Looking for some insight on Munich HBF

We always allow an hour at a train station to find the right track and the direction the train will be pulling into the station, so we know where on the platform we need to be. We do not find the Munich station too complicated. After the train departs, someone comes around checking tickets.

Seat61.com is also very very helpful with all questions about trains. You can even email the owner of the website and he is very helpful at answering questions.

I would allow an hour if only because I don't have any idea how the rebuilt HBF looks, assuming it is finished. Read the board, look at the yellow train car map poster for your train to find your car, the tickets will be checked on the train.

I would like to know if a 1/2 hr is enough time from where the taxi drops us,
to get to the train?
Do we have show our tickets at a booth before we board the train?

The taxi will drop you off either at the north entrance or the south entrance, in both cases directly at the central cross-platform. From there, it's no more than a five-minute walk to your train. Most RailJets depart from tracks 11 or 12, at the southern end of the main hall. You can check this on the large overhead display in the middle of the platform. Access to the station and the train is not controlled, so you can simply walk in. Conclusion: there's no reason to stand around for half an hour at the unwelcoming construction site that is currently the main station.

I have purchased DB ICE train tickets online.

I am a very experience traveler in that part of Germany, and I would never have done that. The ICEs are only slightly faster going from Munich to Salzburg and right now, although for one traveler they might be a little cheaper than the regional train, that has not usually been the case. Since for high speed trains, like the IC and EC, the fares are per person, while the Bayern-Ticket (an all day pass), which you can only be used on regional trains), is only 10€ more for for each additional passenger after the first one, for several people the long distance trains are more expensive. Right now, the ICE seems to be stopping at Munich Ost (east) Bahnhof, that, historically, has not been the case.

We will [be] traveling, via Taxi, from our hotel to München Hauptbahnhof.

You didn't say where your hotel is, but for any hotel located along the S-Bahn trunk line, which goes from the Hbf to Marienplatz to Isartor to Rosenheimer Platz and eventually to Ostbahnhof, you'd be better off to take an S-Bahn rather than a taxi, and likely it'll be faster and easier to go to Ost Bahnhof rather that backtrack to the Hbf.

The Munich HBF isn't that big or complicated.

I always allow myself a little extra time getting to any station in case there is an issue due to traffic or problems with public transporation.

Depending on the size of the station I usually get there somewhere between 30 and 45 minutes before departure.

As stated, all you have to do if find your train and get on it. Know your car number and look at the electronic signs at each platform. It will tell you approximately where your car will be located so you know where to stand when the train arrives and it's time to board.

The conductor might, or might not, come by once the train is moving to check your ticket. I've taken some DB trains where I've never seen the conductor.

Also:
We are staying at the Eurostar Grand Central.
The only reason, we will taxi it to HBF, is that the Hotel breakfast starts at 7 am, and our train at HBF is at 8:03 am.
Very quick bite, and then taxi it, like at 7:20 am. 5 min ride.

Thanks for all the replies
Fritz, your info was very helpful.
I looked into, The man in seat 61, it coincided with the replies.
Thanks again
John

If you have the DB app on your phone there's no need to look at the board. Munich's main station has all the trains on one level. It's an in and out design, not a pass through. It's very easy to find the track numbers, and the trains also have their numbers listed on the fore and aft engines and the individual cars. Get on your train, find your seat, and once the train gets moving expect the conductor will come check your ticket. Half an hour should be enough, but if you intend to purchase drinks/eats for the trip plan on more time. There are quite a few places to shop at the station.

Are your ICE tickets Sparpreis or Super Sparpreis, i.e., non-refundable and train-specific, or fully flexible, Flexipreis, valid for any such train that day?

BTW, what is the date of your travel? I've checked multiple days up through August 2026, every day of the week, and all I ever find at just after 8 am is a Railjet (RJ 113) leaving the Hbf at 8:15.

OK, I finally found it. It starts Sunday, June 14, 2026.

To lee
They are Super Sparpreis Aktion,
Aug 2 8:03 AM, HBF IC 1211 direction Wien

OK, well, those tickets are not refundable, so you may be stuck with taking ICE 1211. I guess I can see why you choose that train. Right now the Super Sparpreis tickets are 12.99€ and might have been even less than that when you bought them.

What you want to do, should be doable. Just hope the taxi isn't too late.

I think most trains to Salzburg leave from the Holzkirchenbahnhof, which is tracks 4-10 on the south side of the station. These tracks don't go all the way to where the main tracks end at the connecting platform. You'll have to walk about a hundred feet, as I remember, from the connector to get the those tracks. A few trains appear to leave from tracks 11 and 12, which are adjacent to 4-10, but do go all the way in. You are probably better off (shorter walk) if the taxi drops you off at the south entrance to the station, on Bayerstrasse. But that means he has to go around the end of the Hbf and come back to the west on the street on the south side.

I don't know that I have ever gotten to a station more than a half hour before train time, but I am familiar with the Hbf and know where I have to go. If you have some time, you might want to go to the station the day before just to familiarize yourself with were you'll have to go in the morning.

With only a 1/2 hr before our train, to Salzburg.

It's a train. It won't be at the platform until about 5 minutes before departure. Going to the station that early is not necessary. In central Europe you can get from street to train in under 10 minutes at any station. There are no impediments, no ticket booths. You just walk to a train and board.

Only railways that hate their customers require you to be there earlier.

Yes, I'll echo all of the sentiments that a half hour is more than enough to get from your taxi to any train in that station. Even with that you'll be standing there on the platform watching your train pull in.

I think most trains to Salzburg leave from the Holzkirchenbahnhof, which is tracks 4-10 on the south side of the station. These tracks don't go all the way to where the main tracks end at the connecting platform. You'll have to walk about a hundred feet

Let's not complicate things unnecessarily: a normal ICE or RJ in double traction, such as those operating on the Munich-Salzburg (-Vienna/Graz) route, does not even fit on the longest track at Holzkirchner Bahnhof (= Hbf, tracks 5-10). Local trains and sometimes a short Westbahn train depart from there. The ICE and RJ(X) trains all depart from the main hall, from the tracks along the south wall (usually 11/12, sometimes 13). So the OP doesn't have to worry about an extra walk.

The hotel is a 13-min walk or 5 minute tram ride away from Hbf. Is a taxi really needed? And getting there 30 minutes early is plenty of time.