jjmo

I need to travel from Ljubljana to Munich in a few weeks and only see itineraries with 3-4 stops or overnight trains. Any suggestions? I would like to travel mid-day. Also would consider stopping in Salzburg for one night if that makes it easier. Thanks so much - this forum has been invaluable for trip planning!

adrienne

They are not stops, they are changes where you get off the train and onto a different train. Stopping over night in Salzburg is not going to be helpful since it's only another hour and 40 minutes to Munich.

There is a night train with no changes at 23:54, arriving at 9:19. The one before this departs at 21:10, arrives at Innsbruck at 6:36 and then Munich at 9:00.

Suggestions? Fly.

Man_in_seat_61

Normally, there are two good (and scenic) daily trains from Ljubljana to Munich, two direct, one with 1 quick change at Villach.

You don't give a date, vital to answer questions like this this correctly, as you may be looking at a temporary timetable as I happen to know that there's some engineering work on the Villach-Salzburg section in Austria on odd dates in April and possibly May.

www.bahn.de/en will show what the service is on your dates.

jjmo

Thank you. Our travel date is April 30th.

PalenQ

Forget trains - direct buses roll three times most days, including Apr 30 to Ljubljana and take only about 5 hours - 3 or 4 hours quicker than the trains Man in Seat 61 talks about

fares can be booked on www.bahn.de/en - German Railway web site for 19 euros - discounted fare currently available to 85.40 - full fare for either trains or buses (trains can also only cost 19 euros on discounted basis - discounted tickets are often sold out as the train dates approach and are non-changeable non-refundable I believe.

Again the direct bus is the way to go until train times are speeded up - same price but 3 or so hours faster and direct.

There is also an overnight train and bus on this route - both direct. Save day time travel time and the cost of a hotel - the bus however gets to Ljubljana at about 4:30 am - the train rolls into at a more reasonable hour.

For lots of great stuff on European trains, including overnight trains, check out not only Man in Seat 61 who posts above his superb commercial site www.seat61.com; www.budgeteuropetravel.com and www.ricksteves.com. If you want full fare for flexibility to change trains and chose which train (or bus in this case) you can always IME buy those tickets once in Munich.

jjmo

We need to be in Munich the evening of May 1st for a morning flight home on May 2nd. The plan was to spend 2 nights in Munich to include a day trip to Salzburg (we will have already been in Munich at the beginning of the trip). It appears that we could get a bus directly from Ljubljana to Munich. Or should we consider a different train route with a stop in another city such as Graz or Bolzano?

PalenQ

I'd op for the extra time in Munich itself, especially if you want to do a day trip to Salzburg, which to me is one of the most gorgeous cities in Europe - a Baroque wonder, music and architecture-wise!