Verona Italy to Salzburg

You won't usually find online tickets on the bahn website from a town outside Germany to another town outside Germany. You can try the Austrian Rail website, www.oebb.at, since Salzburg is in Austria. Another thing to try, Freilassing is right across the river from Salzburg, in Germany, only a €2,10 fare to Salzburg. You will find Bahn tickets from Verona to Freilassing, even discounted Europe-Spezial tickets. " Other than Eurorail, are there any other sites that sell this ticket?" There is no such thing as "Eurorail" and Eurail is a cooperative venture of all of the European Rail lines to package and market rail passes. They don't sell tickets. You must be thinking of RailEurope, which is a travel agency that resells rail tickets at a markup. RailEurope also has a poor selektion, only tickets for trains they want to sell. Online you can get considerable discounts on tickets with advance purchase. At a station in Italy you will pay full price.

The name of this site is "Travelers helpline" but I sometimes see no help. Certainly not for Sally, who asked about a Verona-Salzburg train ride. Where are the experts? It's quite possible to buy such a ticket, and indeed lower fares are available in advance. It took me 2 minutes to find a Verona-Munich train, and a Munich-Salzburg connection. All for 70 Euros! Sally, look at Bahn.de again. It offers a Verona-Munich 10.59 a.m. departure, arriving at 16.25, for 49 euros, plus a Munich-Salzburg departure at 17.52, arriving at 19.42. for 21 euros.

Thank you for these suggestions. Unfortunately, I have tried Tren Italia (Verona to Innsbruck and Verona to Salzburg), Bahn (Verona to Innsbruck) which is the same train that ultimately goes to Munich (I could not see backtracking) and the Austrian rail site (same combinations). Each site offers very reasonably priced tickets and when I get to the final screen (after entering my credit card information), somehow, the offer is no longer available...VERY FRUSTRATED at this point. The on line prices are a huge savings so I would really hate to wait. Has anyone had success purchasing country to country train tickets, or am I wasting my time?

I did the same route last September, except got off at Innsbruck. While I can't comment on buying in advance, I can tell you how to do it while there. I was told we could not buy the ticket in Italy, because it is a German train. We were instructed to just get on the train in Verona, sit anywhere, and buy the fare from the conductors when they came around (about 20 minutes into the journey). It worked just fine that way.

Guy, if you had not been so quick to criticize me for not actually giving advice, and had read the advice I gave about Verona to Salzburg, you would have found that one can get that same €49 fare to Freilassing, leaving on the same 10:59 train, changing to a regional train in Rosenheim (no backtracking), and proceeding to Salzburg via Freilassing. You can get the entire Europa-Spezial fare from Verona to Freilassing from the Bahn for €49 plus the €2,10 for the last little bit into Salzburg. That connection saves €19 and gets you into Salzburg at 17:42, two hours earlier than going through Munich. If you get the Freilassing to Salzburg ticket online from the Bahn, or during your 45 min change in Rosenheim, you won't even have to get off the train in Freilassing, just change tickets as you go through. I found the same €49 fare on Austrian Rail (more advice you ignored), same EC leaving Verona, a change in Innsbruck to an Austrian Rail IC (ÖIC) which goes non-stop through Germany, getting to Salzburg at 17:07.

Sally, I see the problem you are having and I understand your frustration. Trenitalia only shows routes with several changes between Verona and Innsbruck, not the direct train. OEBB, as far as I can tell, will not sell tickets online for journeys originating outside Austria. And Bahn.de, which is the most user-friendly of the 3, will only sell you a ticket if your journey includes Germany. So your best option, if you really want the ticket in advance, is to follow Lee's excellent advice and buy the ticket to Freilassing from Bahn.de.

Sally, I know of people who purchased "country-country" (eg, Amsterdam-Bacharach) tickets online from the Bahn, but, as so often happens, they only posted here long enough to get their questions answered. Unless they are still reading the site and reply, I have no way of contacting them. I can tell you that I have purchased Sparpreis tickets online (between two German stations) and it took my credit card OK. Since you say this problem occurred AFTER you entered your card number, I'm not about to repeat the process that far and buy tickets I don't need. Are you sure it's not a problem with your card. Did you notify your bank that you would be making a CC purchase in Germany.

I had no trouble buying "country to country" tickets (Zurich to Stuttgart RT) on bahn.de. This was a ticket travelig into Germany from a point outside, and the purchase was simple. As stated above, you should notify your bank or credit card provider before making any foreign purchase so they don't block the transaction.

Thank you all for your help, especially Lee and Lola. I was able to purchase Verona to Rosenheim for only 45 Euros (1st class) and then to Salzburg for 9 Euros. This is a really great deal which is why I did not want to wait until arrival in Europe. Bahn.com is certainly the easiest to use. Thanks fellow travelers!