Train Pass for travel in Austria and Germany
 

We are planning a four week holiday travelling between Munich, Vienna, Salzburg , Mittenwald and Innsbruck. We intend to do day trips from each of these cities using trains (eg Dachau, Berchtesgaden ). Finally we intend to take the scenic train from Innsbruck to Zurich then on to Paris and the TGV.
Is there one pass that will help to reduce the cost of all these train trips or do I need to look into a different pass for trips in Austria, Germany etc? I understand that all these train trips especially in Austria will end up costing quite a bit.

Passes do NOT reduce cost, they are the deluxe option - passes obviously cost MORE than regular tickets because they give you unlimited flexible train travel, as opposed to just one cheap journey.

So if you want to go 1,200 miles on 16 trains all in one day, for multiple days, I'd definitely recommend a pass.

But if you just want to make one journey a day, forget passes unless you want to pay more for the luxury of unlimited flexible travel.

If you have a fixed itinerary and want to go (say) Innsbruck to Zurich, go to Austrian Railways www.oebb.at and book it as you would a budget airline, from €19 ($21?) and print out your own ticket.

Zurich to Paris starts at €25 at www.captaintrain.com if pre-booked a month or two in advance, rising just like budget air fares do to around €120 on the day full-flex.

Salzburg-Vienna or vice versa can be done for €25 any date any train with no pre-booking at all, just hop on any hourly Westbahn train www.westbahn.at sit in any of the many empty seats and pay the conductor on board. Simples!

Day trips don't warrant expensive passes either - a Bayern ticket gives a day's unlimited travel on regional train between Salzburg, Munich, Fusssen (for Neuschwanstein castle) and berchtesgaden (for Eagle's Nest & site of the Berghof) for €23 for 1 person plus another €5 per person up to 5 people. Bargain! http://www.bahn.com/i/view/USA/en/pr...a-ticket.shtml

Helsie, we used the Bavaria day ticket for Munich/ Mittenwald and Salzburg / Berchtesgaden (bus)/ Munich and pre purchased the Mittenwald/ Innsbruck/ Salzburg route on the Austrian train website http://www.oebb.at/en/Tickets/
We bought Vienna to Salzburg tickets on the day.
The DeutscheBahn website is really user friendly and covers all Europe, really helpful to identify other routes and options. I occasionally found a route option that was unexplainably much cheaper than another (for IC trains), especially when crossing borders. Worth trying various options. Also tells you the platform etc and a tip is to take note of the 'plan' on the platform when you wait for your train, indicates where each section 'park' at the platform, helps avoid running for eg carriage C at the other end (been there, done that!)

Good luck, sounds like a lovely itinerary.

"We are planning a four week holiday travelling between Munich, Vienna, Salzburg , Mittenwald and Innsbruck."

I don't see WHEN this trip is to take place but I believe based on a previous post of yours that you're going in September and that "WE" = 2.

This would mean you should have access to the cheap point-to-point tickets which Man in Seat 61 advises for certain routes. For Germany, Austria, Switzerland and onward to Paris, you will only need 2-3 such pre-purchased tickets, but it's a little complicated since you will be dealing with different ticketing entities - Swiss Rail, capitainetrain, maybe German Rail - and each operates a little differently.

For Innsbruck-Zurich: "Sparscheine" or saver fares from Austrian Railways (oebb.at) should be available 92 days in advance of your travel date. It's advisable to buy them when they are first on sale as the low prices Man quotes are limited in quantity.

If you are traveling Munich-Vienna: look into a pre-purchased, train-specific saver fare at German railways (€58/2 adults possible with advance purchase, available 91 days in advance.) Saver fares are quantity-controlled so prices rise as tickets sell. Saver fare info: http://www.bahn.com/i/view/USA/en/pr...ngs-fare.shtml

If you are traveling Munich-Salzburg you don't need to pre-purchase; the "Bayern Ticket" day pass (€28 for two) has been suggested and will work fine, but the "Guten Tag Ticket" day pass works too and is €26 for two. Buy it at the station from a ticket machine and use regional trains only. Info link in German for this ticket: http://www.bayerischeoberlandbahn.de...ten-tag-ticket

Many thanks everyone.
Man_in_seat_61
Thank you for clearing it up. I thought perhaps there might be something like the Swiss Half Fare Pass that was a real saving in Switzerland.

Yes, Fussgaenger there are two of us travelling in September and that is the kind of information which makes it easier when you are going back and forth through different countries. Thank you.

