Help reduce my Dutchland-induced anxiety!

July 8, 2008 1:36 PM

Halp! Traveling between Munich, Salzburg, Zell Am See, and Vienna. How?

I am traveling to Munich later this week with a small group (3 adults + 1 five-years old + 1 two-years-old). We'll stay there for 5 days before traveling to Salzburg, then Zell Am See, and finally Vienna where we will take the flight home. We are going to stay for roughly 5 days in each of the aforementioned stops.

How should we go about traveling between these 4 stops?
We are contemplating booking trains, but we don't know which ones and with which kind of tickets. It has also been suggested to us to rent a car in Munich and use it for the whole trip. We seriously don't know what to do.

What train(s) should we take, and with which kind of tickets (and can I book them online)? How much will it roughly cost? And if renting a car is the better option, which rent-a-car outlet should we use?

I am greatly appreciative of any help you awesome MeFites can provide. <3

posted by howiamdifferent to travel & transportation (9 comments total)

It's a quick train ride between Munich and Salzburg. Get a Bayern ticket, which is about EUR30 and covers up to 5 people.
posted by nitsuj at 1:52 PM on July 8, 2008 [1 favorite]

The quickest ride you can get with a BayernTicket from Munich to Salzburg is about two hours.

You can search on Deutsche Bahn's site for itineraries. You can book online and print your own tickets.
posted by oaf at 2:04 PM on July 8, 2008

Definitely train...I would suggest buying the tickets for the trip the day you get there; the counter staff are extremely helpful and probably speak English (especially if you are nice!) Bayern ticket will definitely be the cheapest option for Munich-Salzburg, and you can buy that from a machine-- no need to buy in advance.
posted by pumpkin11 at 2:28 PM on July 8, 2008

Since no one else responded to the other questions, I did a bit of research for you.

After using a Bayern ticket to get to Salzburg, it's another quick (<2>Bischofshofen, but that's no big deal. Trains run a few times a day and it'll cost about EUR20 per person. Talk to a station agent to see if there are any group prices, or if your children need a ticket. You might be able to get them cheaper if you buy in advance, so head back to the station in Salzburg a day or two before you want to leave. Talk to the agents there -- they will take good care of you.

When you head to Vienna (Wien), you'll have to connect back through Salzburg and change there before heading over to Wien. This looks like it'll be about an 8-10 hour trip, but that's really not bad at all on a train. Pack lunch and snacks, and get lost in a book while ogling the amazing scenery.

Definitely take the trains. Last time I was in the area, I went from Salzburg down to Ljubljana and it was absolutely stunning; you won't get the same views from a car.
posted by nitsuj at 6:08 PM on July 8, 2008

Hmm the first and second sentences in the second paragraph got garbled. It should read:

"After using a Bayern ticket to get to Salzburg, it's another quick (less than 2 hours) train ride from Salzburg to Zell Am See. It looks like you'll have to make a connection in Bischofshofen, but that's no big deal."
posted by nitsuj at 6:10 PM on July 8, 2008

In Munich and Vienna you could stay at Wombat's, a great hostel where you can rent out a room for the lot of you for cheap.
posted by farishta at 8:22 PM on July 8, 2008

Thanks a lot, O' great people of MeFi. I knew I could rely on you!

One more thing, what will we do about our luggage when taking the trains? Is there a limit on the size, number, and weight of the bags that we can take with us abroad the train?
posted by howiamdifferent at 3:18 AM on July 9, 2008

Be wary of Wombat's. While it's a great, great place for the backpacking 20-something... they both have bars in them that fill up with countless drunken travelers. It might not be the best place for a family. It will most definitely be cheaper (they run really clean properties as well), and you can segregate yourself from the drunkards, but the place will still, no doubt, be loud and obnoxious throughout the night.

Sorry, don't know much about the luggage situation -- I was always a backpacker myself.

This site says, "There is no baggage limit (except on few trains such as Eurostar and French-Spanish Hotel-trains ), however the traveler has to carry the luggage himself, therefore we suggest to travel as light as possible."

Sounds about right to me.
posted by nitsuj at 6:40 AM on July 9, 2008

(Feel free to MefiMail me if you have any other questions!)
posted by nitsuj at 6:42 AM on July 9, 2008