My wife and I are traveling to Munich arriving on April 5, 2012 leaving April 8, 2012 and I'd like to make sure I'm buying the right train tickets. Can you please help me?

Here is our itinerary:

April 5 - Arrive at the Munich airport and take the train to our hotel in the Lehel area of Munich

Morning - April 6 - Take the train to Salzburg, Austria from Lehel station

Evening - April 6 - Take train from Salzburg, Austria to Lehel station

April 8 - Take train from Lehel station to Airport for flight.

We will be touring around and hanging out in Munich the afternoon of April 5, April 7 and the morning of April 8, mostly walking from our hotel in Lehel.

My question is that because it is the 2 of us, should we purchase a weekly pass (based on the number of times we'll be using the train above and the transfers from Lehel to Salzburg, etc.). Also, if we purchase a weekly pass, will that cover our trip to and from Salzburg? I want to make sure we are as cost effective as possible. I know we could just purchase individual tickets for each leg, but that seems like it may be a waste of money. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

As a "sub-question" we'll be spending Good Friday in Salzburg for their Easter Festival, any recommendations of places to eat lunch and dinner?

Maybe I shouldn'T be commenting on this because I don't know where the Lehel area is. Chances are pretty good you will need to get the main train station Hauptbahnhof for trains to Salzburg. The public transportation in Munich is easy to figure out and easy to ride to the train station. The Bayern Ticket is a pretty good deal. For 29 euros up to 5 people can ride anywhere in Bavaria (including Salzburg) anytime after 9am. It will take you about 2 hours to get to Salzburg.
I always recommed the Sankt Peters Stiffskeller for a delicious mean in Salzburg. It is located right behind the St Peters cemetary where the Von Trapps hid from the Nazis in the Sound of Music. The restaurant which has been there since Charlemane has two different experience. Upstairs is pricy with a full dinner and a Mozart show. Downstairs in the celler the menu is simpler and cheaper. Food is delicious and the atmosphere in the celler is nice. Try the turkey schnitzel.
Another fun place to eat is the Augustiner Brewery with beer and beerhall food. We like the Augustiner restaurants in Munich too.

I would not get a weekly pass. You'll only be in Munich a few days and the pass won't cover you to Salzburg. The week pass covers Munich transportation. For Salzburg you need to take Deutschbahn, which is the German railway system - you'll need either point-to-point tickets or use a Bayern pass.

For your travel IN Munich, just buy tickets day-to-day as makes sense. There are day passes if you plan to ride a lot, or you can get single ride tickets. Munich transportation isn't expensive - a partner day pass for the inner zone is less than 10 euro.

Thanks so much for your responses! The area we are staying is probably not known as the Lehel district (I may have just picked out the name on a map that's closest), we are essentially right next to the English Garden, slightly North (about .25 miles) from Marienplatz (sp?).

The Sankt Peters Stiffskeller cellar sounds perfect, just our style! Thanks so much!

@November_moon - Thanks for the info, you're right that we will only buy day passes and the Group Bayern ticket for the day. Do you know if Good Friday (April 6 is considered a holiday)? If I was reading correctly, they Bayern pass will be valid prior to 9:00 am on a holiday and we may be able to get an earlier start (although, we're touring Madrid, Toledo, Segovia in Spain the week prior so I'm not sure we'll be getting up super early in Germany, we selected Munich as a place to relax and hang out, before heading back to the US).

Yes, Good Friday is a public holiday and the 9am restriction does not apply. If you plan to visit museums or sights, inquire via their websites if they will be open.

According to your itinerary, I would do this:

April 5, Airport-hotel
Airport-City Day partner Ticket (for both of you together) = 20€ (prices in English version slightly out of date)
Covers trip for 2 to the hotel, and any use of Munich public transport for the rest of the day as well, i.e. is a day pass for the whole network.
http://www.mvv-muenchen.de/static_la...ket/index.html

April 6 (Salzburg trip)
Bayern-Ticket.
It will also cover all local public transport for that day, i.e. any bus, subway or tram rides within Munich. You get it from vending machines at S-Bahn stops and at most subway stations and via bahn.com .
Regional trains to Salzburg also stop at Munich East (Ostbahnhof), which is easier to navigate than Munich central.

Whether or not you need a day pass on April 7 will depend a bit on your sightseeing. Besides Nymphenburg palace and the Pinakotheken/museums area I would not know any other major sights you could not reach on foot from Marienplatz.

Be sure to stay to regional trains with the Bayern Ticket as it is not valid on fast trains and you will be charged a ton for riding them without a valid ticket - fast trains do Salzburg about an hour faster than regional trains but cost a whole lot more than the bargain Bavarian Pass. Great sites I always recommend for train info - www.seat61.com; www.ricksteves.com and www.budgeteuropetravel.com. But the Bavarian Pass is a no-brainer and just buy it in machines in stations.

Cowboy 1968 and PalenQ have given you the perfect solution to your ticket dilemma. One more thing to consider...the Bayern (Bavaria) ticket is valid TO Salzburg, but you will need to purchase a Salzburg transportation ticket for travel while visiting Salzburg (about 4 Euros each for a 24-hour ticket).

Thanks so much for all of your help. We leave today for Madrid and will be in Munich soon!

The Bavaria Pass is also valid I understand on trains between Garmish and Reutte, Austria, which is just a few miles from Fussen and the famed Mad Ludwig's fantasy castles - though the railway runs thru Austria it is considered for tariff reasons a German rail route since after Reutte the train continues back into Germany. But other than that and the few miles into Salzburg the Bavaria ticket is, duh, only valid in Bavaria.