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Looking for a hotel near Munich Airport for a very early flight with shuttle

Mi daughter flies out of Munich this week. she need to find a train from Salzburg that afternoon, then get to a close airport hotel fo get to the station by 4:15 AM. Many hotel restaurants are not open due to Covid, and shuttle may be lacking. .What the easiest, cheapest option for her to get from Salzburg to the plane gate the next day?

Posted by
8252 posts

Hilton Munich Airport Hotel is located between terminals 1 and 2. She should be able to walk. I'm guessing food will be available, but why not just get something the night before to eat in the morning? Some yogurt, fruit and a crossaint should cover any breakfast worries.

You can also google "Hotels at Munich Airport" and get several suggestions.

PS "easiest and cheapest" rarely go together.......

Posted by
205 posts

I was more concerned for how she gets to the airport from the main terminal in Munich. And dinner close by,

Posted by
6168 posts

What do you mean by "main terminal"? The Hilton is within walking distance from both terminals at the airport.

Posted by
8252 posts

If you are talking about how does she get to the airport from the train station, that is an easy answer! The subway connects right at the central station and she can take it to the airport.

Here is one of several videos available on you tube that describes the process.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=DRzT4Jx42ns

Posted by
32505 posts

Is the question how does she get by train from Salzburg to Munich airport hotel?

If so, there are trains (used to be hourly, she can check DB app) from Salzburg to Munich Hbf. At München Hbf there are 2 S-Bahn lines to the airport which has its own station. Get one of those. I don't want to give specifics on timings because of covid. She can check the DB app. At the airport the hotel is easy to find, the signs will be clear.

She will need to be wearing a FFP2/N95 mask the entire time she is on the train and in the stations.

Posted by
205 posts

When you say Munich HBF , do really you mean Munchen OST, then change to Sbahn?

Posted by
205 posts

And What do you think of Novotel?

Posted by
205 posts

Nigel, We were looking to purchase a ticket room the Rome2Rio partner OMIO. Are they legit?

Posted by
19630 posts

Now that you have cleared up the whole itinerary, we are back to the Bayern Ticket. Book a room at the Airport Hilton as recommended. A single Bayern Ticket is 25 EUR bought from a vending machine. That will get her to the airport by going Salzburg to Munich Ost station, then changing to the S-8 train to the Airport. Takes 2 hours and 22 minutes. There is 8 minutes time to change platforms at Munich Ost, but it looks like a simple cross-platform connection from Track 6 to Track 5. Any way, if she would miss the connection, she just has to wait 20 minutes for the next S-8 to the airport.

Trains from Salzburg are at or around 15 past the hour, so she can go anytime between 9:15 am to 10:15 pm.

As far as the Airport Novotel goes, yes, it is a lot cheaper and you get off the S-8 train at Besucherpark, one stop before the actual airport terminal and walk about 300 meters. I notice on their website that a vaccination certificate or recent negative Covid test result is required at check in. Does not look like airport transport is provided so a walk back to the Besucherpark S-Bahn station is needed and buy a short trip ticket to the airport.

Posted by
205 posts

Well she's fully vaccinated, so that's not a problem. I will pass all this on to her. Thanks for all your help.

Posted by
205 posts

Has anyone actually stayed at either hotel?

Posted by
8252 posts

Lisa, while I haven't stayed at this particular Hilton, I certainly have stayed at my share of Hilton Hotels at airports.......

What you would purchase here is convenience and a clean/secure room. The fact that it is already at the airport eliminates one extra step of hassle. For me, it would be worth it. Only your daughter can determine if it is for her.

I am confident that whatever she chooses, she will find the trains and subways easy to navigate. Do validate tickets prior to boarding.

Posted by
19630 posts

Bayern Tickets do not need to be validated as they have their validity date printed on them. You do need to write your name on the back of the ticket in ink. That prevents people of buying them, using them, then selling them to someone else for use for the rest of the day.

Posted by
19052 posts

Per Carol's posting, the "Subway" in Germany is the U-Bahn (Untergrund-Bahn or underground train). The U-Bahn runs mostly in the central part of Munich and mostly underground. The S-Bahn (Schnell-Bahn, or fast train) runs out to the suburbs and except in the trunk line under Munich is above ground. Think New York City. The U-Bahn is like the subway; the S-Bahn is like the Long Island Railway.

It is the S-Bahn (symbol big green S) that goes to the airport.

There are two S-Bahn from the airport to town. Both go through the single S-Bahn trunk line under the city, stopping at the Hbf, Marienplatz, and the Ost (east) Bahnhof (in that, or the reverse order). One, the S1 comes into town from the west; the S8 comes in from the east. Although the S1 often shows Ostbahnhof as the destination, it comes into town from the west side and goes entirely through Munich before getting to the Ostbahnhof. The S8 goes directly to Ost before entering the trunk line, and so gets to Ost before the S1. Each runs on a 20 minute schedule, about 10 minutes apart, so the is an S-
Bahn from the airport approximately every 10 minutes.

If you are coming from the airport and want to connect to a train to Salzburg at Ostbahnhof, take the S8. If you are going anywhere else in the city, take the next train leaving the airport (S1 or S8). You'll get into town earliest that way.

