Train travel from Munich to Vienna to Salzburg to Munich

richard,

You might have a look at the www.bahn.de website to plan each of your rail journeys. Are you travelling to Vienna immediately after arriving in Munich?

The trip from Munich Hbf to Vienna (Westbahnhof) is 4H:23M by fast train (Railjet). There are other trains on that route with "changes".

I just recently did what you plan to do. From each location, trains leave at least once an hour. I agree with the previous poster who stated that you should look at the German rail website to determine the times/types of trains/longevity for each. For these legs, since I was traveling with luggage, I logged in online and printed tickets off my computer so that I didn't have to waste time at the train station in line getting tickets. I also paid a little extra for reservations so that I didn't have to hunt for seats while lugging our bags.

You will have to factor in that once you land in Munich, it takes approximately 40 minutes from the airport to the train station via S-Bahn, not to mention the additional time if you have to collect baggage and the time to go through passport control in Munich Airport.

It is approximately 4 hours from Munich to Vienna, between 2-3 hours from Vienna to Salzburg, and the train I took from Salzburg to Munich took approximately 1 1/2 hours. Also, FYI, the Salzburg train station is undergoing major renovations.

Footnote to my previous post: The Bayern-Ticket is only good on regional trains so be sure you don't pick a faster train for which the ticket would be invalid.

If your plane arrives at the right time, you can take a direct RailJet from Munich hbf to Vienna. Depart at 09:27 and arrive at 13:40. Or depart at 11:27 and arrive at 15:40. If you book your tickets now on the German Rail site for Muenchen flughafen-Wien, you can get a Europa-Spezial Oesterreich fare of €29 that includes the S-Bahn from the airport to Munich hbf. Those tickets are non-exchangeable and non-refundable so be sure you allow plenty of connection time in case your plane arrives late.

So far as I know, there are no advance purchase discount tickets for Vienna-Salzburg. The 2nd class fare is €47.50.

If you can depart after 09:00 on December 8, your best deal for Salzburg-Munich is two Bayern-Tickets. The first five people in your group can all travel on one ticket for a total of €28. The sixth person will need to buy a single Bayern-Ticket for €20. Buy the tickets from a German Rail ticket machine at the Salzburg station. No advance purchase necessary. The tickets also will cover all your U-Bahn or bus rides within Munich after you arrive.

Is there anyway you could do this in reverse order - Munich to Salzburg to Vienna to Munich. Reason: I'm not very comfortable with using a train specific Europa-Spezial ticket on the day you arrive in Munich. Flights can be late (I once saw a USAir flight from Philly that was 10 hours late to Munich). It would be better to use a Bayern-Ticket to Salzburg whenever you arrive and the discounted ticket from Vienna back to Munich, later, when you know you can make the train.

As for Vienna to Salzburg, as far as I know, Tim is correct, there are no advance purchase tickets for trips entirely within Austria, only to/from other countries (Sparschiene). However, if you are willing to spend about another hour, you can get an advance purchase German Rail Europa-Spezial ticket from Vienna to Traunstein for as little as €29 PP, then use Bayern-Tickets for Traunstein to Salzburg (or just get off in Salzburg when the RJ goes through the first time, with your luggage, to look around, and miss the reboarding). If you wanted to use entirely regional trains between Salzburg and Vienna, it would take a lot longer, but you could use two Einfach-Raus-Tickets at €28 each.

Incidently, what is the relationship between the group of six people. If it consist of 2 parents and their children under 15, then everyone would be covered with one Bayern-Ticket. Not likely but worth asking. And, if any of them are children, under 15, of anyone on the Europa-Spezial ticket, they would be free if listed on the ticket.