How to travel from München/Munich to Salzburg by train

Final Destination:

Budapest or Wien (the Railjets)
Klagenfurt or Zagreb or Graz or other destinations (the EC trains)

Some trains (the EC trains) also call at: Munchen-Ost

Book early and save: Yes

Though a condition of the discounted tickets is that you have to travel by a specific departure.

Online bookings open: 6 months ahead of the travel date

For train journeys between Munchen/Munich and Salzburg you can choose between:

(1) the Railjet trains -  the fastest  trains AND can be cheapest if the discounted tickets are still available (and they still tend to be available up to the day before you want to travel).

During the day*, between 09:00 and 18:00 these Railjets depart in the odd hours only.
*They’re hourly between 06:00 and 09:00.

(2) the EC trains -they tend to be around 14 mins slower than the Railjets, but can be cheapest (particularly if the discounted tickets for the Railjets have sold out)

During the day, between 09:00 and 20:00 these EC trains depart in the even hours only.

Between 19:00 and 20:30, after the final Railjet trains of the day have departed, there also 2 x Nightjet trains, which have daytime seats.
On the DB Bahn booking service, these trains are shown as ‘IC’ trains

Seat reservations

Seat reservations are optional on all of the express trains which take this route - take note if you will be using a rail pass.
They cost €4.90 when travelling in 2nd Class and €5.90 when travelling in 1st class - though they are included within the cost of booking 1st class Flexpreis tickets and both 1st and 2nd class Flexpreis Plus tickets.
Specific seats can be selected from seating plans - you don't have to accept the seat(s) that you will be automatically offered.

When booking Super Sparpreis, Sparpreis and 2nd class Flexpreis tickets, you have the option of purchasing seat reservations later.
It can be worth re-looking up a journey a week or two ahead of travel, because the DB website will indicate how busy a departure will be.

Travelling from Munchen Hbf station:

If you’re booking online 24 hours ahead or more, the departure/arrival times suit, AND the optimum starting point for your journey is Munchen Hbf – then target the Railjets.
The EC trains are very rarely cheaper and they're slower

You can certainly ignore the Meridian (M) trains as they’ll be more expensive (and slower).

On the DB Bahn booking site look for journeys that have:
- 0 in the Chg. column
- RJ in the Products column

Travelling from Munchen Ost station:

The Railjet trains do not call at Munchen Ost station, but the EC and Meridian trains do call there.

If the starting point of your journey is in central Munchen/Munich, around Marienplatz - then the quickest option is to take an S-Bahn train to Munchen Ost and then connect there into an EC or Meridian train on to Salzburg.

Final Destination: Salzburg

All these Meridian trains also call at: Munchen-Ost.

Book early and save: No - not on these trains

For train journeys between Munchen/Munich and Salzburg you can choose between express trains or these Meridian (M) regional trains – they’re slowest because they're not express trains; though they’re only 4 minutes slower than the EC trains.

When the discounted tickets for the Railjets and EC trains are no longer available, these Meridian trains become the cheapest option.
So they will be usually be the cheapest option if you will be buying tickets at the station just before boarding.

They also depart hourly.

Travelling from Munchen Ost:

Thede Meridian trains also call at Munchen Ost.

If the starting point of your journey is in central Munchen/Munich, around Marienplatz - then the quickest option is to take an S-Bahn train to Munchen Ost and then connect there into a Meridian train on to Salzburg.

You may as well as buy tickets at Munchen Ost station, the Meridian trains will cost the same if you haven’t booked in advance.