We will be going to Christmas markets, staying in Munich and taking 4 or 5 day trips ranging from 36 min to 2 hours one way for 2 people--all within Germany. I always have trouble researching train travel, but think what I want is something called a twin pass available through DB which I can buy at major German train stations rather than through Rail Europe by internet or mail. I checked prices for a 5 days within a month,non consecutive twin pass and think I can get such a pass for $544 compared to the $704 individual journeys would cost me (not to mention the convenience of just hopping on and getting off when we decide rather than having to stand in line and purchase tickets for specific trains.) Am I right about this generally and specifically what do I call this pass? Is it the German Rail Pass? and can I for sure purchase it at the Munich bahnhof? Or must it too be purchased on line or mailed to my home in the US?

It would help to know exactly which cities you plan to visit. But for doable day trips out of Munich, a GRP, which will cost you more that $100 per outing, is not nearly as wise as just buying a day pass on each day you head out. Read about the Bavaria Ticket below. You can buy it at a ticket machine in Munich. It's €31/day for two, and it will cover not only the train trip but also any buses, trams and other transportation within Munich and within the cities you choose to visit. The GRP does not cover these things:

Munich Tourist Information

Don't do that. The Bavaria ticket is the best deal. We are going for Christmas this year also but only staying in Munich for a couple of nights and then heading to Garmisch. We buy on the day of travel and it is never that much money.

Bayern ticket!

https://www.bahn.com/en/view/offers/...-tickets.shtml

As others have said, use the Bavaria Ticket for most trips.

Sometimes the Werdenfels Ticket is valid, and it's a few euro cheaper than the Bavaria Ticket, and there are no time restrictions. However, it is only valid in a narrow corridor ranging north-south between the Munich airport and Mittenwald (and with an extension, to Innsbruck).

https://bahnland-bayern.de/de/ticket...ket-werdenfels

Have fun as you plan!

s

Thanks to all of you for the good advice. I"m off to determine how many/if any of our day trips would be on IC or ICE trains and may be back if it looks like the Bavaria pass would not handle a lot of our plans. So stay with me, please.

Only when we went to Nurnburg for the day did I wish we had the ICE train. It was stop and go the whole way.

If your destination is within Bavaria, you can choose to use the Bayern Ticket on regional trains to get there. Salzburg is OK too. At the DB site, be sure to select "only local transport" to get regional train connections and exclude IC and ICE trains!

Map of Bavarian train lines:
Streckennetz_Bayern_2012.pdf

DB itinerary search page:
https://reiseauskunft.bahn.de//bin/query.exe/en

How much per day is the pass p.p. (German Twin Pass for two) and then go to www.bahn.de/en - German Railways site and see what discounted tickets may cost -then compare with pass - great sources of info on passes - www.ricksteves.com and BETS-European Rail Experts (they give expert advice IMO even if not buying) - some German Passes may be available in Germany but other lengths may not.

Where are you tentatively thinking of going on trains -efficacy of German Pass depends on that and the pass is even good in parts of Austria near Bavaria.

Thanks everyone for the good advice. Our tentative plans include day trips from Munich to Augsburg, Nuremberg, Ulm, Garmisch and possibly Wurzburg. I'm also starting to look at day tickets which if I understand correctly would give me both regional and ICE trains between places on a single day at any time for 52 euros per day for two which sounds like a good deal compared even to the Bayern pass for our needs. I'm sort of afraid I suffer from train scheduling block. I just find all of this kind of overwhelming. So many options. Thanks to you all for helping me through my malady.

Monday-Friday: from 9 am to 3 am on the following day

Saturdays, Sundays and on public holidays throughout Germany: from midnight until 3 am on the following day>

Above from DB web site.ICE trains valid?

Does not seem to cover ICE trains?

All regional trains (RB, IRE, RE) and rapid transit trains (S-Bahn) operated by DB and other cooperating railway undertakings

That would be a good deal but you have misunderstood. Only REGIONAL trains (RE, RB, IRE, etc... no IC or ICE) are possible on the €52 Day Ticket For Germany or "Quer durchs Land" Ticket.
https://www.bahn.com/en/view/offers/...al/index.shtml

With the Bayern Ticket day pass you can travel to...

ULM (2 hours by direct RE train)
NUREMBERG (1:50 by RE train)
GARMISCH - P. (1:20 by RB train - No IC or ICE possible.)
AUGSBURG (0:45 by direct RB or RE train)
WUERZBURG (3:15 by RE train)

The above towns have no monopoly on Christmas markets. Have you considered visiting the towns of Regensburg, Landshut, and/or Ingolstadt? All are accessible by train on the Bayern Ticket and not too far. Perhaps they have Christmas markets that would appeal to you. They for sure are nice places to visit. Regensburg is a UNESCO World Heritage town.

Old town of Regensburg with Stadtamhof - UNESCO World Heritage Centre

The value of time depends on individual situations. Only you can decide the impact due to the restrictions on the type of trains and the travel time on your objectives. You will have to go through side by side comparison between different approaches and look at what you can do with each approach and decide if the price premium is acceptable to you. There is also a serendipity angle. On some trips in Germany when I was using a German Pass, I ended up unexpected time upsides. I was able to add a detour enabled only by using ICE trains at no additional cost. I was also able to come up with an alternate IC route out of Nürnberg when the train I was planning to take got delayed almost an hour due to weather.
DB often offers discount on German passes early fall for late fall trips.