Trains in Bavaria: Bayern-Ticket & Day Trips from Munich

If you're planning day trips out of Munich — to the mountains, a lake, a castle — there's one ticket you'll use more than any other: the Bayern-Ticket. Get it right and almost every day trip in this guide costs you one flat price. Get the timing wrong and you'll be standing on a platform watching a train you can't board.

What the Bayern-Ticket actually covers

The Bayern-Ticket covers all regional trains (RB, RE), S-Bahn, U-Bahn, trams and most buses across Bavaria — basically every day-trip connection in this guide. It does not cover ICE, IC or EC trains. Those are long-distance, and they run on a completely different fare system.

Here's the scenario: you open a journey planner, type in your destination, and it hands you the "best" connection — which is often an ICE for part of the route, because it's faster. Your Bayern-Ticket doesn't cover that leg, so if you board it, you'll need a separate, full-price long-distance ticket. Before you buy, check every leg of the route the planner gives you.

When it's actually valid

On weekdays, it's valid for one calendar day, from 9:00 until 3:00 the following morning. On weekends, public holidays, 15 August, and 24/31 December, it's valid from midnight (0:00) — no need to wait until 9:00.

So if you're heading out on a Saturday, you can catch the first train of the day. On a weekday, build your plans around the 9:00 start — this is exactly why so many Bavarian day trips in this guide start mid-morning rather than at dawn.

It gets cheaper with every person you add

The Bayern-Ticket is priced per group, up to 5 people on one ticket, and the price per person drops with each additional traveler: 34 € for one person, 44 € for two, 54 € for three, 64 € for four and 74 € for five (2nd class, bought via app or at a machine; prices at a DB counter are 2 € higher). So two people split 44 € between them — already well under two single-day tickets — and by four or five it's one of the best-value ways to see Bavaria by train.

Kids make it even better value: up to 3 children aged 6 to 14 travel free on every Bayern-Ticket — doesn't matter if they're yours or not — and they don't count toward the price tiers above. Two adults travelling with three kids still pay the 2-person price of 44 €. Children under 6 always travel free alongside an accompanying adult.

Buying it

Easiest way: the DB Navigator app. You can buy it the night before or the morning of, and it's valid as soon as it activates — no printing, no queueing.

If you'd rather have something physical, ticket machines at any station sell it too — but on the newer touchscreen machines, it's not exactly obvious where to look. The Bayern-Ticket is filed under "Regional offers," and you'll need to scroll a fair way down that menu to find it — it's easy to miss if you're expecting it front and center. On the older machines, it tends to sit right there without the extra digging.

Seeing a "Guten Tag Ticket" on the machine too? Here's the difference

At some regional ticket machines — especially around Oberbayern and the Allgäu — you'll also spot a Guten Tag Ticket, sold by BRB (Bayerische Regiobahn), not DB. It looks like a cheaper cousin of the Bayern-Ticket, and for a solo traveller it is: 31 € for one person, 41 € for two, 51 € for three, 61 € for four and 71 € for five.

Same validity window as the Bayern-Ticket (weekdays 9:00 until 3:00 the next morning, from midnight on weekends and holidays) and the same "3 kids under 14 free" rule. The catch: it's only valid on BRB's own trains plus a handful of specific partner routes — not all of Bavaria. Unless you've checked your exact route is covered, the Bayern-Ticket is the safer buy.

I only clocked the Guten Tag Ticket because I was standing at the machine comparing it myself. If one shows up on yours too, it's worth the ten seconds to check whether your route is actually on BRB's network before you pick the cheaper option.

One more thing it doesn't cover

A train ticket gets you *to* the mountain, lake or castle — not up it, across it, or into it. The Bayern-Ticket doesn't cover cable cars, cogwheel trains, boats, or entry tickets to anything. Budget for those separately; most of the itineraries on this site list them next to the train leg so you're not caught out.

Bayern-Ticket vs. Deutschland-Ticket — which one do you need?

For one day trip, the Bayern-Ticket is a simple option, especially if you're travelling together. If you're travelling solo and planning several outings, compare the total with a Deutschland-Ticket before you buy — even a short stay can make the subscription worthwhile.

Here's why it's worth the math: a solo traveller pays 34 € per Bayern-Ticket day. Two day trips already come to 68 € — more than a full month of the Deutschland-Ticket (currently 63 €/month), which covers regional transport across all of Germany, all month, including everyday travel inside Munich. For a group, the comparison usually tips the other way, since the Bayern-Ticket's per-person price drops fast. We cover exactly how to get a Deutschland-Ticket — including how the billing works if your stay doesn't line up neatly with a calendar month — in our separate guide to getting around Munich.