I believe it was the case in the past that these cheap tickets were only available as returns, but Deutsche Bahn have recently changed their fare structure, and you can now get discount tickets ("Plan und Spar") for one way trips. I bought one a couple of weeks ago.

I will be in munich and want to go to both Zurich and Innbruck. Can someone tell me the cheapest way by train to get to each?

Has anyone here visited the Neushwanstein Castle while staying in Munich? If so tell me how to get there.

First, Neuschwanstein - just over 2 hours each way by train from Munich to F�ssen. From F�ssen a couple of kilometers (probably Taxi) to the castle. R/T train about 55 Euro. I drove my own car, so have not done this by train.

Z�rich is about 6 hours by train - don't have a price.

Innsbr�ck is about 3 hours as a connection (Garmisch-Partenkirchen) is necessary.

Your options are limited... I would suggest combining Zurich and Innsbruck in one trip, as Zurich-Innsbruck has at times stunning scenery, while Munich-Zurich is rather boring, and not electrified to boot. Munich-Innsbruck was not bad at all as I recall (nice train, decent views).

Bumping up this old thread, hoping to get some additional advice.

I will need to get from Vienna to Salzburg and back in June. Is the train the best way to go? Also, on my return to Vienna from Salzburg I am thinking about taking an evening flight out of VIE the same day. Is this too risky, or should I plan on spending a night in Vienna and then flying out the next day?

Thanks in advance!

No problem whatsoever. Just go to this address and look at the timetable yourself.

http://fahrplan.oebb.at/bin/oebb.w02/query.exe/en

Watch out, there are connections that take longer than others. Type Salzburg and Vienna airport, it'll show you all the connections. Try to get an EC train (more comfortable, faster)

Have a good trip

Thanks for the quick reply.

I assume the train service is pretty timely and reliable? Also, how much time would you recommend I place between my train arrival in Wien and my flight's departure from VIE if I do it on the same day?

The ICEs offer reservations, but do not require them, except on the limited number of ICE Sprinters (trains running NONSTOP between Frankfurt and Berlin and vice versa once in the morning and once in the evening) and also to Hamburg and perhaps Munich. At other times, the slightly less expressy ICEs running generally every hour between major cities will not require reservations. On most days, there will be plenty of seats, so the reservation expense seems a bit foolhardy when you have an entire car to yourself. But on busy days around holidays, or in 2nd class, reservations make more sense.

German ICEs also have great restaurant cars offering meals at virtually all hours during the business day. Trains with a bistro car do not, however, have the full meals.

I've travelled on several hundred trains throughout Europe. The only times that travel by train has been difficult is during strikes--but that has only hampered me in France and Italy. I don't tihnk you have to worry in Austria. the OBB is a wonderfully efficient, clean and pleasant system.

Austrian trains are very reliable, don't worry.

It all depends on your destination and the carrier you'll be flying on and which class.
The worse: US carrier, direct flight to the US, economy, good two hours previous to departure.
The best: To Europe, business, no luggage, 35-40 minutes...

If you're going direct from Salzburg to Vienna Airport, without stopping off in Vienna itself, then don't stay on the train all the way to Wien Westbahnhof. Instead, get off at Wien H�tteldorf, then take a local train (S3) to Wien Rennweg, then another local train (S7) to the airport.

Alternatively if you want to spend time in Vienna before heading out to the airport then the quickest way to get to the airport is the dedicated airport train (CAT) - it takes all of 15 minutes but is quite expensive. I took a normal local train to the airport when I was there earlier this year - from memory it took about half an hour. Most of the cost of the journey was included in the day pass I had bought that day, I just had to pay a small supplement (1 Euro or thereabouts) to cover the last few stops.

Rather than start a new thread I thought I would just add to this one as it already seems to have a lot of useful information.

Me and my wife are going to be taking the train from Frankfurt airport to the Zurich airport (we are arriving in FRA via air and are staying near the ZRH airport). We will be taking an ICE train from FRA to Manheim HBF then ICE train from Manheim HBF to Zurich HB and a IC train from Zurich HB to Zurich Flughafen. We plan on purchasing the Sparpreis 50D rate in first class.

1. Is there someplace on the english section of the site to give me the fare rules for this fare? I am curious if we can change the ticke should our flight arrive early etc or if we are stuck taking those specific train times....also worried about a delayed arrival and possibility of losing the value of the tickets. I see a Sparpreis 25D as well and assume it has less restrictions but cant figure out how to tell.

2. What is the luggage situation on those trains? We will not have a lot, two laptop bags and one medium sized wheeled luggage bag.

Thanks to anyone that has any info.

Question 1: I could just find that these fares are only valid on said train and date. No other information. By calling DB, they told me that in case of delay, you'd automatically would be entitled to hop onto another train. In case of early arrival, no possibility to get an earlier train.

Question 2: There is sufficient stowage space overhead and otherwise a special luggage rack close to the doors: In this case, just keep an eye on your luggage at in-between stops.
Have a good trip.

Thanks magexpect! Good to know I will not have a useless ticket if we arrive late and we can just plan accordingly if we arrive early. Thanks for the help. ^