First Trip to Munich--Transportation From Airport to City ???

Kyle,

Transportation at MUC is very easy and THIS website will explain the transportation options. The easiest method is via S-Bahn S1 or S8 which travel from the airport to Munich Hbf (the main station) via different routes. The trip is about 45 minutes. There are ticket kiosks right next to the tracks and as I recall I used my credit card the last time I was there. There's also a Deutsche Bahn ticket office, but I can't remember the location. The kiosks are the quickest and easiest option and they do provide an English-language option.

Hopefully Lee or one of the others can provide more specific information on which ticket to buy for the airport trip. I believe the €10.80 single ticket for 1 person (Single-Einzelfahrkarte) is the correct one. Some of the tickets have to be validated (time & date stamped) in the small blue boxes, which will be located close to the tracks and that's important to avoid being fined! Tickets only have to be validated once on the first use. However, if you buy from a ticket machine, it may already be validated (check for a time & date stamp).

Rather than having to stop at the airport to get Euro, I'd suggest obtaining €100 or so from your bank prior to travel, to use for travel expenses until you get settled. If you need any rail tickets while in Munich, you might try the helpful EurAide office in the Munich station. It's located in the DB Reisezentrum (ticket office) at Desk 1, which is the first one on your left as you enter. They have English-speaking staff and I've found them to be very helpful.

The S-Bahn will get you to the main station. Will someone be meeting you there?

Hi Kyle,

It's easy to get from the airport to downtown with the S-Bahn (urban rail) from the airport.

When you arrive in the Munich airport terminal, look for the directional signs with the S-Bahn logo (a green circle with a white letter 'S' inside). They will lead you to the large covered central plaza area between the terminals, and to an escalator that takes you downstairs to the S-Bahn station. Photos here and here.

At the bottom of the escalator there are two tracks, one on the left and one on the right. One is for the S-8 line and one is for the S-1 line. Both run at 20-minute intervals, and both take you to the Hauptbahnhof (main train station) in downtown Munich in about 40 minutes, but they travel by different routes. S-1 skirts around the north and west sides of town, while S-8 goes around the east side. If your destination is somewhere in town other than the Hauptbahnhof, one line or the other may be more advantageous for you. Connections to other lines are easy, and the transit system can take you just about anywhere you want to go. System map here.

You can buy an "Airport-City-Day-Ticket" that lets you travel anywhere on the MVV (Munich public transit) system -- S-Bahn, U-Bahn, trams and busses -- from the moment of purchase until 6 am the next day for € 12. You can buy the Airport-City-Day-Ticket from the ticket machines at the airport and at most S-Bahn (urban rail) stations. First select “MVV Münchner Verkehrs- and Tarifverbund” on the screen, followed by “Airport-City-Day-Ticket”. There is also a staffed DB (Deutsche Bahn, the German national railroad) desk at the airport, but there is an additional € 2 fee for buying the ticket from a human being instead of a machine. The ticket kiosks for MVV are green; the DB kiosks are red. If I remember correctly, you can buy the ticket from either one. When I was there last August, my US credit card worked fine in the red DB kiosks, but cash was needed in the MVV machines.

Details of the Airport-City-Day-Ticket here.

There are ATMs from various large German banks in the airport terminal.

Have a great trip. No need to be anxious; Munich and Bavaria are warm and welcoming.

[Edit: I see Ken types faster than I do. His description is correct, except that the cost of the single-person Airport-City-Day-Ticket recently went up from € 10,80 to € 12,00. Also, unlike other types of MVV tickets, the Airport-City-Day-Ticket does not need to be validated, because it is valid from the moment of purchase.]

