Salzburg to Dachau

If you are willing to purchase in advance (up to 92 days) you can get a non-refundable, train specific SparPreis ticket for the trip by RailJet and S-Bahn to the Dachau Bahnhof for 38 euro. That option will take you 2 hours and 3 minutes.

On the other hand, you can purchase a Bayern-Ticket for 28 euro (10 euro less, no specific train commitment) just before train time and go from Salzburg to Dachau Bahnhof in 2 hours 25 minutes (22 minutes longer). That option is not train specific.

You still have to take a bus from Dachau Bahnhof to the Memorial.

Thank you Lee!

What day of the week is this? The Bayern-Ticket can be used all day on weekends, but only after 9 AM on workdays.

If you want to leave earlier, there is an EC leaving Salzburg Hbf at 8:00. If you book a non-refundable SparPreis ticket it will cost 38€ for two people, one way. You'll arrive at the Munich Hbf at 9:31 and have 10 minutes to get down to the S-Bahn station and take the Petershausen S2 to the Dachau Bahnhof, arr at 10:11. From there you catch the bus to the KZ Memorial. The bus is not included on the ticket. It will be 2,70€/P. If you buy a Bayern-Ticket either in Salzburg or at the Dachau station (28€ for 2) it will cover the round trip bus plus the return to Salzburg by regional (Meridian) train.

It is on a Friday, I think the Bayern ticket might be the better option for us, even though it is an hour later, because we will be able to use the same ticket to get from Munich to Fussen that afternoon, is that correct?

That is correct.

Note, the Bayern-Ticket is only valid for travel after 9 AM, but that doesn't mean you can't start your travel earlier.

If you buy a Bayern-Ticket AND a ticket for two to Bernau a Chiemsee, at 12,30€/adult, you can leave Salzburg on the 8:15 Meridian train (it gets to Bernau a Chiemsee at 9:01, then the Bayern-Ticket is valid). The Bayern-Ticket will cover you for the rest of the day. You don't change trains in Bernau, just tickets. The 8:15 gets to the Hbf at 10:06 on track 11, which gives you plenty of time to catch to 10:29 RB on track 21. That train gets to Dachau Bahnhof at 10:40. Walk directly out to the bus stops in front of the station and catch bus 726 to the Memorial at 10:45. The bus stop for the Memorial is well marked. The trip takes only 7 minutes.

By the way, depending on when you leave the Memorial, you don't have to go all the way back to the Hbf to catch the train to Füssen. If you take the S2 back toward the Hbf, get off at Munich-Laim, take the S4 to Munich-Pasing, and catch the next regional train (they run hourly) to Füssen at Pasing.

There are lockers at the Dachau Bahnhof, but I don't know how many. They might be full, so if you don't want to risk taking your luggage with you, store it in a locker at the Hbf. Then, of course, you'll have to come all of the way back to the Hbf to retrieve it. Trains leave the Hbf hourly for Füssen.

If you spend any time at the Memorial, I don't think you will have time to get to Füssen for a tour of Neuschwanstein that afternoon, if that's what you were intending.

Thank you for all that info- so so helpful! We will probably get that other ticket and get started earlier.

We are staying in Fussen overnight and then touring the castles the next day. What is the best way to tour the castles by bike?

Also, since you are such a wizard with trains, what is the best way train option to get from Fussen (leaving in the afternoon- 2ish on Sunday) to St Goar (we will be spending the night and then doing Burg Elz and Rheinfels the next day).

What is the best way to tour the castles by bike?

I'm not sure where you might rent bikes, if that's what you mean, but it's a steep climb up to Neuschwanstein, and I don't know if there are bike racks up there. It's a short walk up a stepped path to Hohenschwangau, so I wouldn't think of taking a bike up there. You can go around on the road, but that would be kind of circuitousness. Again, I don't know if there are racks to leave your bikes.