Train: Vienna - Salzburg - Munich. Just buy at station???

That is more or less true, unless you want to take advantage of one of the discount fares that are available from German Rail. For instance, while the full fare from Vienna to Munich is €70-75 at the counter, with advance purchase it is possible to get a non-refundable, Europa-Spezial Österreich fare online from DB for as low as €29 pP.

Am I allowed to purchase that even though I'm staying in Salzburg for a few days?

BTW, thanks for the quick response!

"Am I allowed to purchase that even though I'm staying in Salzburg for a few days?"

Not for a few days. Those discount tickets do allow a stopover on the way, but your travel has to be completed by sometime, I believe midnight, the following day. I believe you could come from Vienna to Salzburg one morning, see Salzburg that day, spend the night in Salzburg, and spend most of the next day in Salzburg, then go Munich the next evening (assuming there were included trains to Munich). Check the Banh website.

And, you would have to build in that stopover when you booked the ticket, no changes allowed.

However, you could use that fare (€29 pP) to go from Vienna to Salzburg (Salzburg is considered a German border station, so the fare applies to there), spend any amount of time in Salzburg, then go to Munich using a €28 Bayern-Ticket (for up to 5 people) on regional trains.

Buying regular fares at the station is easy.

When I tried to do the stop overs, the special rate Lee mentioned was allowing a 12 hour max. fyi - not sure if that is just the website, or the rule.

I took the intercity trains along that route a few years ago, and with those cheaper/long tickets you were allowed to make stopovers. I stayed in Salzburg, and one night in Prien am Chimsee at no extra charge.

I don't remember the ticket names, but one of the genius's on here probably knows it. :) They're pretty good! :)

PS if more than two passengers driving might be cheaper - no drop off fees with Hertz to Salzburg..

For travel completely within Germany, the Dauer-Spezial fares seem to have a little tighter Gültigkeitsdaurer than for the Europa-Spezial fares. That is, travel on a Dauer-Spezial fare has to be completed by 10 AM the following morning. I queried the Bahn website for various stopover times, and it seemed like the only important thing was not the stopover time, but that the travel had to be completed by the end of the second day. But nevertheless, try various combinations on the German Rail website.

And, as for car rental, I have spent 14 weeks (7 trips) in Germany in the since 2000, and I have analyzed transportation options for almost every trip. A rental car is usually 2-3 times more expensive than rail travel.

I agree with Lee. Car rentals are about 2-3 times more expensive. If you have four people traveling, it might be a good idea. Since you are going city to city, however, the ease of getting to the city center and not worrying about parking needs to be factored in.

I usually buy tickets at the station the day before. Sometimes I'll even get them 48 hours in advance. I'm so far from having an itinerary that allows me to pick the train months (or even weeks) in advance, I can't take advantage of the better specials. I travel shoulder season and have never had a problem getting a seat on a train. I can't speak for high season, my only high season visits were for business and then I go first class with reserved seats (that someone else books).

With a car for four people you also have to factor in luggage space for four people. It wouldn't be much fun riding for half a day with your suitcase in your lap (I know someone who actually had to do that) because all of the luggage wouldn't fit into the trunk. A car large enough for four people and their luggage will cost a lot more than the little putt-putts that everyone likes to quote.