Salzburg Travel Forum

Myself, my husband, and three teen children will be flying into Munich at 16:30 on July 16 because it was quite a bit cheaper to fly there from Stockholm than to fly directly to Salzburg (our destination). I can find train schedules on the Deutsche Bahn website, but would like to compare the price and schedule of taking a bus. Where could I find that on the Internet? And should I even consider the bus?

We will be returning to Munich that Friday to continue our vacation (by renting a car and visiting a relative in Bavaria). Would it be better to get round trip tickets from Munich to Salzburg & back? Are tickets easy to get on the spot or should I buy them ahead of time online?

Thanks for any advice,
Trish

You can travel with your whole family on one ticket of the regional train, called the Bayern-Ticket. It costs 27 Euro and is valid for groups up to 5 people - so exactly what you need. On weekdays it is valid from 9am, and, as said, you can only use the slower regional trains, not ICE, or IC, and such. The trip to Salzburg on those trains takes about 2 hours.

Ah, and although you cross the border the ticket is valid until Salzburg Hauptbahnhof.

More info on the Bayern-Ticket here:

http://www.bahn.de/regional/view/bayern/bahnregional/freizeit/bayernticket.shtml

I do not know about the services in this region but I am sure you will not get anything cheaper than travel by Bayern-Ticket. The additional plus is that you can already use it for the S-Bahn trip from Munich airport to the main railway station (Hauptbahnhof).

The ticket mentioned above seems ideal.

You don't need to buy tickets ahead of time, except for reservation-only trains. I haven't used Munich station, but I imagine it has the same sort of ticket machines as I have encountered elsewhere in Germany, with touch screens and English option. If you don't want to/can't use these machines the the ticket office staff are very helpful, in my experience.

A last remark: If you are travelling Munich Airport - Salzburg using regional trains only you will not need to get in to Munich Hbf. You can take the S8, get of at München Ost and take the RB or RE to Salzburg there. If you are quick of the plane you might be able to make the 17:22 departure, which gets you to Salzburg at 19:49. If you miss that one there is another departure at 18:02 (arrival in Salzburg at 20:42. You can see these trains for yourself if you go to http://reiseauskunft.bahn.de/bin/query.exe/en and select "only local transport" as means of transportation. The "Bayern Ticket" you can just buy at the airport railway station.

Thanks to all of you for your great advice!!