Bus #840 from Salzburg to Berchtesgaden

Sorry Mary, the Bayern-Ticket is not valid for the Watzmann Express, RVO 840, because it travels outside of Germany. (I'll double check this; it used to be true).

The German Rail Pass does not cover buses in Germany (except possibly the Bahn IC buses to Prag, Zürich, etc, then with a supplement).

I don't think I would use a day of a German Rail Pass for the trip from Salzburg to Berchtesgaden.

However, the RVO Tagesticket (9,50€/adult) does cover the RT from Salzburg to Berchtesgaden on RVO 840 as well as most buses in Berchtesgaden (except the special bus up to Kehlsteinhaus).

The last bus of the day from Berchtesgaden leaves before 6 PM. If you want to go back later, use the Bayern-Ticket for the train via Freilassing. It also covers the same buses in Berchtesgaden and the train runs until 10 or 11 at night.

I used the Bayern Ticket on bus 840 just fine...in fact all 17 of us did and no problem whatsoever.

After an extensive search, I can't find anything that specifically says that the Bayern-Ticket is valid for the Watzmann Express, RVO 840, except between Berchtesgaden ZOB and the German border. The rules for the Bayern-Ticket do say that is cannot be used for sections outside Germany. Seems he could charge you extra for the part from Salzburg Hbf to the German border, which is most of the way to Berchtesgaden. He might have just been cutting you a break.

However, according to the Bahn website, the Bayern-Ticket is valid for a trip starting and ending in Bavaria, eg, from Freilassing to Berchtesgaden via Salzburg Hbf. If you had used the Bayern-Ticket on the train from Freilassing to Salzburg, then got on the Watzmann Express at Salzburg Hbf, he would have no way knowing you had started in Freilassing. Similarly, if you started in Salzburg, the bus driver would have no way of knowing (except possibly the Bayern-Ticket shows where it was sold) that you hadn't started in Freilassing.

Nevertheless, if you are a group of less than 4 people, the RVO TagesTicket would cost less (28,50€ for 3) than the Bayern-Ticket (31€ for 3).

Don't add a travel day to your German pass for that purpose. The train ticket (longer, with connection) costs 9.70 euros each way, and regular bus tickets should not cost any more than that (if you need to buy one as an alternative to the day-ticket options described above).

Thanks everyone. The reason I want to use the rail-pass is I got the Spring promotion 10-day pass at 20% discount which is equivalent to the price of the 7-day pass, that's what I need. Finally, I changed my travel plan and want to stay near the airport on the very last night instead of Wurzburg. So I have this extra day that I want to use. So, it looks like I cannot use it on the #840 bus then.

But you can use it for Salzburg Hbf to Berchtesgaden via Freilassing by train. That route will take about 40 min longer, due mostly to a half hour stopover in Freilassing. But if you want to stay in Berchtesgaden after about 6 PM, you'll have to take the train back, anyway.

Actually, a Bayern Ticket is good through Salzburg. If you can speak German, the following link clearly says that a trip on Bus 840 is valid with a Bayern Ticket. http://www.bayern-fahrplan.de/auskunft/fahrplanauskunft

I can read German, and I do not see what you claim on the web page to which you link. Maybe it's stated elsewhere. Would you mind quoting it verbatim and, if it is from another webpage , providing the URL of the page with actual statement?

As I've said, I find the information rather ambiguous and would like to clarify it. The Bahn website shows that the Bayern-Ticket can be used from Freilassing to Berchtesgaden by rail and bus through Salzburg Hbf, but not just from Salzburg to Berchtesgaden on bus 840. But how do they determine that you did not start in Germany (Freilassing)?

Following your link, I do see a statement that says the Bayern-Ticket is not necessarily the least expensive ticket for that route. That might be because it is only valid on the part of the route (Salzburg Hbf to Berchtesgaden Hbf) that is inside Germany.

Following links on that page I find the statement for the validity area, "Ausgenommen sind ... Strecken ins Ausland. (Excepted are ... stretches outside the country). Most of the route from Salzburg Hbf to Berchtesgaden is outside German, ie, "Ins Ausland", so maybe the Bayern-Ticket covers the part inside Germany but you must pay additional for the part in Austria. Furthermore, the map referenced by that page, does not show Salzburg to Berchtesgaden as a route on which the Bayern-Ticket is accepted.

DB sells the Bayern Ticket. THIS DB PAGE in German spells out exactly where the Bayern Ticket is valid. Specific "overspill" routes outside Bavaria in Thüringen, Baden-Württemberg, and Austria are named. If a route is not listed on this page, the Bayern ticket is not valid there. All acceptable routes are named, including the type of equipment you can use (under "Verkehrsmittel.")

The Laufen - Freilassing - Salzburg train route IS named.
The train route from Kiefersfelden to Kufstein is named.
There is no Berchtesgaden-Salzburg route named.
There is no mention at all of any bus route passing through any part of Austria.

This RVO-bus page indicates on p. 25 that any bus trip across the border into the SVV (Salzburg transit zone) requires a separate and valid ticket for travel in that zone.

I have never read anything indicating that passage through Austria on RVO bus 840 is covered by the Bayern ticket, whether traveling from Salzburg to Berchtesgaden, from Freilassing to Salzburg to Berchtesgaden, or from Berchtesgaden to Salzburg or via Salzburg to Freilassing. If such text exists, I would like to have a link for my future reference.

Personal anecdotes aside, the only conclusion I can draw is that passage on RVO Bus 840 within Austria is officially excluded from coverage by the Bayern Ticket. A ride on this bus is no more valid with a Bayern Ticket than a Paris - Frankfurt train ride would be, as far as I can tell.

When this thread started in April, the original question was about using a German Rail pass on the RVO 840 bus from Salzburg Hbf to Berchtesgaden Hbf. Tim somehow changed the question to one of using a Bayern-Ticket for the bus.

I knew that at one time the Bayern-Ticket could not be used for the part of RVO 840 outside Germany. After Tim's claim, I did some checking to make sure things hadn't changed. As part of that checking, I put in Freilassing to Berchtesgaden on the Bahn website, and it showed using the Bayern-Ticket for a route via Salzburg Hbf and bus 840, but when I changed it to just the Hbf to Berchtesgaden, the Bayern-Ticket was not shown. That must have been a mistake that the Bahn subsequently corrected, because it no longer shows. At the time I wondered how they would know you hadn't come in to Salzburg on the train from Freilassing.

However, bus 840 can be used from Salzburg to Berchtesgaden with an advance purchase Savings Fare ticket that includes travel from Germany to Salzburg with an express train (EC, etc).

Um...Tim didn't change the thread. It was the post before mine that started with the Bayern ticket if you'll look again.

You're right, Tim. You didn't change the subject to the Bayern-Ticket, it was someone named Mary, whose post had already been deleted.