aya

Hello!

Please help me find the right train from Salzburg to Munich. I will be going home from the Munich airport on June 5 after a week-long vacation in Austria. My last stop in Austria will be Salzburg. To maximize my time there, I want to sleep in Salzburg on the night of June 4 instead of going to Munich. My airplane departs at noon on June 5.

By looking at 'route planner' on www.oebb.at, there is one train leaving Salzburg at 6:11 am to get to 'München Hbf Gl.5-10' at 8:17 am. My first question is, is this the right station to go to Munich Airport? Is 'München Hbf Gl.5-10' same as 'Hauptbahnhof' which is referred to as the main station in Munich in my guidebook (I am gueesing that it is abbreviated as Hbf)?

My guidebook says that there is a subway every 20 minutes from Hauptbahnhof for a 40 minutes ride to the Munich Airport. So I think I will have enough time to check in for my flight. Would you agree?

Thank you very much in advance for your advice!!!

Mary_B

Aya,
I have personally found the Austrian rail website to be difficult to maneuver as it has limited English. You might try the German rail website which is where I purchased our tickets from Munich to Salzburg (I'm sure you can go the opposite direction!).

http://reiseauskunft.bahn.de/bin/query.exe/en

You'll find there are later trains. Hope this helps alittle. Can't give you any info on the Munich airport as I haven't been there. You might do a search here for "Munich Airport" and see what you can find.

Mary

Oh - and yes, Hbf is the abbreviation of 'Hauptbahnhof'

rkkwan

Go to the bahn.de website as Mary_B suggested, but search directly for:

Salzburg Hbf
Müchen Flughafen Terminal

It'll tell you to get off at Müchen Ost (Munich East) station, and switch to the S-bahn S8 to the airport. Save you from backtracking to the Hbf and waste 8 minutes for each leg.

JN

The German railsite, as suggested above, is much easier to use. It shows that you can leave as late as 7:53 am and arrive at the airport by 10:03 or take the 7:18 and arrive at 9:43am. Both have an easy connection at Munich's "Ostbahnhof". If your plane leaves at noon, either should give you plenty of time to get through check in and security.

logos999

Munich Central Station has two "side wings" on is called Starnberg Station (tracks 28 to 36 the other Holzkirchen Station tracks 5 to 10). You guessed it GL. 5-10 means the train will arrive at Holzkirchen Station. It is about 400 meters through the mail hall to get from Holzkirchen Station to the S-Bahn.

However, coming from Salzbung you should not go to Munich central, but to Munich eastern Station (Ostbahnhof) and change trains there . Use the S8 S-Bahn to the Airport. DO NOT use the S1 to go downtown as it will take much longer to get to the airport this way. The Bahn site www.bahn.de has all the information regarding the time table.

bob_brown

I think you need some specifics on schedules and times because you do have a long commute from Salzburg to the airport north and east of Munich.

Here are two schedules that should fit your time frame. Being risk averse, I would take the earlier one and spend my time in the airport in Munich. It is huge and has many stores of different types for shopping.

Also, security for flights to the USA is quite tight. I have flown within Europe from Munich as well as flying come. For US-bound flights, I have gotten a thorough going over -- even a pat search. When we returned home about 9 days after 9/11, it was almost a strip search.

Here are the schedules that will get you there:

Leave Salburg Hbf at 6:15
Arrive München Ost at 7:58 on track (Gleis) 6
Leave München Ost at 8:11 on S-Bahn 8,
direction München Flughafen Terminal from Gleis 5.

OR

Leave Salzurg at 7:18.
Arrive München Ost at 9:02
Leave München Ost at 9:11 on S-Bahn 8, direction München Flughafen Terminal
Arrive at 9:43.
(Same platforms as above.)

There is a similar connection at 7:53 that will get you in at 10:03. But that might be cutting it a little close.
Check with your airline and see what the recommendation is for departure lead time.

Because a limited number of flights are subject to close scrutiny, there is usually security at the boarding gate itself rather than wholesale, one size fits all, as it is in the USA.

I normally allow 2.5 hours and if there is any extra time, I spend it browsing the shops.

Be prepared for a long walk to the departure gate, however, depending on which airline you are flying.

I am hoping that the two tracks you need at München Ost are on the same platform. Usually they are when numbered like that, 5 and 6. But I don't know that station well because I have only ridden through it. At worst, your next train will be one platform over.

German trains, DB and S-bahn, are usually punctual.

When you buy your ticket in Salzburg, you will go to the DB window.
Deutsche Bahn is the line that serves Salzburg from Munich and the whole operation is in German hands.

I presume you can buy your whole ticket in Salzburg, all the way to the airport.
Prices vary with the train type.
The regional trains are cheaper but take longer, but you will need to wait a few minutes for the S-Bahn any way you go about it.

If you look at the German site, you will see the same info I gave you above, plus a little more.

aya

Hello all,

I am just so glad that I posted my question here. It is very gracious of you to provide me with these detail information in less than a day. As you guessed, I cannot read German at all. Thank you very much for looking up the site and check specific time frame. I will try the site again and if I come across something, I'd like to come back here and ask a question again. Thanks to your helping spirit, I already feel like my trip will be a great one!

Intrepid1

When you arrive in the Munich East station there is absolutely no doubt that you <b> will </b> have to change platforms as the S-Bahn trains generally arrive and depart on different ones from the regular trains.

Don't be the least bit put off by that as the station isn't all that large and you'll see the S-Bahn platforms right away. You can get to them by underground walkway.

Make sure you take the S-8 train and going in the right direction. It will be marked as going toward the airport.

Have a great trip.

chtiet

Actually, Intrepid1, a change of platforms is NOT required any longer. For a year and a half now the S-Bahn at Munich East has been operating from tracks 1-5 (as opposed to 1-4 before), so they've added one extra track/platform. S-Bahns going east (3 lines including S8 to the airport), all leave from track 5 now. Regular trains still use track 6, which is on the same platform as track 5 - so if the OP arrives on track 6 it's as easy as walking 5 yards across the platform!!!