To be specific we will be doing: Munich( daytrips from here using trains -5 days) to Vienna by train ( day trips from here using trains-4 days), drive to St Wolfgang and exploring around there - 7days, then drive to Salzburg - hand back car, ( daytrips from here using trains including to Zell am See )then train to to Mittenwald and around - 5 days, and finally train to Innsbruck then on to Zurich and Paris.

So you see sometimes Austrian local trains, sometimes German local trains. I will pre-purchase the big trips ( Munich-Vienna, Innsbruck-Zurich-Paris ) as advised 90 days before.

Adelaidean

Thanks for all the tips. It is al quite complicated for us as we don't use trains at all here in Oz !

Helsie, I don't use trains here either, but they are so efficient and comfortable in Europe. A great way to travel. And I always ask someone on the platform or on the train if I'm not sure of something.
I found large price variations on the Strasbourg to Munich route comparing SCNF and DB (even asked on Tripadvisor if I was mistaken), but just turned out to find a good deal. So it pays to try different options, as I said Deutschebahn has a great site, you need to play around with it a bit to get familiar with it. For example, if you don't want to rush between connections (sometimes just a few minutes), you can change 'duration of transfer' time and you'll get a schedule that better suits you. I made sure I used a dummy date for 3 months ahead to get familiar with pricing and timetabling, so when fares were released for my actual dates, I was ready to go.

" SCENIC train from Innsbruck to Zurich"
Never heard about

Really scenic itineraries might go from Landeck via Samedan or via Bielerhoehe

neckervd I researched for it on man _in_seat_61.

From man_in_seat_61 :

"The scenic route? There's a scenic route from Innsbruck to Paris via Switzerland. First travel from Innsbruck to Zurich on a modern Railjet train through the scenic Arlberg pass, see the Arlberg Pass video here. Book this leg at www.oebb.at from €19 with print-at-home tickets. Allow at least an hour in Zurich for a safe connection. Then take a TGV-Lyria from Zurich to Paris in just 4 hours 5 minutes, booked at www.sbb.ch from €25, also with print-at-home tickets. You can do this journey in a single day, or split it into two with an overnight stop in Zurich."

About your day trips...

"Munich( daytrips from here using trains -5 days"

"then drive to Salzburg - hand back car, ( daytrips from here using trains"

You may find the "Guten Tag Ticket" day pass mentioned above (€26/day/2 adults) useful for day trips from Munich OR from Salzburg if you will be traveling to any of the destinations you see on the following rail line maps for the two rail systems involved (Meridian and BOB)

http://www.der-meridian.de/uploads/m...3/original.jpg

http://www.bayerischeoberlandbahn.de...ge/32/s710.jpg

"then train to to Mittenwald and around - 5 days"

From M'wald, you can use the "Regio-Ticket Werdenfels" day pass (€23 for two) to visit destinations on the rail lines in red:

http://www.bahn.de/p/view/mdb/bahnin..._sept_2015.pdf

R-T Werdenfels flyer (in English) :
http://www.gapa.de/blobs/flyer_ticke...denfels_en.pdf

(Note that the above flyer is incorrect about the 9 am weekday hours restriction - in fact you can use it at any hour on any day now.)

For other destinations within Bavaria outside of the rail lines shown, the Bayern Ticket will work.

Thank you fusgaenger, wonderful information. It will be a great help.

Agree that for your itinerary a pass is a waste of money - especially a Eurailpass because there is a much cheaper Austrian Pass and in Germany you can use the Bavaria Pass where for a whole day on regional trains that go to places you mention you all can travel unlimited for about a day for around 30 euros

and you can get discounted tickets to Paris from Zurich and from Innsbruck to Zurich - anyway for lots of great rail info check not only Man in Seat 61's commercial site - www.seat61.com (for railpass prices click on his link to Rail Europe on the site) and www.ricksteves.com and www.budgeteuropetravel.com.

Fussgaenger, that's good news about the Werdenfels ticket, didn't know about that (we'll be in that region in July, so very helpful). There are 4 of us and while the regular Bayern ticket is a good deal, this option is 7 Euro cheaper for us for each day ticket. Thanks!

For tickets to France, check https://timetable.captaintrain.com/t...ate=2016-02-18

Fussgaenger, that's good news about the Werdenfels ticket, didn't know about that (we'll be in that region in July, so very helpful).>

Fuss is an absolute expert on German trains tarifications - a great resource for sure.