Getting from Munich to Salzburg by train...
 

...should we reserve our train tickets in advance? To put it in US terms, I can't figure out if the train is more like an Acela -- where reservations are needed -- or more like NJTransit, where you can always walk on.

Also, what's the best website for train tix, www.bahn.de or www.raileurope.com? I find RailEurope's site a little easier to navigate.

How many of you are there? If you don't mind waiting until after 9am you can use the Bayern Pass which lets up to 5 people travel anywhere in Bavaria, including Salzburg) for a day for 27 euros, a couple of euros more if you get it at the window rather than the machine. You can find the best information at Bahn.de. If you want to go before that just go to the window and get your tickets at the train station.

...but keep in mind that the famous Bayern Ticket is valid on local trains only, not on the fast ICE and IC trains you may want to use.

There is no need to buy train tickets in advance, trains never sell out. You buy a ticket, hop on and look for a seat. (Sorry, I cannot compare with US terms.)
Seat reservations are a different story, but on such a short trip you don't actually need them.
Buy the tickets in Munich at the train station. That's easier than any website.

This June we caught a Regional Express train FROM Salzburg TO Munich. It was packed, perhaps because you can use a Bayern-Ticket. We were at the station a bit early and had no trouble with seats.

Regards, Gary

There are van services that do this trip very cheaply as well....we took a van from Salzburg to the Munich airport for 39E each...about the same price as train tickets plus taxi from train to airport....door to door service :)

Anne

The van option as proposed has the advantage of convenience but is much more expensive than the €27 that will cover ALL of you (up to a total of 5 people)if you use a Bayern ticket. The trip takes two hours on the RB train using this ticket. Paying for separate tickets on the IC train would be much more expensive, and the trip still takes one and a half hours. There are frequent services between Munich and Salzburg, so there is no need to book. If, despite all this, you decide to book, then you will pay quite a premium using RailEurope.

>To put it in US terms, I can't figure out if the train is more like an Acela -- where reservations are needed -- or more like NJTransit, where you can always walk on.

I am not familiar with the US trains, but it sound like NJTransit.
The trains on the route are alternating InterCity (or Eurocity, which is the same) and ReginalBahn types. The latter take 1/2 h longer, but you can use teh Bavaria Ticket on these. The former are faster. A ticket valid for IC/EC trains (2-3 Euro more expensive) allows you to use the reginal trains but not vice versa.

By all means use www.bahn.de. RailEurope

You can easily order tickets through the Bahn.de website and they will be mailed directly to you within about a week; cheaper than using any outside agency such as RailEurope.

Since these trains usually originate in Munich one strategy for finding empty non-reserved seats is to be on the platform when the train is first pushed into the station so you can be one of the first to get on.

>You can easily order tickets through the Bahn.de website and they will be mailed directly to you within about a week

Actually, since Salzburg is also a German station, nothing will have to be mailed; you get a PDF file which you just print out, and which is your ticket

Thank you, Altamiro, for clarifying this as I am certain it is much-appreciated by the OP.

Wow, thanks for all the info! (I love the time difference...I go to sleep and all my q's are answered when I wake up.) That's exactly what I needed to know. Makes life much easier to know we can play it by ear and buy tix at the station! :)

And THANKS for the info about the Bayern Pass!!! There are four of us, so that's perfect. I love a bargain.

I can´t believe I wrote "reginal" instead of "regional" TWICE.
Friday I guess.

As to Bayern Ticket (not Pass), don´t buy it online - the weather can always make you change your day plans. Just figure in additional 15 min at the train station to buy it from a ticket machine (it can be also bought from the transit ticket machines everywhere in Munich, and is also valid on the subway, trams and buses in Munich itself).

Awesome. Thanks again altamiro!

>>about the same price as train tickets plus taxi from train to airport

???? The train goes TO the Munich airport. What do you mean "plus a taxi"?

If you are going to Salzburg on a weekend day, the Bayern-Ticket can be used as early in the morning as you wish - no starting time limit. On a weekday, the ticket is valid after 9 AM.

The first regional train after 9 AM leaves Munich Hbf at 9:42 and gets into Salzburg at 11:47. However, for just a little more, you can get an hour's jump on the arrival. The 8:48 regional train leaves the Grafing Bahnhof, which is still in the MVV, after 9 AM. All you need is additional ticket coverage to Grafing. An MVV single trip ticket from anywhere in the inner zone to Grafing is €6,60 pP; for four of you, you can get a Partner Gesamtnetz (all zones) day ticket for €18 (€4,50 pP).

With the all zones day ticket, you are also covered for any transport (S-/U-bahn, streetcars, or buses) you need to take to get to a train station.

Thanks for the info Larry! However the Bayern Ticket sounds a little easier...plus we're coming from the US, so 9:42 is a little more jet-lag-friendly :) Still, I'll keep this info handy in case we manage to adjust quickly and get into early-bird mode.

Larry-
Is the Bayern ticket available prior to 9am on holidays (Christmas or the 26th)?
Thanks for all of the information in this post!
Liz

The Bayern-Ticket is "available", ie for sale, any time. It is "valid" for travel after 9 AM weekdays and after midnight weekend days and "all days that are holidays in the whole of Bavaria". I did a google search for "official holidays bavaria" and came up with the following website, http://www.deutschland.de/aufeinenbl...age.php?lang=2. So, apparently both Christmas day and Dec 26 are holidays throughout Germany. There are several days that are holidays in Bavaria only where the majority of the population is Catholic. I doubt that it would be valid then.

Thank you!

It appears there are many tickets similar to the Bayern ticket, and those are valid in different areas. If one is moving north from Salzburg to Frankfurt over the course of 6 days, could one purchase daily tickets in those areas and cover all of your travel for 27 euros a day?

I am new to this.