Munich airport

I'm not sure how define airport size, but before the pandemic Munich had almost 50 million yearly passengers. Making it the 9th busiest airport in Europe.

Munich Airport even had its own Christmas Market in the open center area last Advent Season . It surprised me how extensive it was.

Yea, they only have about 60 airlines flying in there with Lufthansa by far having the largest presence. There are only about 4-5 U.S. airports served with United Airlines having the most flights. Canada has flights to Toronto and Vancouver, however.

I always like flying into Munich because it gets me to my favorite travel locations in close proximity. And the train can get us around easily. We're more mountain people, and the Alps are within 2 hours south of Munich.

Munich was our 'home' airport when we lived in Germany, and I've always preferred traveiling to or through it than Frankfurt, mostly because it's just so much easier. It's a decent size, for sure, but it seems more efficient somehow.

We chose Munich because Lufthansa has nonstops to LAX. They also fly to Charlotte for some reason.

The train ride into town is a breeze but longer than the tourbooks claimed, at least 30 mins.

And the train can get us around easily.

I think you are referring to Bahn trains. There is also a shuttle train at the Munich airport, Terminal 2.

Terminal 2 used to be completely contained in a single building on the east side of the airport, but since Lufthansa and the Star Alliance have grown so much, they have added a satellite building. The original building has two levels, with out-of-Schengen gates on the top, H level, while in-Schengen gates are one floor down on the G level. Similarly, the new satellite building has out-of-Schengen gates on the top, L level, with in-Schengen gates one floor down on the K level. There are two shuttle trains, isolated from each other, going between the in- and out-of-Schengen levels. Of course, both buildings have immigration/emigration (passport check) between levels.

My question for a user more familiar with MUC (SLA?) is, if you arrive on one of the out-of-Schengen levels (say, from the US) and are transferring to an in-Schengen gate in the other building (say, to Italy), is it better to go through immigration right away, and then take the in-Schengen shuttle to the other building, or is it better to take the out-of-Schengen shuttle to the other building and then go through immigration? Is one shuttle less crowded and therefore less likely to have delays in boarding?

Badger, I mostly fly through major airports like LAX, JFK, LHR and CDG so to me, Munich was a welcome change. Almost pleasant.

One thing to note - their version of the TSA insists that you go past the scanner with nothing at all in your pockets or in your hands. Which is disconcerting since they don't want you holding your passport or your boarding pass. So watch your possessions very carefully.