If you are going from town to the airport, it is a little bit more complicated. If you are leaving from the Hbf, there is one platform between the lines going either way, both to the airport. You can just stand on the platform in the middle of the two tracks and take the next train going to the airport (Flughafen), no matter which side. Look for an S1 going west to the airport (Flughafen, not Ost) or an S8 going east to the airport. Whichever one you take will get you there soonest. Be aware that the S1 splits at Neufahrn, with one end (the front, if I remember) going to Freising and the back end going to the airport.

If you are leaving from Marienplatz, there is one S-Bahn (S1) that leaves the Marienplatz station one minute before the one (S8) going the other way. However, they are on different levels, so unless you know the exact schedule and know precisely what time to is, you will be better off just to go to the Ebene (level) 1 for Gleis (track) 1. (19 out of 20 times, it will get you to the airport first).

If you are using a Bayern-Ticket, it will be valid for the S-Bahn from Ostbahnhof to the Flughafen as well. (Actually, the Bayern-Ticket is valid for all transport in the MVV.) that day.

Posted by
19052 posts

When you say Munich HBF , do really you mean Munchen OST, then change to Sbahn?

Yes, coming from Salzburg, the fastest way to the airport is to take the S8 from Ostbahnhof. Unless she is arriving on a RailJet These trains don't stop at Ostbahnhof. She will have to go to the Hbf and take either S-Bahn from there.

Posted by
32505 posts

We were looking to purchase a ticket room the Rome2Rio partner OMIO. Are they legit?

I have no idea. Never heard of them.

Since your daughter is already there why doesn't she use the provider of the service, avoiding the middleman.

Posted by
3809 posts

I stayed at the Novotel way back in 2014 on the recommendation of a guide from Innsbruck. I had told him I was planning to stay at the Hilton, and he suggested the Novotel instead. There is no shuttle from the hotel to the airport, but there is a city bus that picks up right beside the hotel and goes the short distance to the airport. It worked great for a friend and I, and the Novotel was quite a bit cheaper than the Hilton.

Posted by
9459 posts

It seems that part of the issue is that she needs to be at the airport VERY early.

Another reason for staying at the Hilton — don’t know how early city buses run (which I would be checking out if it were my situation).

Posted by
19630 posts

Coming back to Denver, there is a HOP flight at 7:15 am, connecting to Denver at CDG on Air France. Thinking that is it since she wants to be at the airport at 4:15. The HOP flight is essentially a domestic flight, so she really would not need to be there before 5:30 am.

Posted by
205 posts

"Since your daughter is already there why doesn't she use the provider of the service, avoiding the middleman."
As I have said, I could not confirm from my search the DB website or from my daughter inquiring at a smaller station in the area that it covered all of her trip, so using the provider of the service wasn't helpful and the translation wasn't as good as the middleman. Still I used DB, but Nigel, I would like to one day use this ticket so maybe you can help me find where the Bayern Ticket's scope is discussed anywhere on the official website. BTW, it was great that the S-bahn was on the other side of the platform from the Salzburg train - easiest transfer ever!

Yes, for the first leg she was on the 7:15 HOP flight this morning and when she arrived at MUC at 5:10, she said it was so empty she had a hard time finding someone to direct her to the check-in. (the Delta website wasn't letting her check-in for the second leg, saying that she had to check-in with HOP first, which of course she had. I don't know how well these airlines interface with one another - not too good this time.

She made the flight, but I think staying that staying at the Hilton was the best choice since it was so early and she was traveling on her own and not familiar with the airport. I think that, even waiting for a short bus ride from Novotel, would have added another level of avoidable stress. Plus I called the hotel and being a HHonors member, got a considerable discount on the published rate.

She stayed in a newly refurbished room which she loved.(They are renovating the hotel in stages). Since she had been traveling for a college class living in student housing most of the time, having A/C, new linen and elevator was downright luxurious and was a good way to mentally prepare for the journey. She had dinner at the hotel restaurant (Novotel's restaurant is not scheduled to open until this weekend).

We would probably change it up under different circumstances, but for this trip, this is what worked. She's due to land in a few hours so then will start the debriefing!

Posted by
8252 posts

I am so glad to hear that everything worked out well! It is very thoughtful of you to come back and let us know. So often we are left wondering how things turned out.

Posted by
4324 posts

I'll be at that hotel in October, the last night of a trip I usually stay at the airport just because, I'm tired and it's easy. I don't need a world class hotel experience, just somewhere to sleep and shower before I fly home.

Posted by
19630 posts

As I have said, I could not confirm from my search the DB website or from my daughter inquiring at a smaller station in the area that it covered all of her trip

Well, your daughter could not confirm at a smaller station because the Bayern Ticket is only valid and available from Salzburg Hauptbahnhof, the main station.

All you needed to do was go to the DB website, https://www.bahn.com/en
Enter the start point (Salzburg Hbf) and the end point (Munich Airport T) and the date and time you want to travel. It would then give a list of trains and prices in 2 columns, Savings fares and Flexpreis fares. You would have seen that at 15 past every hour, there is a train showing a 25 EUR Savings fare. Click on details and it would show the Bayern Ticket,
Middle men do not show you this because middle men don't make any commission on these tickets. They want to sell you more expensive tickets where they can make a little money.