from Munich to Berchtesgaden and back

There is SO much to do and see in the Berchtesgaden area (and neighboring Salzburg and Hallstadt lake district) that I suggest you rent a car if you can. For two people a VW Polo sized car is sufficient. They now come with very fuel efficient FSI-engines. If you book from the Jetta-size ask for a car with Diesel engines as Diesel gets better milage than regular gas. Also always and only fill up your car in Austria as they don't charge an eco tax on fuel. Price per gallon of diesel in Germany today: $8.84 - Price per gallon of diesel in Austria today: $7.85.

"It is cheaper to drive ".

Not true. At todays fuel rates you will spend almost as much for gas as the train would cost. Where are you going to get a car rental for $16/day?

For 2 (up to 5 people, actually), you can travel all the way for €27 with a Bayern-Ticket (S-Bahn to town, train to Berchtesgaden, bus to Obersalzberg are all included). If you get both day's Bayern-Tickets at the same time, the second day's will cover the bus back to Berchtesgaden, the train to Munich, and any other transportation that day in Munich. The buses in Berchtesgaden are pretty good, but with your short stay, it looks like going up to Kehlstein in the morning, having lunch there, then back down and seeing the Dokumentation Center will take all day, so you won't be needing a car there, either.

You won't need to spend time picking up and returning a car, and no one has to watch the road instead of the scenery.

When I looked up the train from Munich to Berchestgaden on RailEurope it was going to be 112E each round trip to take the train. We have 5 people. The car was going to be 190E for 2 days (not including gas)for all of us. I guess I didn't realize the Bayern-ticket for 27E would go to Berchestgaden. Can I buy that ticket ahead of time and where do I buy it? Where do I find a schedule? We were planning on using that ticket to go to the castles from Munich. I would rather take the train. Would that ticket (if we bought for 2 days) take us to Salzburg the next morning before we leave for our Eagle's nest tour? (I already booked a tour.) Then that evening we would use it to return to Munich?

I can't emphasize this enough!

Don't use RailEurope as a guide to rail schedules and prices in Europe.

RailEurope, which is owned primarily by French Rail, sells point-point ticket at a markup over full fare European prices (for convenience?). The only trains for which they show schedules are usually the fastest, direct, most expensive trains, i.e. ICEs. There are less expensive trains and less expensive fares available. Use the German Rail query page for schedules and some fares.

The Bayern-Ticket is described here.

The reason I suggested you buy both Bayern-Tickets at the same time is that the first covered transportation on the second day is the RVO bus from Obersalzberg, and I am not sure they sell the Bayern-Ticket on the bus, so you should buy it before going to Obersalzberg.

The bus to Salzburg is the Watzmann Express, and it leaves the Berchtesgaden Hbf hourly. Since the route goes through Austria, the Bayern-Ticket may not cover it (or it may only cover it to the border). A round trip on the bus uses an RVO Tageskarte for €8,50, but I don't know what a one-way ticket costs (particularly if you only have to pay from the last stop in Germany to Salzburg). The Bayern-Ticket is valid from Salzburg Hbf to Munich.

The Bayern-Ticket would cover you to Salzburg if you go from the Berchtesgaden Hbf by train via Freilassing to Salzburg, but, unless you wanted a quick glimse of Salzburg, at Freilassing you go the opposite direction to Munich.

They sell an unlimited number of Bayern-Tickets so buying it in advance is not necessary. You can, however, buy it in advance from the Bahn's online ticket shop (www.bahn.de) but the ticket shop site is only in German. I bought one at a ticket automat at the airport last October. Seems to me the automat was on the station platform. You can probably buy one at a counter in the "central area" above the station, but it will cost €2 more for personal service. It's easy to use the machines. Go to www.geocities.com/reise_deutschland for a description of German Rail ticket automats (also Munich metro = MVV) and how to use them.

The German Rail website will give you bus schedules in Berchtesgaden, but you might have to "deselect" the trains at "more" after "Means of transport:". You also have to know the name of the bus stop.

You can also get the bus schedules in pdf format here. 838 is the bus to Obersalzberg (Dok center); 840 is the Watzmann Express to Salzburg.