Munich - arriving late - question

I think you are overthinking this. If your priority is convenience, take a taxi. There should be a taxi line outside the station. Just follow the signs.

That said, a taxi will probably cost more than the train. Not knowing where the AirBnB is, it’s hard to be sure. Also, your AirBnB might be in a pedestrian only area where a taxi can’t even get to, so you may not get dropped off right at the door. There is a possibility that the commuter train station could get you closer than a taxi.

timfear, if you can give us the address of the AirBnb, we can look to see what would be the best option for you. Or you could contact your AirBnB host and ask her which local train you would take and see if she can give you details.

When you say your current ticket is non-refundable, which ticket are you talking about? I'm a little confused by that statement.

Thanks Travel4Fun. I'm staying in Oberschleißheim. It looks like it's close to a station. I'm sure it will be relatively easy to find the place. I just don't want to be wandering the streets late at night in a strange city. Though that might be interesting too. Thanks,

Hi Mardee. My train ticket is non-refundable. I bought the non-refundable for some reason. I wanted to make sure I was in town before my wife's plane landed the next morning and bought it quickly.

Train from Verona comes into Munich station at about 10:30 PM. Host said to take The S-Bahn S1 to Oberschleißheim, then it's about a ten minute walk. But I don't know area at all. Thanks for your advice.

Ok, you’re staying a ways from the station, so I would follow your host’s directions. You could take a take from the station at Oberschleißheim. Ask you host about the availability of a taxi at that time. You may be able to arrange one in advance.

You could also try using google earth to “walk” the route from the S bahn station to the lodging and see if it seems easy enough.

Thanks. It does seem easy enough of a walk. If it were here, in my town, I likely would walk and not give it a thought. But I know nothing at all about there.

Anyway, thanks for all the help.

I did a tentative itinerary on Google Maps, giving a random date in October at 10:30 pm. Here is the link: https://www.google.com/maps/dir/Munich+Central+Station,+Bayerstra%C3%9Fe,+M%C3%BCnchen,+Germany/Oberschlei%C3%9Fheim,+Germany/@48.1990751,11.4386122,12z/am=t/data=!4m18!4m17!1m5!1m1!1s0x479e75961ad5f8cb:0xbfa1f0e241f986aa!2m2!1d11.5600003!2d48.1402669!1m5!1m1!1s0x479e7105ae7feeed:0xd8067e0b0470e2e7!2m2!1d11.559062!2d48.2522461!2m3!6e0!7e2!8j1697581800!3e3?entry=ttu

If you click on the little drop down arrow that says "8 stops", you will be able to see each place the S-Bahn stops at.

The S-Bahn looks pretty easy and quick and there are no transfers either. What I would do now is to do another query on Google Maps - https://www.google.com/maps. First, input your AirBnB address, and then click the Directions tab. For the departure place, key in Munich Central Station, and under the "Depart by" put your October date and the 10:30 pm time. Make sure you choose the Public Transport option. it will give you the same information as above but will have the added benefit of giving you walking directions to your AirBnB. You can even view it as it looks on the street.

Let me know if you have any questions. If you are having problems, you can come back here or PM me. I don't think it will be that difficult, though.l

Of course, anytime you are arriving by train you are never quite sure of your arrival time. However, even at that time of night, there should be an S-Bahn (S1) to Oberschließheim every 20 minutes.

When the train comes in, follow the crowd to the front of the train to the common area at the end of the tracks. Over in the far left-hand corner are stair and escalators to the mezzanine above the tracks of the underground S-Bahn station (map). The S-Bahn in Germany is identified with a solid green circle with a white 'S'.

If you purchased a ticket to Oberschließheim, you won't need a new ticket for the S-Bahn, but if not, you will need to buy a ticket on the mezzanine level before getting on the train.

Go down the escalators to the track level. The Hbf S-Bahn station has a single platform between tracks going in opposite directions. You want to be on the "Gleis 2" side. There will be a sign with an arrow to Pasing. An overhead sign will show the time remaining to the next three S-Bahn. You want the S1 to either Freising or the Flughafen. The S1 from the opposite side of the platform (to Ostbahnhof or Leuchtenbergring) is not the one you want.

It looks like the stop for Oberschließheim is the eighth stop after you get on at the Hbf. The three previous stops are Moosach, Fasanerie, and Feldmoching (the last stop before Oberschleißheim). The trip from the Hbf to Oberschließheim should take about 21 minutes.

No need to panic. The S1 from the Hbf owards the airport and Freising runs every 20 minutes until 23:47. A one-way ticket costs €5.80, a cab ride at least €50. For the difference €45 I would probably walk 10 minutes. ;)

BTW, I do not unterstand why you want to buy "a new train ticket". All you need is a connecting ticket for the S-Bahn (iff your ticket is to Munich HBF only and not to Unterschleißheim, as pointed out by @Lee).

