Getting from Munich to Salzburg
· Updated · BootsnAll
Salzburg makes most people think of The Sound of Music, and the city has long since made its peace with that. It is also where Mozart was born, and the fortress on the hill, Hohensalzburg, is one of the largest in Europe and has never been taken by force.
You could spend a week. Plenty of people give it a day from Munich, and the distance makes that reasonable: 145 km, across the border into Austria, close enough that nobody sensible flies it.
Trains from Munich to Salzburg
Two different things run on this line and the difference is worth understanding before you buy.
The fast trains are ÖBB Railjet and EuroCity services, about an hour and a half, running every hour or two through the day. They are the comfortable option and they carry on to Vienna afterwards. Book through ÖBB or Deutsche Bahn; the same seat is sold by both.
The slower trains are regional services, branded Meridian and run by Bayerische Regiobahn, which take around two hours and stop about a dozen times on the way. On paper that is half an hour lost. In practice it is often the better buy, because of the ticket.
The ticket that decides it
The Bayern-Ticket costs about 34 euros, covers a full day on Bavarian regional trains, and it is valid across the border into Salzburg. It also covers local transport at both ends. Add a second person and the price per head drops sharply, up to five people on one ticket.
So for two people doing Salzburg as a day trip, the regional train on a Bayern-Ticket is usually cheaper than two advance singles on the Railjet, and it includes getting around both cities. The restriction to remember is that on weekdays it is not valid before 09:00.
If you want the fast train, treat it like any other Deutsche Bahn journey: Super Sparpreis and Sparpreis fares are sold in limited numbers well in advance, Flexpreis is the full fare and works on any train that day, and booking opens a year out.
The Deutschlandticket, 63 euros a month since January 2026, covers German regional trains but stops at the border. It will get you to Freilassing. It will not get you the last few minutes into Salzburg.
Buses and driving
There is no useful city centre to city centre coach on this route; the bus services that exist mostly link Munich Airport to Salzburg, which is a different journey. FlixBus is worth a look if your timings are awkward, but the train wins on this one.
Driving takes about an hour and a half on the A8. Two things to know. You need a vignette to use Austrian motorways, on sale at petrol stations before the border, and Salzburg's old town is largely closed to cars, so you will be parking in a garage and walking in anyway.
Coming back, note that the return leg often prices differently from the outbound on the fast trains, so check both directions separately rather than assuming a return is twice the single.