Munich Train Travel

The train station at Munich airport is pretty much only connections into Munich by S-Bahn where you would get a train to Innsbruck. There are direct trains from Munich to Innsbruck every 2 hours and they are not very expensive. A Flexpreis Europa ticket is 41.65 EUR. A nonrefundable, nonchangeable ticket is 29.90 EUR.

There are signs that guide you to the train station, and there will be lots of others headed that way. I did the same last year and I am directionally inept. It is not difficult. It is much easier than finding the train station at Frankfurt airport.

I would not buy a ticket in advance, as you wisely imagined, as the airlines have not been very dependable. good luck!

Last time I arrived in Munich (before the T2 satellite) we were sent from immigration down to baggage retrieval. From there we walked out past Customs and then through another door leading outside into a partially covered courtyard. On the far side of the courtyard, you could see the S-Bahn station as designated by a big green/white S There are ticket automats on the platforms of the S-Bahn station where you can purchase a ticket to the Hbf for 9€. You might be able to purchase a ticket from the airport to Innsbruck from an automat, but it might be easier to use the manned DB ticket counter in the building above the station.

If you are traveling round trip, you could buy a Flexpreis (refundable) ticket to Innsbruck and a discounted nonrefundable ticket for the return.

Those are separate tickets. You need to buy the Savings Fare ticket (Innsbruck to Munich) online, probably as soon as you know you can commit, because the price of the available tickets goes up as the less expensive ones cell out. Unless you like to gamble, I wouldn't buy the ticket to Innsbruck until you get to Munich and know you can catch the specified train. With a delayed flight arrival, you could miss the specified train and the ticket would be worthless. The "flexi-fare" ticket to Innsbruck will cost the same, regardless of when you buy it.

I haven't heard that the line is back open near Garmisch Partenkirchen after the horrendous crash a few weeks ago, nor that it is back at line speed.

Probably worth checking just before travel.

That line is still showing a replacement between Oberau and Garmisch.

I haven't heard that the line is back open near Garmisch Partenkirchen after the horrendous crash a few weeks ago

Nor is it, because the public prosecutor has not yet opened the line to repair, let alone traffic. Now that the evidence gets stronger that damage to the track (or its substructure) is the cause of the accident, he will not do so until the accident site has been fully investigated. We have the prospect of two to three more weeks of SEV.

How come bus 9606, which goes between GaP Hbf and Echelsbacher Brücke can make the trip between GaP and Oberau, with 4 stops, including 2 in Farchant, in 15 minutes, but the SEV, which only stops once in Farchant, takes 18 minutes to Oberau?

Buy Tickets in the DB App. You can also include a city ticket for the day usually for 2 Eur or less. I always travel in the 2nd class and I find it very comfortable. You need not reserve a seat if you are not particular but you have the option of reserving one for 4Eur or so. I never reserve a seat as there would be a lot of empty un-reserved seats.

If you are going to be using the ICE a lot in the foreseeable future I would recommend buying 25 discount ticket. This is usually valid for a year and will give you 25% discount on all tickets. You can check the current prices in the DB app.

If you are going to be using the ICE a lot in the foreseeable future I
would recommend buying 25 discount ticket.

What the previous poster is referring to is the "BahnCard 25", which gives you a 25% discount on tickets. But the BahnCard requires an upfront payment and then you have to hope your discounts will add up to what you paid initially for the card. It's more for the permanent resident than for the short term visitor. I've never found that a BahnCard would pay for itself.

And, the BahnCard is an abonnement, or subscription. You pay for it once with your credit card, and the card will be billed automatically each year until you figure out how to turn it off.

I agree with the above recommendation as to 2nd class. In 1987, I was traveling on the company's dime. When I arrived in Offenburg, I bought a ticket to Heidelberg to use the next day, realized later is was for 2nd class, and went back to the station to exchange it for 1st class, which I thought I wanted. I think I was the only person in the 1st class coach that night. I don't think I have ever again bought a 1st class ticket. I like being around people, particularly Germans, I can talk to.

Reservations:
In 2001, I arrived at FRA and took an ICE to Karlsruhe. It was the 26th of December, "second day of Christmas", a holiday in Germany. The trains were packed. We did not have reservations. Every seat was occupied, but few were reserved. When we got to Mannheim, about a half hour later, lots of people got up and, before others got on, we were able to find seats. The whole trip was an hour long and we had to stand about half of it.

On the other hand, in 2017, we went from Bingen to Ulm on an EC. The entire trip was over three hours. I bought reservations. I felt 4½€ was cheap insurance to make sure we didn't have to stand for 3 hours.