Munich to salzburg by train and then salzburg to vienna by train

It depends on you and how you feel about carrying your luggage. Keep in mind that there will not be any luggage trolleys at the train stations, and you will be responsible for carrying them onto the trains (sometimes having to lift them up a bit over the steps to get in). Once you're on board, there will be plenty of places to store your luggage.

Luckily, if you plan your train trips right, you should not have any transfers along the way, which will help considerably. So yes, it's doable but again, I would ensure that the 2 adults are able to carry/move the 3 large suitcases and other travel items and bags, while ensuring that the kids stay with them. If it were me, I would pack as light as possible and try to reduce your luggage to 2 carry-ons and some personal bags.

People routinely travel with lots of / too much stuff. Whether it is doable for you depends on your load, your abilities, and your strategies. I would make sure to have wheels for the big suitcases.

DB advice:

https://www.bahn.com/en/trains/luggage

I would check the Austrian site for advice there as well:
www.oebb.at

Best advice for train travel with luggage relates to packing strategies. From our travel guru:
https://www.ricksteves.com/travel-tips/packing-light/packing-smart

Additional advice: https://www.seat61.com/luggage-on-european-trains.htm

Also remember that you will have but a couple of minutes to get off the train so be near the door when you are close to your arrival station. I would ask myself how easily I could manage to get all those bags and my kids off the train pronto and not hinder others getting on or off the train. We pack as light as possible because we are older and need to be nimble in these situations. The last time we got off the train in Vienna someone was blocking our path and we almost got stuck on the train and unintentionally on our way to Bratislava.

Be sure you are quick getting up the steps into the train and down the steps getting off the train. There will be no one to help you. You must handle your own luggage.
There will be people behind you getting on and off. The train waits for no one. You do not want a bunch of upset locals and tourists behind you.
I suggest you have a strategy planned as to who’s carrying what, how quickly you can board and stow your luggage then retrieve your luggage and exit the train.

I did your trip in the opposite direction last month with a 20# rolling carry-on, a 7# tote and a 6# backpack without problems. I reserved first class seats for each trip, mainly because I wanted less people in the car and a quieter space. FYI I’m a 72 y/o woman and in fairly good shape. I know my weight limits for carrying and lifting so try very hard to pack no more than I can easily handle.

I hope those are bags with wheels

Note that you cannot just assume that there will be Uber available everywhere. And mostly Uber just functions as a taxi hailing app, so just have your hotel order you a normal Taxi. Do not encourage Uber.

Once you're on board, there will be plenty of places to store your luggage.

Not necessarilly. I've been on sold out trains where there was no space in the luggage area for big bags and they were put in the area between the cars.

These are such highly and frequently traveled routes with multiple trains per hour, sold out trains are not a thing here.

Not necessarilly. I've been on sold out trains where there was no space in the luggage area for big bags and they were put in the area between the cars.

I traveled extensively through Germany via trains for a month and the only train that was packed full was the Hamburg to Copenhagen train. I doubt that the Munich to Salzburg and Salzburg to Vienna trains will be sold out. As Emily said there are plenty of trains traveling those routes, and sold out trains are a rarity.

I would try to keep the number of large suitcases down to two: one per adult. Otherwise, if you cannot carry all your luggage from train to platform (and vice versa) in one go, short stops (such as the one in Salzburg) become stressful.

I can see ample options of trains, only thing i want to know is that is this doable with 3 large suitcases

You have to organize the luggage transport from the cab to the train yourself; unfortunately there are no carriers or trolleys. I would not worry about the space on the train. Take the regional train to Salzburg and be at the platform 15 minutes before departure. Go to the very head of the train, there is the greatest chance of space, because many people are too lazy and get on right at the tail. From Salzburg to Vienna you could take a Westbahn train (westbahn.at), which is not always the cheapest option, but the trains are often less busy than the ÖBB RJX in 2nd class.

Munich to Salzburg

I think your best bet here is one of the hourly regional (BRB RE5) trains. These train originate in Munich Hbf and end in Salzburg Hbf, so there is plenty of time to board (assuming you get there well before departure time) and to get your luggage off on arrival. Leave from the Munich Hbf; these trains only stop for a minute at Munich Ost.

