Traveling to Salzburg after landing in Munich

We usually rent a car when traveling throughout Bavaria and Austria. But the train is a good way to travel over to Salzburg.

When we take trains, I usually just buy the tickets just before departure. If I'm in a city the day before we travel, I'll slip into the train station and purchase tickets either from a ticket stand but most often from a vending machine.

The roads are very well paved, and easily driven--if just a little crooked on the back roads. The car allows us to get to off the beaten path villages and we often get up on the mountain sides for the scenery.

You'll love Salzburg. It's one of the more accommodating cities you'll ever find. All the locals seem to think they're tour guides. The town is also very walkable and not that large. We love drinking beer at the Augustiner beer hall and sitting outside in the beer garden in Summer. And we don't even drink beer any longer--except when traveling to such cities.

Is there a way to get a flexible rail ticket in the event that we are ready earlier, or later if the flight is delayed?

Yes, here.

If you choose to take only regional trains (no ICE, IC or EC), you can also book a regional day ticket for Bavaria.

What 11:30 train are you thinking of?

As far as I know, there are no trains from MUC to Salzburg. You would have to take the S-Bahn from the airport to Munich Ost or Hauptbahnhof, and catch the train to Salzburg there. (Hauptbahnhof may be easier to find a seat and place for your luggage, since you board where the train originates).

The BRB train to Salzburg runs every hour from Hbf, and does not require a reservation. You could get a 1-day Bayern-Ticket for 29 Euros (as mentioned above), which would cover the S-Bahn and any BRB train. A Deutschland-Ticket would also cover these trains.

It would be best to allow much more time.

When we flew to Munich from the US our flight was late, then allow a half hour for immigration, etc. Then get tickets for the Sbahn to Hauptbahnhof train station which is a 39 minute ride. Then take the RailJet train to Salzburg.

Realistically you could get a train at 12:30 from Munich Hauptbahnhof to Salzburg. If for some reason you are early you can have lunch at the Hauptbahnhof train station.

Look at the train schedules to see the possibilities. Wishing you well!

I would just stick to regional trains and not have to book anything in advance and use the Bayern Ticket. Now you have no worries about your plane arrival time, or how long to get through immigration. You can buy the ticket out of a vending machine or use the Deutsche Bahn app to buy the ticket after you get your luggage. There is an S-Bahn to Munich Hbf or Munich Ostbahnhof every 10 minutes where you change to a regional train. Regional trains to Salzburg are every hour. Think commuter train, no advance purchase and no seat reservations. Your Bayern Ticket is good on any train that day, from the airport to Salzburg. Cost is 29 EUR for the first person and 10 EUR for each additional person for up to 5 people traveling together.

If I land at 10:15, is it a good plan to take a train out at 11:30?

You should have 2-3 different departures penciled in (to accommodate delays.)

Is there a way to get a flexible rail ticket in the event that we are ready earlier, or later if the flight is delayed?

The Bayern Ticket / Day Ticket for Bavaria previously mentioned is time-flexible for the date purchased. However, it can be used only with REGIONAL trains. At €29, it is the cheapest time-flexible ticket. You can buy it in advance, but it is non-refundable and there is no "booking" - it does not buy you a seat for the trip to Salzburg. Seating on REGIONAL trains is handled like seating on municipal buses... no reservations, first come, first served.

Munich Airport T is the name of the airport train station. To find all the schedules for the REGIONAL trains at DB, you must click on "mode of transport" and select "local traffic only." Each journey that pops up will be have a final train with a "BRB" designation; it and and the connecting train(s) from MUC airport will be covered with the Bayern Ticket.

https://int.bahn.de/en/

The "FLEX" ticket at DB is the time-flexible ticket for journeys which include the long-distance trains. Select "all" under "mode of transpot" to find schedules for and buy one of these €45-€50 tickets. This ticket will put you on a regional train from MUC airport to Munich, then on RJX or EC trains to Salzburg. Use any long-distance train that same day - but the transfer station in Munich must be the one scheduled on your ticket (you must travel the same route as ticketed.) Ticket is refundable. You will find cheaper saver fares (Sparpreis) for these long-distance trains as well, but these tickets are not time-flexible and not refundable.

Seat reservations for long-distance trains are not included in the base price. For an additional fee, long-distance train seats can be reserved. But a seat reservation is train-specific and doesn't transfer automatically if you choose to ride at a different departure time from the one you scheduled at the time of ticket purchase.

The simplest way is to use the Bayern Ticket and the regional trains. The Bayern Ticket is a day pass and does not restrict the route you can take to Salzburg - or the number of journeys you can take that day either. You could break up your trip in Munich if you wanted or needed to do so.

