Take the stunning journey through the Alps to southern Germany, or travel on a comfortable sleeper train

Note that these trains usually depart from the Ouest part of Bologna station, so can be easily accessed from the main entrance.

Final Destination: Muenchen (Italian spelling)

The destination of these trains can be shown by ticket agents as 'München Hbf Gleis 5-10'
This is because Gleis 5-10 are in a separate part of the station, which is a 2 - 3 min walk away from the main concourse.

This train also calls at: Jenbach, Worgl (connect for Kitzbuhel and Zell am See) Kufstein, Rosenheim and Munchen Ost

If you're heading to Munchen/Munich city centre, the quickest journey will be to leave the train at Munchen Ost station and connect there for a local S-Bahn train to Marienplatz in the heart of the city.

Book early and save: Yes

Online bookings open: 6 months ahead of the travel date

When booking tickets for this journey, look for the trains which depart Bologna daily at 07:45 and 11:52 and on Mon-Friday only at 15:52.

Reservations are also mandatory on the Italian section of this journey.

A choice of tickets

Three types of tickets are available:
Two types of discounted tickets, which will be cheaper the further ahead you book - Sparpreis Europa and Super Sparpreis Europa
One type of non-discounted ticket - Flexpreis Europa.

A key difference between these types of tickets is refunds:

• Super Sparpreis tickets are cheapest, but they can't be refunded at all.
• Sparpreis tickets can be refunded for a fee, but the refund will be in the form of travel vouchers to be used for alternative / future journeys.
• Flexpreis Europa tickets can be refunded at no additional charge.

The other key difference is that both types of Sparpreis tickets are only valid on the specific departures selected when booking, but both types of Flexpreis tickets live up to their name, as they can be used on any departure on your travel date.

Note that none of the tickets can be exchanged to a different departure.
There's no need for this to be available for Flexpreis Europa tickets, as they aren't train departure specific.
If you book a Sparpreis Europa ticket and want to travel by a different departure you can refund it and then use the travel voucher towards the cost of the new booking.
Super Sparpreis Europa tickets can't be exchanged or refunded.

The Sparpreis, Flexpreis and Flexpreis Plus tickets also include 'City tickets', which can be used on public transport between locations in Munchen Hbf and Munich city centre

Booking on the DB website

You can find these direct trains more easily by making a proactive selection of 'Direct Trains Only'.

Or to see all the combinations of trains and journey options, some of which may be cheaper, take off the 'fastest connections' default.

Trains departing at different times can be cheaper than others leaving on the same day, so if you can be flexible with your departure time use the 'best prices' tool - at the top right on the list of journey options.

A choice of stations in Munchen/Munich when booking:

These trains will also call at München Ost station before arriving at Munchen Hbf.
If the finishing point of your journey is in central Munich/Munchen, around Marienplatz, it will be a quicker trip if you leave the train at Munchen Ost and connect into a local S-Bahn train at that station

When making a booking online on DB Bahn, it uses ‘Munich (München)’ as a default for looking up journeys to the city in the ‘to’ box.
But it is possible to select München Ost as the ‘to’ station (you need to use the German spelling with the character (the umlaut) over the ‘u’).
Though on arrival at Munchen Ost, you will need to purchase a ticket(s) for the S-Bahn train journey.

Using rail passes

When travelling in on the Brenner route taken by these trains over the Italy / Austria border paying a 'supplement' is required [when using 'global' Eurail or InterRail passes]https://www.interrail.eu/en/plan-your-trip/reservations/trains-with-additional-supplements).
The fees for the supplement are €15 in 1st class and €10 in 2nd class.
However, the supplement is not a seat reservation.

You can purchase the supplements on the Eurail reservation service or the InterRail reservation service and the seat reservation will also be included - though you will be charged a €2 booking fee per reservation, per person.

Booking at a Trenitalia ticket desk is a more expensive option, as in addition to the supplement costs you will also have to pay a €2 booking fee for using the ticket desk + the seat reservation will cost an additional €3.50 - as per the info on this page.
The supplements are not available from the Trenitalia ticket machines.

OR if you book the supplement on the OBB website, the instructions are here,, you will need to proactively also add the seat reservation when booking- and pay the additional cost of €3.50 in both 1st class and 2nd class.

The direct overnight train is typically scheduled to depart from Bologna at 23:45 and arrive in Munchen/Munich at around 09:20.
It takes a much longer route than the daytime train, hence the longer journey time.

Book early and save: Yes

Online bookings open:
6 months ahead of the travel date on OBB.
3 months ahead of the travel date on DB Bahn.
3 months ahead of the travel date on Trenitalia.

Comparing ticket prices across the agents is particularly recommended for this journey.

These trains are provided by Austria's national rail operator, OBB, they travel through Austria on this journey between Italy and Germany.

The train conveys:

• Compartment Seats (Sitzwagen)
• Couchettes (Liegewagen); 4 berths AND 6 berths
• Standard sleeping cars (Schlafwagen) with 3 bed, 2 bed and 1 cabins
• Deluxe sleeping cars with showers (Schlafwagen) with 3 bed, 2 bed and 1 cabins

The first price you will see on the OBB ticketing site will be for the compartment seats.

Using rail passes:

Rail pass users must reserve before boarding this train.

Click the train details for more info including the rail pass reservation fees:

You can now book rail pass reservations without paying booking fees on the OBB website (OBB operates these trains).Though the process for doing so isn't particularly obvious, hence the step-by-step guide.

Making the rail pass reservation in advance online is particularly recommended if you will be traveling between June and September.
If you wait until arriving in Bologna to reserve, your first choice of accommodation on the train may have sold out.