Hello! We are arriving at 8:20 am on Thursday, May 25. We are going to take the train from the airport (via Munich HBF) to Nuremberg. How much time should we allow from the time we land/customs, etc. to get the train? (We will not be checking bags, so no waiting for luggage.) We would like to purchase ahead of time and get the ICE train if we can. I see the prices are best booking further out.
Thanks in advance!!
I hope to see an answer soon because I am wondering the same thing, except I'm catching the rail from Frankfurt to Cologne in July. I will keep checking this post until someone provides some advice. Good luck to both of us! :)
Expect 30-45 minutes. But booking an ICE in advance at the saver fare is much too risky, because if your flight is delayed and you don't catch your ICE in Munich Hbf, you either will have lost your money completely (with a "super saver fare") or you get a voucher minus 10€ (with "saver fare"), in other words: In case of a delay you pay the difference to the normal price plus 10€ extra. I would take a little time and take the regional train. You can either use a Bayernticket (valid in all of Bavaria for one day; from 9:00) or you can use the new Deutschlandticket, valid in all of Germany for one calendar month; but this is only worthwhile if you make at least two more trips in May. You need to use a train of the line RE1 from Munich Hbf (travel time 1:46), all others are too slow. You can find it if you specify "Kinding" as a stopover.
Thank you! I think we will take that advice and not pre-book train tickets. Not worth the stress if we have any delays!
Depending on your airline, there is something called Rail & Fly available, which gives you a coupon for any long distance train to anywhere in Germany on your day of arrival. That would solve your risk due to a late flight arrival.
Without getting Rail&Fly, I would agree with SLA, go regional with a Bayern-Ticket or the Deutschlandticket.
However, I would not use the 1:46 connection SLA suggested. To get that 1:46 train, you have to take the S-Bahn 41 minutes into the Hbf and wait 18 minutes for the train, so add an hour to the whole trip (2:45), MUC to Nürnberg.
I would consider taking the 635 bus, 18 min, to the Freising Bhf and catch the RE50 from Freising to Nürnberg. You can purchase the Bayern-Ticket on the bus. But, you'll only have 3 minutes in Freising to catch the train to Nürnberg, so you'd better know where you are going.
Where are you coming from. Unless you are importing items for resale, which have to be declared, you don't have to go through customs. But if you are coming from outside Schengen, you will have to go through immigration (passport check).
BTW, the 10€ penalty with voucher only applies if you cancel the ticket before the 1st the day of validity. If you arrive late in MUC, it's too late then to get the voucher. You lose the full fare.
But, you'll only have 3 minutes in Freising to catch the train to Nürnberg,
You name it. And three minutes from the bus stop through the underpass to platform 3 is, I'm afraid, far too risky. The train does not wait for a local bus.
Actually, the transfer time at Freising is 9 minutes. DB estimates it will take 3 minutes, so you have a 6 minute cushion. Of course, as you are arriving at 8:20 am, you have a good chance of getting the 9:21 bus, giving you 29 minutes to make the connection. This connection will get you to Nuremberg at 12:22. If you get the ICE from Munich Hbf, the earliest you get to Nuremberg is 12:01, so you save a whole lot of money by arriving 21 minutes later.
In 2013, I was on an RVO bus from Kochelsee to Bad Tölz. The bus was delayed while a rider searched for her pass and we arrived late in Bad Tölz just as the train to Holzkirchen was about to depart. The bus driver radioed ahead, and they held the train long enough for us to make the connection. So, it does happen.
BTW, the bus from MUC to Freising runs every 20 minutes, so you might also have an extra 20 or 40 minutes to catch the train to Nürnberg in Freising.
