Salzburg to Munich

You can indeed wake up in Salzburg and manage to get to Munich for your flight later that morning. I've done it! But leave plenty of time (5.5 hours) to be safe, or else you could have the kind of white knuckle affair we experienced. We'd thought 5 hours was plenty of time, but were sooooo mistaken. Thanks to traffic tie ups (1+ hours of standstill) and rain (and thus not able to travel at maximum allowable speed). We made it to our flight, but only barely. PS If you have a car, check out Zum Guten Hirten restaurant, near the train tracks. A friend (US-based Austrian) recommended it to us, and it was great!

While it is possible, you leave yourself with a very thin margin for error in being so far from the airport for even a late morning flight. I would suggest that you cut one day off your time in Salzburg, or a day elsewhere, and spend the final night in Freising, a few kilometers from the Munich Airport. It is an old, historic town with a really nice old town that caters to locals instead of tourists. It also has its hilltop castle, although this one is an abbey. And it has what is claimed to be the world's oldest brewery. Freising is a good place to relax on the last day and not feel so rushed the next morning.

Yes, it certainly should be possible to get to the Munich airport from Salzburg to make your flight. The regional train from Salzburg to Munich takes about 90 minutes. If the train stops at Munich's East Station (Ostbahnhof) then you can change to the S-8 urban rail to the airport. If you purchace the Bayernkarte for the Salzburg-Munich leg, it is also valid on Munich's S-Bahn to the airport. If the train goes directly to the Munich Main station (Haubtbahnhof), you can still take the S-8 to the airport - it will just take a few minutes longer. It takes about 48 minutes to get to the airport from the main station. Check the Austrian railroad web site for schedule of trains to Munich - but they are almost hourly.

Use the German Rail website for this route. You want to look at only regional trains from Salzburg to Munich, not express trains. Sometimes express trains will mask the regional trains because the websites are programmed to show you the fastest routes. On the German Rail site you can specify "only local transport" to get all trains for which the Bayern-Ticket (that's the official name) is valid. At what time do you want to arrive at the airport? I wouldn't recommend any later than 9:40. On the Bahn query page you can specify an arrival time. Sept 24 might be a little problematic. It's a saturday and apparently trains don't run quite as often (every two hours) early saturday mornings. I see a connection leaving Salzburg at 4:58 (groan), getting to the airport at 7:55. The next connection leaves Salzburg at 6:50 and gets to the airport at 9:55, which gives you a little less (1h45m) than 2 hrs. It's tight but if you know where you are going at the airport, and don't have check luggage, you can probably make it. You might have to bite the bullet and pay a little more (maybe) for an express train to Munich Ost. There is an IC leaving Salzburg at 6:39, connecting at Munich Ost, and the S-Bahn gets to the airport at 9:55. Full fare is €33; the non-refundable, advance purchase Sparpreis fare is as low as €19. I wouldn't worry about the non-refundable fare. If you miss the train, you probably miss the flight. Losing €19 would be the least of your worries.

Thanks everyone for their suggestions. I was afraid that it would be a "white knuckle" experience, and that's what I wanted to avoid. I like the Freising suggestion, as thats a place I wanted to visit eventually. It looks like this is the safer bet.
With a more limited amount of time in Salzburg, any must do's in 48 hours?

I stayed in Freising the last night of my 2009 trip. It's a 20 min ride from the bus stop in front of the Bahnhof to the airport. The bus drops you off right outside the covered area that connect terminals 1 & 2. At the time the bus fare was €2,30. A place to stay in Freising that has been recommended here is Hotel zur Gred.

Jason,
The is a shuttle coach service (a minivan, much like SUPERSHUTTLE here in theUS) that picks you up from surrounding hotels or Sallzburg train station and takes you directly to Munich airport. My friend who lives near Salzburg uses all the time. If you can't find the name through a google search let me know and I'll get the name. You tell them what time your flight is and they tell you the pick up time. I believe it's cheaper than the train.

Hmmmmmm, Must Do's in Salzburg... Augustiner Bräustübl!!! Here's a link the the monastery's biergarten; click on the bottom two choices (The Brewery and Bräustübl Tavern) for information.

@Lisa, I would really like to see the URL for that "Supershuttle". I found two Salzburg-MUC buses, the Lufthansa bus and SMS. Both charge €49 one way. Using a Bayern-Ticket, one person from Salzburg to MUC would be €21. Full regional fare is €29,70.

@Lee
I put a message into email for my friend and but I know she's traveling now. I think the advantage for her might be that they pick her up at her house and take her to the airport, not the train station.

@Lee My husband just told me it is SMS. don't know the prices, just passing on what I was told. Didn't mean to mis-inform.

@Lee
I put a message into email for my friend and but I know she's traveling now. I think the advantage for her might be that they pick her up at her house and take her to the airport, not the train station.

It looks like the SMS does pick you up at home. If she has a distance to the Salzburg Hbf and doesn't want to leave her car at the station (might cost more than she saves with the train), it might pay.

My must do's are all walkable from downtown: The churches, gardens, cemetary, castle, walking paths and bridges make for an enjoyable couple of days. In the evening walk to the Augustiner brewery for beer and a basic dinner. When crossing one of the walking bridges (assuming you're coming from downtown) look back at the lit cityscape; IMO one of the most beautiful views in the world.

Check out the Salzburg card for touring the city. I believe it cost us 34 Euros per person for 2 days (activates when first used), available at the TI offices. 1 and 3 day passes also available. Includes entries, transportation. I kept track...we each got over 100 Euros worth, including a fantastic cable car ride (20 E alone per person), brewery visit (with 3 beers!) and lots more. A great value for us.

Thanks again everyone for the help. It sounds like Salzburg is a walkable town and Augustiner is on the short list of things to do. Denny, thanks for the tip on the Salzburg card. I usually am skeptical about those cards, but it sounds like a good value.
This weekend I will make my final travel plans and am excited about the trip!