With one of these regional trains, as long as it is after 9 AM workdays, you can use a 36€, two adult Bayern-Ticket. Both children will be free, but I think you need to name the free 8 year old on the Bayern-Ticket.

Next best (albeit more expensive) is the RailJet (RJX). It originates in the Munich Hbf and stays for 9 minutes at the Salzburg Hbf, which should be enough time to get all of your luggage off.

I wouldn't use an EC, which originate farther west in Germany and don't have much time in Munich to board. I also would not use a WestBahn train, which is only scheduled to stop for one minute in Salzburg.

Salzburg to Vienna

This gets a bit more complicated depending on whether you want to go to the Vienna Hbf or the Vienna West Bahnhof.

The West Bahn goes to the West Bahnhof while the RJs go to the Wien (Vienna) Hbf. There is a streetcar between them. With the luggage you have, taking the streetcar between stations might be cumbersome. Best advice, if you are staying near the West Bahnhof, use West Bahn. If you are staying near the Hbf, use an RJ.

Some of the West Bahn originate in Salzburg and end in West Bahnhof, so you would have plenty of time to board and get off. However, other West Bahn originate in Munich and only give you a minute in Salzburg to board.

As for the RJs, there is too many variations to try to cover here. A few RJ originate in Salzburg and end in Wien Hbf. Those ones would be good to take. Others start in Salzburg (good) but go on to Budapest with only a few minutes to get off with your luggage in Vienna (not so good). Some RJXs start in Munich and only stop in Salzburg for 9 minutes. Some of those end in Wien Hbf while others only stop there for a few minutes and go on to the airport.

You just have to look at each connection and decide if it give you enough time to board and get off.

farooq_zaheer , you've had a lot of good advice here.

Are you still here?

I've been taking the trains between Munich and Salzburg for over twenty years. Recently, the train on that route has always been one of the modern double-deck REs, which load at platform level. They make it much easier to get your luggage on board quickly versus the single level coaches with stairs.

I think getting on and off trains will be easiest if one of the suitcases is a convertible backpack. That way the person carrying it has their hands free to handle the third suitcase. I doubt that an 8 yo is going to be able to handle a rollaboard (carry it up and down stairs, etc.).

sold out trains are not a thing here

I've spent a total of about five month riding trains in Germany in this century. I think I can remember only three times that a train was "sold out" (standing room only).

The first time was Dec 26, 2001, "second day of Christmas", a busy holiday in Germany. We were going from FRA Fernbahnhof to Karlsruhe on an ICE. Few seats were reserved, but every seat was occupied. Had we expected this, we could have made reservations at FRA and had seats. As it was, we stood for a half hour until the train got to Mannheim, where a lot of people got up to get out, and we took seats.

The last time I remember was on a side aisle ALEX train from Hof to Freising on Pfingsten Monday, 2012, another busy holiday. I got on in Hof, when there were relatively few passengers on board and got a seat. By the time we got to Regensburg, the train was packed, with people standing in the aisle.

Note: both of these times were on busy travel days. The other time was on a regional train for commuters coming out of Hannover going to Bad Harzburg at evening rush hour on a week day in November. They literally had to force the doors closed because of all the people standing on the train. It was standing room only for a while as people got to their towns and got off. I found a recently vacated seat before we got too far out of Hannover.

Thanks a lot each and everyone of you for taking out time, providing so many finer details and replying promptly, this helps a lot.

We are trying hard to reduce the luggage, but we have a long trip and after vienna we take a flight to amsterdam to stay for 12 more days there with family who lives there. We will also drive to paris for a few days with them. Thankfully a friend of mine from the Netherlands was visiting pakistan and i was able send the family gifts (which were destined for amsterdam for the family there) via him, so that is almost half the big suitcase now gone! Perhaps we can now get down to 2 suitcases (although my wife tells me to still prepare for the worst 😀)

I am clear now that storage on the trains is not an issue, just need to keep in mind how to best manage. All of the suitcases are in great condition with wheels (i can handle 2 suitcases, my wife 1, while the 8 yo will push the 3 yo in the stroller in the train station).

Thanks again guys, after writing here I just had the aha moment of exploring the option of sending the gifts via the friend and it worked!

Regards
Farooq

I have also shortlisted a private chauffeur drive option, its costly (800 euros). But i guess i can somehow manage in trains