Hello. My husband and I are traveling to Germany, Prague, Vienna and Munich in late September and will not be renting a car. Most of our travel will be via rail. Is it necessary to book the rail in advance and if so, how far in advance should we book? We know the days we want to travel but not necessarily the time. Thank you in advance for your recommendations!
Posted by
Green Bay
21192 posts
You can save a bit of money by buying the Berlin to Prague tickets now. For late September, you can get nonrefundable train-specific tickets now for 39.80 EUR for 2, whereas the walk-up fare is 140.80 EUR. So there is 100 EUR savings right there.
Prague to Vienna tickets, bought in the Czech Republic are very reasonable bought close to departure date if you use the new Regiojet train service. So you can maintain flexibility for that trip. Tickets are 38 EUR for 2.
Same applies to Vienna to Munich. You can get a direct Austrian Railjet for as low as 59.80 EUR for 2 now with nonrefundable train specific tickets, they are 198.40 EUR walk-up. But if you wish to maintain flexibility, you can take the hourly Westbahn train to Salzburg for 53.80 EUR for 2, then change to the Meridian train to Munich with a Bayern Ticket that costs 31 EUR for 2. Bonus is that the Bayern Ticket will also give you free public transportation in Munich for the rest of the day. Westbahn Tickets can be bought on the train.
Note, if you buy advance tickets for the Berlin-Prague and Vienna-Munich legs from Deutsche Bahn, by nonrefundable, you can get a refund up till the day before by paying a 19 EUR fee.
Posted by
Bavaria
2481 posts
Please note: if you take the Westbahn train as suggested by Sam book your connecting Bayern Ticket (which covers you from Salzburg to Munich) in advance (internet, DB app); transfer time in Salzburg is mostly too short to get it out of a vending machine. You cannot board the Meridian train without a ticket and if you do things will go nasty.
Posted by
OP
20 posts
That was very helpful! Thank you so much!!