Inbound travel and public transport
The Bavarian Forest National Park is located in south-eastern Germany, and it is easily accessible by both rail and road. The region has a smart transport concept which enables visitors to reach all the important locations in the National Park by public transport. Visitors to many of the region’s municipalities and towns can even use the network for free.
Getting there
Visiting by train
The region’s key junction stations in Plattling and Passau are served by IC and ICE express trains. From Plattling, onward rail travel is then possible hourly on the Waldbahn service towards Zwiesel, Bodenmais and Bayerisch Eisenstein, and every two hours towards Grafenau. From Passau, the express bus 100 departs to the National Park region, as does the Ilztalbahn railway via Waldkirchen and Freyung towards Grafenau in the National Park at weekends during summer. You can check the Deutsche Bahn timetable here: www.bahn.com/en.
Visiting by car or bus
From the A3 motorway, you can reach the National Park from the Deggendorf junction for Regen, from the Hengersberg junction for Grafenau and Freyung, and from the Aicha vorm Wald junction for Tittling and Grafenau. Please follow signs for the National Park.
Travellers from the Czech Republic should use the Železná Ruda/Bayerisch Eisenstein border crossing for destinations in the northern part of the Park, and the Philippsreut/Strážný crossing for destinations in the south.
Map tip: To filter by specific categories as well as individual parking spaces or public transport stops, use the legend that can be displayed using the icon in the top left corner. The large view can also provide a better overview, and you can activate this with the help of the button at the top right.
Mobile in the region
The Gästeservice Umwelt-Ticket
In the National Park, local rail and Igelbus services are the most relaxing way to travel between the key trailheads and visitor facilities. The GUTi (Gästeservice Umwelt-Ticket), the visitor card for environmentally-friendly transport, allows free travel throughout the region, while the Bayerwaldticket offers substantial reductions on ticket prices. If you park your car at a point within the transport network, you can plan a route that links to a trailhead by bus or train before looping back to your vehicle on foot.
GUTi is automatically offered as a special service to visitors on arrival in over 20 municipalities in the area and is valid from the day of arrival until the day of departure. The Bayerwald-Ticket is a good-value alternative for guests staying in other municipalities as well as for locals and day-trippers: www.bayerwald-ticket.com
Connections
Rail
Four Waldbahn lines connect the dots in the National Park region, with Zwiesel forming the central hub in the heart of the region. The lines link Plattling with Bayerisch Eisenstein, Bodenmais with Zwiesel, Grafenau with Zwiesel and Gotteszell with Viechtach. Falkenstein National Park Centre in Ludwigsthal has its own small station, as does the forest playground in Spiegelau. You can check the rail timetable here: www.laenderbahn.com
During the summer season, the Ilztalbahn runs through the unspoilt and picturesque Ilz valley to Freyung. Onward travel to the Lusen National Park Centre in Neuschönau is then possible by bus. More information is available here: www.ilztalbahn.eu
Bus
The Igelbus service connects the trailheads of walking paths in the area around Lusen and Rachel with the communities of Mauth, Hohenau, Spiegelau, St. Oswald-Riedlhütte, Grafenau and Neuschönau. The Lusen National Park Centre in Neuschönau is an important hub within the region. The Falkensteinbus runs from Zwiesel to the Park’s tourist hotspots as well as trailheads for exploring Großer Falkenstein and the “Schachten” areas in the northern National Park. Zwieslerwaldhaus, the Schwellhäusl and Falkenstein National Park Centre are therefore easily reached by bus.
You can check the bus times here: www.bayern-fahrplan.de
The timetables are also available here: www.bayerwald-ticket.com
The express bus line 100 and its feeder lines form a rapid connection to the Bavarian Forest National Park from Passau via Waldkirchen and Freyung. Timetables for the buses run by Freyung-Grafenau County are available here: www.freyung-grafenau.de
The green buses provide connections to the public transport network in the neighbouring Šumava National Park in the Czech Republic. Click here for the timetables (Czech page): www.idos.cz
More information
Detailed timetables, information on the GUTi ticket and suggested excursions are available from tourist information centres, National Park centres and info points as well as online at www.bayerwald-ticket.com.