An Airport-City Day Ticket (aka Gesamtnetz-Tageskarte) is indeed 12€ for one person. It allows unlimited travel in the entire MVV (Gesamtnetz) for the entire day. However, for 10,80€, you can buy a 4-zone Einzelfahrkarte (single trip ticket), which is valid for a single trip from the airport to any place in the inner zone (Innenraum) of Munich (ie, you can come into the Hbf on the S-Bahn, then take the U-Bahn, trams, or buses to your final destination). So if you are only taking a single trip to meet your niece somewhere in downtown Munich, and no other MVV travel that day, the Einzelfahrkarte is the better choice.

Einzelfahrkarten will have to be validated (stamped with the date and time). A 4-zone Einzelfahrkarte is valid for 4 hours from when it is stamped.

Most tickets I've purchased from Automats in S-Bahn stations have been "pre-validated", that is, they had the date of validity printed on them and did not have to be validated. Tickets that need to be validated have the word "Hier entwerten" printed on one end along with arrows to show how to insert them in the cancelling machine.

Because people often buy single trip tickets in advance and keep them with them until they need them, these tickets are only valid when cancelled (Entwertet). Some ticket automats will give you the choice between tickets that are pre-validated and tickets that need to be validated.

Everytime I've arrived at MUC, we have been routed through immigration to the baggage room, where there has been a bank ATM on the wall.

BTW, although there is a 2€ charge to puchase a Bayern-Ticket at a Bahn ticket counter, I don't think there is a charge to purchase MVV tickets at the counter.

Thanks sooo much Lee, Jeff and Ken! All comments are extremely helpful. This detailed info really helps to ease my anxiety. Many thanks for helping me prepare for this trip.

Since you are traveling alone, are 60 years old, anxious, and will have luggage, I would suggest taking a taxi directly to where you want to be in Munich. The fare will run between 65 and 75 Euro. That's expensive, but for me at age 80, it's what I do when traveling to Munich alone.
The convenience of having someone handle your luggage for you, settling into a comfortable auto seat and letting someone else do the driving is worth the cost to me.
Taxis are available right outside the door of the terminal.
Just ask the driver if he takes credit cards.
Even though many on this forum dismiss this idea, I always change dollars for Euro at the airport, either at departure or arrival.
The exchange rate may not be the best but, for me, the convenience is worth the possible small loss.
That way you'll have money for the taxi or for coffee or a snack at the airport if you want.
I hope this is helpful.

I'm 70, and I would take the S-bahn. It's not that difficult, and 55€ to 65€ is a lot to pay for unnecessary convenience.

Taking USD to Germany and exchanging them at the airport makes absolutely no sense; use an ATM. I'm not sure who makes the exchange at the airport, but I would expect them to take about 10% from the Interbank rate. Make the exchange before you go. Wells Fargo and Bank of Am. take 5% and 5½% respectively for exchange over here. From a security standpoint, carrying $X in euro vs $X makes no difference.

Assuming you coming directly from the US (ie, no change in Paris, Amsterdam, etc) or on Lufthansa, you should come into Terminal 2. From the gate, follow the herd to the middle of Terminal 2, where you will go through immigration. After immigration, you'll go downstairs to the baggage room (even if you don't have checked luggage). There should be a Deutsche Bank ATM in the room with the carousel. It's a good place to get euro. When you leave the baggage room, you'll pass into the non-secure part of the terminal and out a door into the covered plaza. Across from you will be the MAC (Munich Airport Center) with the S-Bahn station in the basement.

There are two S-Bahn leaving for downtown. S8 is on the left as you enter, S1 is on the right. If you are going to the Hbf, in doesn't matter which train you take, the next S-Bahn to leave will get you there first. However, if you are going to Ostbahnhof, take the S8. The S8 will say it's going somewhere like Herrsching or Weßling, but it stops at Ost before going into town. The S1, however, says it is going to Ostbahnhof, but it ends there after going through town and actually gets you there later.

I most definitely agree with Lee's comments in the last reply. I'm mid-60s and have no problem using the S-Bahn with luggage. It's not difficult to walk downstairs to the rail platform, buy tickets from a Kiosk and step onto the train.