Having had more than an hour delays on all my train travel in Germany, I would highly recommend just taking the RBR-regional train to Salzburg. You can buy a Bayern ticket at the station and then not have to worry about missing a ticketed train.

My wife and I used the trains from Munich to Salzberg this last September and then also back in 2019.
Yes, pretty easy. You'll have to take the S bahn from the airport to Munich Hauptbahnhof. If I recall it was around 1/2 hour to 45 minute ride. I think it was the S8 that we took. You will see the sign posts and arrow everywhere around the airport guiding you to the S bahns...
I'd give your self more time to actually depart the plane and travel to Munich's Hauptbahnhof. It took us about 45 minutes to get through immigration. Not because they were slow or held us up, but because of the amount of people, mainly stood in line all that time. Quick and easy and they were pretty nice agents too.
When you get to the Munich Hauphbahnhof, that's easy too. Train schedule boards throughout the building and take advantage of the TI tourist information center. They were very helpful to us. We got there back in September, and missed our train to Salzberg by 10 minutes, I didn't panic, but went over to the TI and guy was great...'no problem next train from track 27 in one hour'. We noticed the trains did run that route several times so that helps. We got the D ticket and used regional trains...saved some money. You will have fun. It was great for us.

You'll have to take the S bahn from the airport to Munich Hauptbahnhof.

Not so. It is possible to get off at Munich Hbf, but there is a reason that the DB-generated schedules provide for a transfer at München Ost instead. Using the Ost station will provide you with a longer transfer period, which is a GOOD thing, since on-time performance of DB trains these days is quite iffy; your chances of making the scheduled connecting train to Salzburg are REDUCED if you choose to change at the Hbf station, and you will not get to Salzburg any quicker with a change at the Hbf either. And while it's true that the train to Salzburg originates at the Hbf, the short transfer time you will have at Hbf will not allow you to be one of the first to board, so, scratch that advantage you might have for finding extra room for your bags on that train. There is no solid reason that I can see for opting for a transfer at the Hbf.

At least 3/4 of my transatlantic flights have been late, so I never count on a particular train to my initial destination. As mentioned, use the Bayern Ticket and you are fine for any delay

There are four "types" of trains going to Salzburg, the regional BRB, the Austrian Railjet, Westbahn (a private rail company), and a Bahn long distance train (Eurocity, EC, or InterCity Express, ICE). None of these trains leaves from the airport; it is necessary to take an S-Bahn from the airport to either the Hbf (main station) or Ostbahnhof (east train station). All of the trains stop at the Hbf. The Bahn long distance trains are coming from elsewhere in Germany and stop for a few minutes at the Hbf; the others all originate at the Hbf. All but the Railjet stop at Ostbahnhof. You have to go to the Hbf (usually on S1) to catch the Railjet. For the other three, it's faster to take the S8 to Ost and catch the train there, but you can also catch any of the trains at the Hbf.

All of the connections, Railjet, connecting at the Hbf, and the others connecting at Ost, take about the same amount of time, airport to Salzburg Hbf, 2H15 for the EC, 2H18 for the BRB, and 2H27 for the Railjet, so it doesn't really matter, timewise, which connection you take, but the BRB runs hourly, and the others every two hours.

Since the Westbahn is a private company, the Bahn does not sell tickets for it. You'll have to go to their website (or, there might be a Westbahn ticket counter at the airport). Westbahn ticket prices seem to vary a little by date and time of day, but they are around 30€ for Ostbahnhof to Salzburg. Westbahn tickets do not include the S-Bahn; you'll have to buy that ticket (13,60€) separately.

The BRB, using a Bayern-Ticket is 29€ for one person (10€ for each additional person up to 4 additional). The ICE and Railjet tickets (the Railjet is considered an ICE) are about 48€ for each person and could be used on any train Bahn train, the EC or BRB. The EC ticket is about 44€ per person and can also be used on the BRB but not the ICE/RJ. The prices I'm giving for the non-BRB trains are for a fully flexible ticket, valid all day long. I would not recommend a SparPreis ticket for use right after arriving on a trans-Atlantic flight.

The S-8 leaves the airport for Ost at 4, 24, and 44 minutes past the hour. If you are taking the BRB and leave on the :24 S-8, you'll have 11 minutes to catch the train at Ost. That should not be a problem. You go down the stairs from where you get off the S-Bahn and walk about 180 ft. to the third stairway from the one you came down, to platform (Gleis) 8. Nominally, the train stops for only one minute at Ost, but if you are in the line to board the train, the conductor is not going to release it until you are on board. And, depending on when the plane arrives and you get through immigration, you can always take an earlier S-Bahn and have more time at Ost.

Here is the plan for Ostbahnhof. The S-8 from the airport will arrive on platform 1.