hey everyone I am trying to plan a trip around Stuttgart, Heidelburg, kaiserslatuern, and Frankfurt to visit the cities in case I ever get a job at one of the US bases out there.

As such, i need some travel advice:
1)I am flying into the Stuttgart area from Rome and the option of going to Baden Baden on Ryan Air for 33 EUR then catching a train to Stuttgart HBF for another 24 EUR or flying directly into Stuttgart airport for 70 EUR... Is there a way for me to get cheaper transportation from Baden baden to Stuttgart? and how much is it from Stuttgart airport to the main city?

2) After I get to Stuttgart, i am planning on travelling to all those cities I wrote about above, what is my cheapest option to get around? The trains seem very expensive (ie Stuttgart to Heidelburg is 24 EUR one way!!)... I am amazed at how expensive the trains are!

Also, I will be on my own so take that into account.
thanks!!

How many travel days do you think you'll need/want? You may get benefit from a Germany rail pass, esp if you're under 26 years old. This has the benefit of keeping you in the city centers where the train stations are and no baggage fees & transit costs of the low cost airlines.

Buying the tickets as you go may work out cheaper but breaking down the costs of that versus a pass seems worthwhile to me.

bahn.de is the German rail site to check prices & schedules.

probably 4 days.... it seems like its alot cheaper just to book straight through bahn.de
the pass is almost 200 dollars!....

also is better to book early for these bahn.de tickets.... I am currently three weeks out from the trip.... but i would love to have more flexible when im there to buy the tickets.

I really think the train is the way to go. The scenery here is quite nice and the distances are vast, so the train will likely not be much longer than the plane when you figure getting to the airport, security and all that stuff.

I went stuggart, heidelberg, frankfurt a few years ago and the train was simple and easy.