trains from Munich

Munich airport has a station on the S-Bahn (high-frequency commuter railway). Just get an S-Bahn train from the airport to München Hauptbahnhof (the main station in the city centre).
See here for details: http://www.munich-airport.com/en/consumer/anab/bahn/index.jsp

For train times and prices with Germany (and to Salzburg), check the German Railways website: www.bahn.de

Hi,

Going from Munich airport (MUC) to Munich central station (Munich Hbf) take the S-Bahn #8, a direct shot to Munich Hbf. Where are you staying? I stay in the train station area, accessible by the underground passage to the Pension...very convenient, a few mins walk.

Without a non-refundable, advance purchase ticket, the least expensive way to get from the Munich airport to Salzburg is using a Bayern-Ticket (23€ for 1 person) and regional trains. All regional trains to Salzburg stop at Munich Ost (east) Bahnhof. The fastest way to get to Salzburg with regional trains (2h17m) is to take an S8 from the airport to Ost and catch one of the regional express trains (RE) from there to Salzburg.

You could also take an S-Bahn to the Hbf and catch an express train. Using an advance purchase SparPreis ticket your fare could be as low as 19€. With today's schedules, that option would actually take longer than the RE/Ost option.

You can find your choices in English on the German Rail (DB) website. Enter "Flughafen Muenchen" as the departure point and "Salzburg Hbf" as the destination. Enter the date and time you want to depart the airport. Uncheck the box marked "Prefer Fast Connections."

When you leave the Munich airline terminal you will walk through the covered plaza and go down an escalator (marked by the round, green sign with a white 'S') to the S-Bahn station. There you have the choice of taking S-1, which goes counter-clockwise around the north and west sides of town to the main train station (Hauptbahnhof); or S-8, which circles clockwise around the east side of town to the station. Both depart at around 20-minute intervals, and both take about the same 40 minutes to get to the train station.

BUT ... you can save a few minutes by taking S-8 and getting off a few stations earlier, at Ostbahnhof (announced in English on the P.A. as "Munich East"). You can connect to a Salzburg train at Ostbahnhof. The DB website will show you for each train whether to make the connection at Ostbahnhof or Hauptbahnhof, and how long the connection time will be.

If you begin your journey from the airport after 9 AM on weekdays, or any time on weekends or holidays, a "Bayernticket" will take you all the way from the Munich Airport to Salzburg. It's only 23 Euro for the first adult, and 5 Euro for up to four accompanying adults; children/grandchildren under 15 free.

Have a great trip.

If you arrive at Munich Terminal 2, you do go across the covered plaza and and down an escalator to the S-Bahn station. The S8 leaves from platform (Gleis) 2, on your left as you enter the station that way. It's final destination will probably be shown as Herrsching or Weßling, while the final destination of the S1 will be shown as Ostbahnhof. That's deceiving, because S1 goes the long way around, finally stopping (end of the line) at Ostbahnhof, while S8 goes the short way to Ostbahnhof, then through town to it's final destination. Take the S8.

The S8 arrives in Ost on a platform near the station building (1 or 2, I think). The train to Salzburg will leave from track 8. Use the connecting tunnel to get to track 8. Make sure you get on the correct train. The express trains, RailJet (RJ) and EuroCity (EC) also use that platform. Don't get on one of those with a Bayern-Ticket; Look for the RE.

There is a difference between getting there the fastest (travel time) and getting there soonest. Express and regional trains run every hour while the S8 runs every 20 minutes. The fastest connection (2H17M) is to take the S8 that gets you to Ostbahnhof just in time to catch the RE to Salzburg. If you take an earlier S8, you would have to wait longer at Ostbahnhof, and there might be an express train leaving before the RE gets to Ost. That would get your there sooner, but the overall trip would still be longer than catching the last S8 to the RE.

By the way, I would not suggest taking one of the express trains with a SparPreis ticket, as those tickets are only exchangeable with a fee that's almost as much as the Bayern-Ticket costs, and a transatlantic flight can be late, so you would miss the specified train and have to exchange the ticket.

Wow, thanks to everyone for their response, a great deal of info and I feel more confident. This appears to be getting easier. Thanks to Rick Steves for providing this forum!!!