Traveling by train from Munich to Salzburg

Pat, The trip from Munich to Salzburg is VERY easy, about 1H:45M direct. The HBf (main station) in Munich is centrally located in the city. If you have any questions, stop at the EurAide office in the Munich station and their English-speaking staff will be able to help. The station in Salzburg is a bit of a walk from the main part of the city. You can either walk or take a Taxi. I'm sure Lee will have some good suggestions on the best tickets to buy. He's just returned from that area, so has the most up-to-date information. As this is your first trip to Europe, I would highly recommend reading Europe Through The Back Door prior to your trip. It provides a LOT of great information on "how" to travel in Europe. The country-specific Guidebooks have lots of information on sightseeing in both cities. You should be able to find the books at your local Library or larger book stores. Although they're a bit "dated", you may also enjoy watching these short videos: Rail Skills Munich Salzburg Happy travels!

As easy as it gets. I've trained that way a couple of times. As I recall, virtually every (or at least a bunch of them) train heading east out of the Hauptbahnhoff stops in Salzburg. The guides Ken refers to should help you learn how to read the schedule, that's probably the hardest adjustment to make if you haven't used the system before - everything else is easy. The station in Salzburg isn't quite as convenient as the one in Munich, but still very walkable. One nice thing is Salzburg is considered the last German stop, even though it's in Austria, so you don't need to supplement a German pass to get there. You don't say the size of your group? My first choice is to buy a Bavaria day pass or Weekend day pass that covers the whole group for under 30 euro on a regional train, no reservations or advance purchase needed. If you know your date and time exactly, you can also purchase ahead and get cheap individual tickets on the faster trains.

Your least expensive ticket option is the Bayern-Ticket. It's an all day, on/off pass for regional trains in Bavaria. It's valid from midnight (morning) on weekends and holidays, 9 AM workdays, until 3 AM the next morning. The cost from a ticket automat is €22 for the first person, €4 for each additional person up to 5 people, total. If you buy it from a ticket counter (or, I would assume, Euraide), it's €2 more for personal service. The Bayern-Ticket also includes the use of any means of transport in the MVV (Munich metro). Regional trains start at the Hauptbahnhof, but stop at Ostbahnhof (east station) on the way. Although Salzburg is outside Bavaria, it is just outside, and it is considered a "border" station. The Bayern-Ticket is valid on the main line from Freilassing into Salzburg but not for local transport in Salzburg. They've been renovation the station for the last year. Right now the main hall is finished an you can walk through it to the tracks. All services (ticket counter, lockers) are in a temporary building in the plaza in front of the station. There are also express trains (German Rail IC/EC and Austrian Rail RJ) that make the trip from Munich to Salzburg faster, by about ½ hour. You cannot use a Bayern-Ticket for these trains. Full fare would be about €120-€140 for two people, round trip, but with advance purchase (at least 3 days up to 92 days) online from the Bahn you can get train-specific, non-refundable fares as low as €19 for the first person, €10/ea for the next 4 people. Fares are tiered. When the least expensive tier sells out, the fares for each person goes up €5 to €10, so it pays to book early.

They've done a great job of laying out your choices - I'd personally use (and have used several times) a Bayern-Ticket. They're easy to buy at the kiosk after you arrive at the station; don't feel pressured to hurry, just take your time and they're easy to figure out. You can't buy them in advance, so you can buy them immediately before your trip. This allows you to be more flexible with your itinerary. From the station, you can either take a bus to your destination, or there is a taxi stand; any place you're going in Salzburg won't be very expensive. Good to hear the station renovations are coming along...! It was a little crazy in Sept '11.

Wow - when we were in Salzburg in Sept, 2010, the train stn was being reno'd then - what a loooong project!