Train Travel Munich to Slovenia - stop in Salzburg on return trip

When I look at the DB site, I see a direct train from Munich to Ljubljana at 12:17 pm on Dec 24, getting in at 8:33 pm. Why not take that one and not have to worry about a transfer?

On the return, you will have an 8 minute transfer at Villach. Should be fine, and yes, specify a stopover in Salzburg for as long as you want. If you miss the connection in Villach because of a late arriving train, they will get you on the next train to Salzburg.

Thanks, Sam. We are trying to get to Ljubljana as early as possible on Christmas Eve because we want to get settled in and also because we are going to celebrate the holiday with our son who is living there for a year. We are eager to see him!
Thank you for clarifying that we can just get off and catch a later train on the way back. The ticket language made it sound like you were committed to a specific train and couldn't change. And getting another intermediate stop is tricky on the website. It will likely be dark and cold and there may not be much to see in Salzburg by that point anyway.
Thank you!

And if you get stuck in Villach for a bit, that's actually good. We got left there due to a track problem, and really enjoyed walking around in the town. Small, but with many nice shops and several nice churches.

Your son has a year on Ljubljana! Wow. That sounds great.

I'm not sure you can buy a ticket and then late decide to "just get off" and finish the trip on a later train. I think it's possible you have to plan the stopover from the beginning so it is reflected on your ticket. However, I am not certain about this.

Yes, you need to specify a stopover in Salzburg on your return. If you want to do it as an "open" continuation, on the DB site, after specifying the stopover and time, click on "connections" and deselect ICE, and EC/IC trains for the Salzburg-Munich leg. Then the continuation will be by regional train, and you are allowed to take any regional train the rest of the day (they run once per hour). The last one is at 10:58 pm.

If you just get off the train in Salzburg on your own, you will have to buy a new ticket to continue on to Munich, which would be a 32 EUR Bayern Ticket for 2 on the regional train, or 27 EUR for 2 if you leave Salzburg after 6 pm.

Speaking of that, if your flight back is late morning or in the afternoon, you may just want to stay overnight in Salzburg instead of Munich. It takes 2 hours and 22 minutes to get from Salzburg Hbf to Munich airport using the hourly regional train. You'll change trains at Munich Ostbahnhof. Since Dec 31 is a German holiday, you can use the 32 EUR Bayern Ticket for 2 anytime that day. First train is at 5:15 am, and then trains every hour at 15 past the hour.

Concerning the transfer time: The default minimum transfer time in Germany is 5 minutes. There are a few large stations for which a longer transfer time is necessary between some of the tracks (e.g. Berlin Hbf or Munich Hbf), as well as stations for which there are shorter transfer times (2 or 3 minutes). I am sure it's similar in Austria. 7 minutes is certainly enough at a station in a mid-sized town such as Villach (assuming the first train is on time).

Thank you, everyone. This is really helpful.