Yes, taxis are reliable. But from a European point of view I can understand your hosts perplexion about why you would waste money on a taxi when there is a perfectly good S-Bahn option.

And as mentioned, why would you need to buy a new train ticket?

If you purchased a Super Sparpreis Europa ticket, then you will need to buy a connecting ticket, which you can buy out of a vending machine (just click on the British flag to do it in English). If you purchased a Sparpreis Europa ticket, it includes a city ticket with onward transportation on local transport like the S-1.

The S-1 will also get you to the airport next morning.

An important question here is, did you purchase the ticket you say you already have to Oberschleißheim or only to the Hauptbahnhof (Hbf)?

If the ticket is to Oberschleißheim, it will include the S-Bahn travel. If it is only to the Hbf, then you will have to purchase the S-Bahn ticket separately. I don't think a ticket counter will be open that late at night. You'll either have to purchase it from a ticket automat or already have it in hand when you arrive at the Hbf.

If you are cell phone literate, you could go to the Munich metro website (www.mvv-muenchen.de) and either order a paper ticket in advance or have an electronic one put on your phone using the MVV-Ticketshop on the MVV-App. That would save you the trouble of figuring out the ticket machine at 11 o'clock at night.

BTW, just to give you perspective on where you are going, here is the transit system map of Munich.
Oberschießheim is near the top, in the middle of the map, on the blue, S1, line. It's way out of town, almost to the airport.

@sla019 Thanks. I'm not panicking. I just am curious about walking around in some strange city trying to find an airbnb at midnight. But all good.

I should hae been more clear on train ticket. I bought a non-refundable ticket from Verona to Munich. I bought the late evening ticket because I am in Italy on business and wasn't sure when I could get away. My thought was to perhaps buy a different ticket for earlier in the day so I get there at a more decent time of day to figure my way around. That's what I was referring to - taking a different train from Verona to Munich.

Thanks for the advice.

Thanks @Lee. Yes, I've used a phone a time or two - I think I'll be good there. I usually do buy my tickets at the kiosks in other countries so I'll be fine with that. Yeah, again - it's these sorts of things that I wasn't even consicdering. My train ticket from Verona is must to HBF. But I'll work it out. Thanks,

Oberschießheim is ... almost to the airport.

That's the good news, you'll be close to the airport (about 23 minutes) to pick up your wife in the morning.

A word of advice: The S1 to the airport makes a stop in Neufahrn, where is splits, with one end going to the airport, the other end going to Freising. You want to be in one of the cars going to the airport.

I believe I remember that the airport cars are at the back end of the train when it splits, but to be sure, look at the destination board on the car. If it says "Freising", don't get on that car. Get on one that says, "Flughafen".

Edited:

I believe I remember that the airport cars are at the back end of the
train when it splits,

Clue: the MVV website says the cars going to Freising leave Neufahrn two minutes before the cars going to the airport. If those cars were not in the front of the train, they would have to run over the front cars to leave first. So the cars going to the airport are the back cars of the train.

If you purchased a Sparpreis Europa ticket, it includes a city ticket with onward transportation on local transport like the S-1.

Please note that the "city ticket" is restricted to MVV zone M. Oberschleißheim is outside of it since it is a community of its own and not a part of Munich.

Go here and click on "Areas covered by the city ticket" to download a PDF file that shows for all of Germany what areas (Gebiete) are covered by the City Tickets. For Munich it shows that the City Ticket covers only the central zone, M.

Tim has picked a BnB in a suburb convenient to the airport to pick up his wife, but not particularly handy for visiting the city.

BTW, I have often searched the area around the Oberschließheim Bhf, because of its close proximity to MUC as a possible place to stay before a morning flight home.

Thanks for all the comments. Yeah, we're not close to Munich I can see, but I'm sure we can get there. It was a bit last minute and we got what we could get. Thanks,

Oberschleisheim has the Neues Schloss.
https://www.schloesser.bayern.de/deutsch/schloss/objekte/schl_ns.htm

Also the aircraft exhibit of the Deutsches Museum.
https://www.munich.travel/en/pois/arts-culture/deutsches-museum-flugwerft-schleissheim

So there is stuff to see right there without going into Munich.

Thanks for these links. We'll check them out.

But is it really that far from Munich? It like a 20–30-minute s-bahn ride. Am I mistaken?

Believe me, I would much rather be staying in the "center" of it all. But this was spur of the moment and about all we could get. And I'm stuck with it now so we'll make the best of it. And we've never been to oberschleißheim nor Munich so both will be new to us!

But is it really that far from Munich? It like a 20–30-minute s-bahn ride. Am I mistaken?

No, it's just beyond the city border of Munich in the direction of the airport. regular S-1 travel time from the main station is 21 min.

Take a taxi. Unless I have been to a hotel before, I almost always do. Especially at night !