There is a 5'r Streifenkarte for "Kurzstrecken", or short journeys though.) Irritatingly, the automat in Hirschaid failed to print me a 10'r today, so I had to buy a single ticket. The Hirschaid machine is new to the VGN system, so it still has a learning curve, I guess. But for two people, the TagesticketPlus is the obvious smart choice--and don't forget, a Tagesticket bought on Saturday is also good on the Sunday.http://franconiabeerguide.com/discussdet.asp?IDKEY=ZZ6L0201Duh, I got the math wrong there. There's actually no difference between the single ticket and the Streifenkarte for 5-zones. But trust me, there are cases when it works out cheaper to use the Streifenkarte than to buy single tickets. http://franconiabeerguide.com/discussdet.asp?IDKEY=ZZ6L020101Use the Mobilitätsberater: http://www.vgn.de/mobilitaetsberater/ It will give the prices for every connection. You'll see that the price difference between single tickets and Streifenkarte is generally very small.