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Return rental car by Munich train station during Oktoberfest?

Posted by on

Hello,

We will be spending one night in Munich by the train station before heading to Italy by train the next morning. I had planned to take our rental car back in Augsburg then take the train to Munich because I'm not sure if it's a good idea to try to drive into Munich, especially since this will the the last Saturday of Oktoberfest.

I booked our tickets from Augsburg to Munich on the DB app, and they've changed the timetable already. The information on the app is confusing; it's showing a much later time than what's on the email we got. We want to get to Munich in the morning because we will only have one day there, and I'm concerned the train may be unreliable. Would it be advisable to keep the car and drive to the Munich central station to take the car back at the Europcar location there? Our hotel is right by there as well so it would be really convenient, but I'm not sure what we could expect as far as traffic or closed roads etc.

Thanks for the help!

Posted by
1674 posts

It looks like there are 3 trains per hour so you should not have any issue. German trains are generally very reliable.

Posted by
556 posts

Yes agree not a good idea. Not only because of Oktoberfest. There is also a huge construction area around the Central Station and traffic is out of control.

Posted by
32815 posts

I'd agree that doing anything around the Hauptbahnhof at the moment is a not great idea, and driving around there is even worse. Munich isn't the easiest city to drive in even on a good day.

I'd reconsider.

Posted by
2338 posts

If you let us know your planned departure time in Augsburg, we can check if the train service is restricted due to construction work. That there is no train at all between Augsburg and Munich is unimaginable. You probably booked a long-distance train whose schedule has now changed due to a delay somewhere else in Germany. But that means you are free to take any other train of your choice (local trains anyway, and they only take about a quarter of an hour longer). As was said above, all the roads around the station are currently torn up, and it's no fun to drive there by car and look for the entrance for the rental car return.

Posted by
6 posts

Thanks for the replies! We will definitely plan to take the car back in Augsburg and take the train.

sla019, My original tickets are for 10:32 on ICE 267. I got an email saying the time was changed to 10:24, same train. But my ticket on the DB app still shows the original time. So we could take the 10:08 regional train with that ticket? I think we'll plan on the 10:24 ICE train since we have reserved seats. But it's good to know if we need to take a different train we can.

Posted by
980 posts

So we could take the 10:08 regional train with that ticket?

It really depends on the class of ticket you purchased. If it was a flexible fare ticket then yes you could travel on a regional train for that segment. If it was a Saver or Super Saver Fare then I believe you are stuck with the specific train. This happened once with me traveling from Nuremburg to Munich. The train was delayed so I wanted to jump on a regional train that would leave right away and get me there about the same time but my saver fare wouldn't allow it. I ended up getting a Bayern ticket instead and tried to get a refund on my ICE ticket (I don't recall if I ever got the refund).

DJ

Posted by
1674 posts

Take the 10:24. Take your original ticket and the email you received. It is just like an airline, its not the depart time, its the flight number. I doubt you will have any problem.

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