Munich airport to train question

All estimates assume that your plane lands on time. If this is the first entrance to Europe since EES started, passport control will take longer than previously.

You could probably be safe giving yourself a two hour window, but 3 might be preferable in case plane arrives late.

The Munich airport is about 30-40 minutes by S Bahn from the central Munich, where the train to Vienna likely departs from. But you would need to confirm which station you would need to transfer at. It could be the Hbf or Ost, depending which train you take. This is one instance where buying tickets in advance could backfire, if your flight is delayed. If you buy the cheapest option in advance, you can’t make changes, so if you are delayed you need to buy a new ticket anyway.

First, you won't "go" through customs. Unless you have something to declare (not likely) customs is a formality, you just go through the line that says, "nothing to declare". But, you will go through immigration (passport control), which is the passport check at arrival.

I've flown into Munich three times (but not in the last 10 years). I've always been at the S-Bahn station within an hour of arrival.

All estimates assume that your plane lands on time.

That's the kicker. I've flown to Europe 11 times since 2000, and I've been an hour late arriving three times, usually because I was an hour late leaving the US. You can't count on when you will arrive.

I want to get my train tickets in advance

Why? If you are trying to save time when you arrive or want to make sure you have them, OK, but you really don't understand European travel. Get full fare tickets and they will be valid for the next train whenever you arrive.

If you are trying to take advantage of advance purchase, train specific fares, plan on spending the first night in Munich (or Freising, or even Salzburg), and only going on to Vienna when you can be sure you can make the train specific connection.

It's very hard to book a train ticket at the cheapest rates on your day of arrival. You never know if your plane will be on time or delayed. If your train ticket is for a specific train and you miss it, you have to buy a new ticket. If it was me, I'd try to get the cheapest ticket I can that allows me to take another train should I miss the one I planned to take.

The other correction is that you will go through customs. When you walk through the "nothing to declare" line, you are actually going through customs. They see you. However, the likelihood of you being stopped is low. But you could be.

There is another option to consider. Flying. I've taken the train between Germany and Vienna a few times. The scenery at times is very pretty. It will take about 5 hours between MUC and Vienna. If you decide to fly, it's only an hour flight. You have to ask yourself.....how will you feel about a five hour train ride after a long flight from the US? The motion of the train might lull you to sleep and you''ll miss the scenery.

Wengen, can you tell me how long the TRACK is between Munich and Vienna?

I want to get my train tickets in advance :)

You have two options: (1) take the S8 or S1 to the main station and from there take the ÖBB RailJet (every two hours), or (2) take the Westbahn from Munich East (five trains a day). The Westbahn is about 20% cheaper than the RJ and includes a seat reservation, but you have to buy the S-Bahn ticket from MUC to Ostbahnhof separately, whereas you can book a through ticket for the S-Bahn and RJ.

Unfortunately, you can't buy any kind of saver fare because your ticket becomes invalid if your flight is late and you miss the train.

I would do the following: Download the DB Navigator app to your cell phone and register. Once you've cleared immigration, check what the next connection is and book the appropriate ticket online (Westbahn tickets must be booked on westbahn.com; DB does not sell them). You can, of course, queue at the DB counter in the MUC Airport center, but that can take a while.

Thanks, everyone!