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Trains in Germany (Actually Munich-Salzburg-Prague-Berlin)

Heading to Germany for two weeks next month and will be training it. Trying to figure out if we should get some sort of pass, or just buy individual tickets. We will need tickets for the following:

  1. Munich to Salzburg and back (a day trip)
  2. Munich to Prague
  3. Prague to Berlin. (Also, thinking about stopping in Dresden for a few hours on the way to Berlin. Sounds like it's doable. Any thoughts?)
  4. I suppose we could also use local train service in Munich, Berlin and Prague.

Any thoughts or recommendations are welcome. Thanks!

Posted by
32523 posts
  1. no. If want to you can even go a little slower and go really really cheap.
  2. no.
  3. not if you haven't yet.
  4. do you mean the S-Bahns in Munich and Berlin. The u-bahn certainly won't be covered, and the s-bahns are way way cheaper than a pass day.
Posted by
8378 posts

bgl, what advantage do you think a pass would give you? Cost, flexibility or eliminating ticket buying?

Posted by
19052 posts

Munich to Salzburg day trip - can be done with a Bayern-Ticket for 27€ for two. No train commitment.

Munich to Prague - with advance purchase of tickets, you can take the direct Bahn IC bus in 4½ hours. Best fare is 58€ (29€/pers). Have to commit to a specific bus. Also possible to do by train for less than 40€ for two in 6 hours and no train commitment. Use any of three or four direct trains per day. Buy a Bayern-Böhmen ticket, 30,50€ for two from an automat in Munich. That ticket will take you from Munich to Pilsen, where you can purchase a Czech Rail ticket for about 3,60€/person.

Prague to Berlin - there is an EC every two hours from Prague to Berlin. If you can commit to a specific train, Savings Fares of 39€/person are possible. Using the stopover function on the Bahn Query page, you can specify a stopover in Dresden in two hour increments, but you must take the scheduled train from Dresden to Berlin.

Total price for these tickets is less than $200 (~150€), for 2nd class, which I have never found to be a problem. You are only talking about 3 days of travel, but the least expensive Eurail pass is for 5 days in 1st class (@ $710). That's an awful lot to pay for convenience and flexibility.