MQHL

Travel by train from Salzburg (Austria) to Munich International Airport need to arrive by 8 AM August 31, 2011. Thank you in advance!

P_M

I see you are a first time poster so welcome to our board. If you are staying in Salzburg and you need to be at MUC by 8am then I think it would be best take an evening train from Salzburg the night before your flight and stay at an airport hotel. Most airport hotels have a free shuttle van, but be sure to reserve that when you book. IMO it would be an unnecessary risk to take an early morning train from Salzburg to MUC and possibly miss your flight if the train is delayed. I stayed at the airport Movenpick and it was very nice but I'm sure there are many other airport hotels.

PalenQ

check train schedules for a specific date at www.bahn.de - the German Railways official web site that has schedules for all European trains - you may have trouble making it unless trains leave very very early - you will find I think no direct trains but will have to change trains either at Munich Hauptbahnhof or preferable at Munich-Passing, a stop before the Haputbahnhof, Munich's main station - changing at Munich-Passig to the S-Bahn to the airport would be quicker than going into the Hauptbahnhof (Hbf) as train from there come right out back thru Munchen-Passing en route to the airport - there are however two separate S-Bahn trains running from Munich Hbf to the airport, each taking a separate routing. A good way for novices to access the Wunderbar IMO www.bahn.de site's English schedule page is to go to the home page of www.budgeteuropetravel.com and click on the link "Best Online European Railways Timetable" (or some such wording) and that link takes you right to the English schedule page where you just fill in the boses - From Salzburg Hbf to Munich Airport - change the efault date and time that you want to start searching and voila you will have all the schedules, including where to change, times and even fares. You could nab a discounted online fare but that would be train-specific and non-refundable nor changeable - fine in your case and you could save some dough over just buying full fare in Salzburg.
I give this home page link because it also gives you several usefrul tips on fully using the fantastic IMO bahan.de that may not be apparent to you at first encounter - like which platforms your train will be on, time between changes of trains, etc.
And do not worry about getting on trains as it would be rare that they would be full and anyway in that case you can always hop on as German trains largely do not require seat reservations before boarding so with a full fare ticket you can always hop on - but since the train probably originates in Salzburg Hbf they should be many empty seats when starting out.

easytraveler

Hope you have a ticket or a railpass before you "hop on" to any German train.

Agree with P-M that you need to be in Munchen the night before. Checking the train schedules, the earliest Salzburg-Munchen Flughafen train leaves Salzburg Hauptbahnhof at 4:28am, with a change of trains at Munichen HBF and arrives at the airport at 7:15am. That's not enough time. Anything could go wrong.

PalenQ

changing at Munich Passig (sp?) before Hbf in Munich may get you to the airport earlier but still take the advice above and get to Munich the night before and stay at the airport and leisurely go to your plane - and trains can also be late, etc.

robertino

An alternative to an airport hotel is to stay in Friesing. Nice town and very close (10 minutes) to the airport.

But yes, don't stay in Salzburg that night.

nicksgirl88

We stayed in Friesing before our flight out of Munich last May. The Mercure Munchen Hotel. Very clean and not far from the bus station where there is a bus that takes you directly to the airport.

Cowboy1968

Pal:
Trains from Salzburg to Munich Airport do not call at Munich-Pasing station. Regional trains call at Munich East (connect to S8 for Airport), the aforementioned 4.28am train from Salzburg is a sleeper which terminates at Main Station (connect to either S1 or S8 to Airport).
We don't know if OP already calculated for x hours buffer at the airport, therefore it's hard to say if it should be recommended. I would not recommend it as it is quite inconvenient to get up that early.
Instead of wasting a night in a god-forsaken airport hotel, OP should take any train from Salzburg to Munich the day before departure. And spend one night IN town. Getting from downtown Munich to the airport by 8am is not an issue.

PalenQ

Cowboy I do agree with you - go to Munich at least the city the night before - there can always be problems with trains anyway - trains late due to some snafu - recently in Germany I have noticed many trains being more than a little late.

Yes get to your departure city always the day before is always my strong opinion.

PalenQ

If you go the day before you could use the Bavarian Lander Ticket I think - you could not take the fastest trains but may take IC trains that are about an hour slower but two folks can travel on the Lander Card for 29 or 39 euros all told and you can use the card on any transport in Munich as well for the whole day. I believe it is sold in Salzburg Hbf as that is considered a German station for tarification purposes but not sure. It is a day pass only sold locally in either machines or at ticket windows.

singfree

There is a train from Salzburg leaving at 4:58 and arriving Munich Airport at 7:55 on August 31. Too early to use the Bavaria ticket, though.

S3 Leaves Salzburg for Freilassing at 4:58. Change Trains.

RE 79004 leaves Freilassing at 5:21, to Munich Ost.

S8 leaves Munich Ost at 7:24, arriving Munich airport at 7:55.

I agree with the other posters. Travel to Munich or Freising the evening before and enjoy a few drinks! Also, you can use the Bavaria Ticket for 29 Euros (DB Ticket Machine in Salzburg Hbf). You will need to use regional trains (S,RE, RB), not EC/IC/ICE. The ticket is valid for all methods of travel within Munich as well.

PalenQ

Going the whole day before on the Bavaria Pass raises lots of possibilities - for example use the Bavaria pass to once in munich travel out to Dachau perhaps - and use the S-Bahns and U-Bahns and trams and buses the whole day, perhaps ending up at the airport.