Next Year's Oktoberfest: how crowded are trains from Salzburg to Munich?

I've ridden trains through Munich many times during Oktoberfest and never found them unusually crowded. If you get on the Meridian train as soon as they post it on the train board at Salzburg Hbf, usually about 10 or 15 minutes before scheduled departure, you should be able to grab seats. If you are really worried, pay up for the Railjet and buy seat reservations.

Nobody can say what shape the world, and Austria and Germany in particular, will be in 11 months from now.

At the moment the fallout from regime change in Iraq and Afghanistan, and attempted regime change in Syria, has created a great movement of people into Europe.

The border between Salzburg and Munich has been shut for some time, with various inspections of traveling people, and more importantly for your plans, the trains between the two cities have been cancelled. People going to Munich have to find alternate travel to a town on the German side of the border, Freilassing, and board the trains there.

Will this be the situation in 11 months? Dunno. I wouldn't have thought so, but I never expected many of the things I have seen in the past couple of months.

I have no way of predicting the future, certainly not so far out.

Nigel: I was really looking for comments on past history of the commute, but understand your comment.

Sam: thank you. I'll look into Meridian and RailJet options. I don't believe Meridian was in the picture last time we trained to Salzburg.

How crowded will the trains be between Salzburg to Munich Hauptbahhnof on the last Thursday of Oktoberfest?

Not any more crowded than normal if you are starting in Salzburg. You might find the train fills up as you get closer to Munich but chances are it won't be crazy packed. Driving will likely be slower just because the A8 is notoriously bad for traffic.

Your best bet for tickets is to just use a 2-person Bayern Ticket for 28€. This can be used on all regional trains (not Railjet) from Salzburg to Munich (including the Meridian Line trains) plus it is good for the local transport network in Munich once you arrive. There is a slightly cheaper Meridian GutenTag day ticket for 26€ but it is only good on Meridian and BOB trains.

If I was in your shoes I'd take the train and use a Bayern Ticket.

DJ

Hi Scott- If you decide to keep the car, it was a lot quicker (this year) to drive from Salzburg to Freilassing on Austria 155, changing to B20 just before Freilassing. Then take B304 to Trannstein and then B306 toward Siegsdorf where you can join A8. 2 lane road with very little traffic and only 15 -20 minutes to get thru the Austria to Germany border crossing. Drop the car at the Munich airport (I assume your company will pay the cross country drop fee) and ride the SBahn from the airport to Munich proper.

Have a great trip...

Hi Scott, as Nigel replied, no one knows what the situation will be 11 months from now but, my wife and I just returned from Germany and did the return trip from Salzburg to Munich. The borders are closed and options are limited. Bus or taxi to Freilassing and catch a train to Munich or Charter bus from Salzburg to Munich which is the option we chose because there was a 2 hr layover at the time we were leaving. The bus is an inexpensive and comfortable option although, we were stopped at the border as police boarded to check passports which caused a 30-40 min delay . You would have to book ahead of time online as they have no ticket office in Salzburg. Hope this helps.

GM