train purchases

Thank you so much!!!! How much time do you need in Herrenchiemsee? We only have a day in Salzburg. Advice?

If you are trying to do Munich to Salzburg and back in one day, you can do the entire round trip with one Bayern-Ticket. I don't think you would have time for Herrenchiemsee. As I remember, I spent at lest 4 hours, from the time I got off the train until I got back on the train. As a side note, the first regional train connection to Salzburg you can use with just a Bayern-Ticket leaves Rosenheimer Platz at 9:42 and gets to Salzburg Hbf at 11:42. If you want to get to Salzburg an hour earlier, buy a 3 zone single trip ticket from Rosenheimer Platz to Grafing Bahnhof for €7,50/p. Then you can leave Rosenheimer Platz anytime up until 8:48 and catch the RE from Ostbahnhof at 8:56, getting to Salzburg Hbf at 10:42. The single trip ticket takes you to Grafing Bahnhof at 9:11; the Bayern-Ticket is valid from there.

There would be no advantage to purchasing tickets here ahead of time if you use a profit-added reseller like RailEurope. However, you can probably get advance purchase discount tickets from the German Rail (Bahn) website or from Austrian Rail (www.oebb.at) for significantly less than at the counter over there. The least expensive way to get from Munich to Salzburg is using regional trains and a Bayern-Ticket (€29 for 2-5 people). Regional trains take about ½ hr more than the fastest express trains.

I was just looking at the website for the cheaper tickets. It will be three of us. We would pay 29 euros and with that ticket the three of us could travel to Salzburg. It also looks like if they are good for the metro. Are they good all day? Could they be purchased at the Munich airport?

"We would pay 29 euros and with that ticket the three of us could travel to Salzburg." Yes. Actually you can use it for unlimited travel all over Bavaria, all day, after 9 AM on workdays. You could stop at Prien on the way and see Herrenchiemsee. The Bayern-Ticket is valid for unlimited use of all conveyances in Munich (after 9 AM). And it's valid for travel on the line from Freilassing, Germany, into the Hbf in Salzburg, but not for travel within Salzburg. The Bayern-Ticket is good from the time of purchase until 3 AM the following morning. You can purchase the Bayern-Ticket at the airport. There is an automat on the platform between the two S-Bahn tracks. There is also a ticket counter in the MAC, above the S-Bahn station, but purchasing the Bayern-Ticket with personal assistance costs €2 extra.

We will need to take the metro to our hotel the day before. Do you happen to know how much is the metro fare from the airport to the Hilton City Center. I understand there is a station under the hotel. I am not familiar with the place you mentioned would be a nice stop. You mean on the way from Munich to Salzburg?

Herrenchiemsee is Ludwig's "copy" of Versailles. It's on an island in Chiemsee. You get off in Prien (there are lockers there), walk to the lake or take the steam streetcar, then take a boat to the island. There's a kiosk just down the embankment from the station where they sell combination tickets for the streetcar and the boat. Prien is between Munich and Salzburg, about an hour from München Ost (Munich East) Bahnhof by regional train. You can get a Partner (2-5pp) Gesamtnetz (entire network) Tageskarte (day ticket) at the airport for €20. A one-way ticket to your hotel is €10/person, so the day ticket is a no-brainer. It would be valid for all conveyances in Munich for the entire day, including to your hotel and to anywhere after you check in. I would not describe the station (Rosenheimer Platz) as "underneath" the Hilton. It's under the street, but it looks like there is an exit directly into the hotel. If you don't find that exit take any exit to the street, and I'm sure you will see the Hilton. When you come in from the airport, take the S-8 (Gleis 1, the LH track as you enter the station using the stairs) and go to Rosenheimer Platz Bahnhof (it's the next station after the train goes underground at München Ost). After you check in, go back to the station and take the next S-Bahn in the same direction you came in on, two stops to Marienplatz and start you visit to Munich there.

Actually we are stopping by Salzburg on our way to Vienna. I guess I will have to buy the individual tickets in order to leave early. We will probably try to take a train for Vienna around 19:00. I checked the Austrian site you gave me and I think they do have an advanced purchase ticket. I just need to sit with my husband and daughter and figure out the best times. Thanks again!!!

Regarding the Hilton City Center, stayed here in Dec. 2010. There are painted signs with arrows in the garage that is part of this complex. The signs lead you to an elevator which you take to the Hilton lobby. The Hilton is above the subway station and directly next door to the Cultural Center. Breakfast and dinner are both excellent but pricy; whether you are staying on points or euros, try for a breakfast included package.

From Munich to Vienna, there are Europa-Spezial fares available online from the German Rail (Bahn) website. For the date I checked (May 24) these tickets were €29/p by RailJet. The Bahn also allows you to build in a stopover using the "Via" option. You could take the 9:27 RailJet from Munich to Salzburg (10:56), spend 8 hours in Salzburg, then take the 19:01 RailJet to Vienna. The advance purchase fare would still be €29/p. The ticket would be train specific. You would have to use the 19:01 train (or whatever one you specified when booking) - not a later or earlier one. There is no 9 AM limit with Europa-Spezial tickets.

Thank you!!!! I guess you can use your credit card.

"I guess you can use your credit card." ? Not sure for where you are asking about the credit card. You CAN use a credit (or debit) card for online Bahn purchases. I don't know of any other way we could do it. In Germany they can use direct account debit, but we can't. It might be a good idea to inform your bank in advance that you will be using your credit card for Europe. (I used my card to purchase online tickets from the Bahn in 2009 and didn't tell the bank and it wasn't a problem, but some people say it can be.)