Confused on booking train travel within Germany!

there is a DB site that is tn English - bahn.com

Thanks, @stan - It's not that it's not in the English language, it's just confusing since we don't know the area or what to expect.

With dates someone might help you. A random check of Boppard > Zell am See is a 8 to 10 hour trip with not less than 3 changes. Sounds pretty miserable. Look for a bus or s car.

The DB Navigator shows a convenient connection with a transfer in Frankfurt and then another one in St. Johann just before your final destination, departing at 9:16 a.m. Please be prepared that the first train from Boppard to Frankfurt will be very crowded, and don’t hesitate to ask to sit in the seat next to someone who has put it's bag on it . Unfortunately, people’s behavior on the train (and not just there) leaves more and more to be desired.

We definitely need at least 30 minutes transfer time to keep it from being stressful, esp in places like Frankfurt.

You don’t need 30 minutes to change trains.

That schedule gives you 1+ hrs in both Frankfurt and Munich. Should be plenty of time, just kind of miserably long and a bad hour to arrive.

Other schedules... 9:16 - 20:22 with the same transfer parameters gives you 1:20 minutes in Frankfurt and 0:38 minutes in Salzburg. I like that one better - and it has only two transfers to make instead of three.

For such a long trip, my strategy is usually NOT to spend a full sighsteeing day traveling. Have you thought about breaking up the trip with an overnight stop, possibly in Munich or Salzburg? Then you might have time to do something for half a day on each day, at least.

You don’t need 30 minutes to change trains.

You dont "need" to do anything on holiday except what makes you comfortable and brings you enjoyment. If 30 minutes does that for you, then that's okay.

The itinerary mentioned by Fritz has 1 hour and 20 minutes at Frankfurt Hbf, but only 13 minutes at St Johann im Pongau. However it is on the same platform, so you just get off and wait for the connecting train. If you miss it due to a late arriving train, the next train to Zell am See is 32 minutes later.

Boppard > Zell am See is a 8 to 10 hour trip with not less than 3
changes. Sounds pretty miserable. Look for a bus or s car

A bus will be an order of magnitude more miserable than the train.

I tink part of the confusion stems from the fact that trains are not "once a day" here like in the US, but "once an hour" or better sometimes. So you search between two places, and get tons of options. So what do you take?

I usually pick the fastest one that has me leave after breakfast and arrive before dinner.

So I would book the 9:44 that gets me to Zell am See in 8:30, with 4 changes. Given that trains run at least hourly, if not better, along the route I would not worry to much about missed connections. If you miss a connection due to a delay you take the next train.

We returned yesterday from two weeks in Germany using the DB app daily. The little bit I can share -

• If you select the "Flexpreis" option (a little more expensive) you can change your itinerary on the fly. Sometimes the trains were late, and other options would get us headed in the same direction w/o booking another ticket. The little extra you will spend helps with peace of mind.

• ALWAYS check before you purchase the ticket that the correct number of tickets are selected. Some days it would remember we had registered two people, other days we had to start over.

• Do your best to not travel on the weekend. The trains were super packed. On one 4.5 hour journey, we had to stand for 3 hours across 5 changes.

It can be confusing, but DB will send updates through the app when changes are being made (timing, platform location, etc.)

You will be okay! Train travel is all part of the adventure. Enjoy your trip.

If you select the "Flexpreis" option (a little more expensive) you can
change your itinerary on the fly. Sometimes

A good thing to be aware of: If you buy a Sparpreis ticket it becomes a Flexpreis ticket the moment one of the following things happens:
- Before travel: There is a change in the schedule. Even one minute is sufficient. Congratulations. You know have a Flexpreis ticket at a discount...
- During travel: As soon as it is clear that you will be more than 20 minutes later then expected at your destination your ticket becomes flexible and you can change on the fly.

Never pay for a new ticket if you miss a connection due to a train delay. Never. And that not just in Germany. This is the rule in all of Europe.