Getting There By Air:Flughafen München Franz Joseph Strauss - Munich Airport International (MUC)
Tel: (089) 97500
or 9752 1313 (24-hour flight information).
Website:
www.munich-airport.de Munich International airport is located 28km (17 miles) northeast of the city center and is Germany’s most important international gateway after Frankfurt, having served 30.8m passengers in 2006. No fewer than 200 destinations are served by scheduled and charter flights.
Approximate flight
times to Munich: From London is 1 hour 45 minutes; from New York is 7 hours 45 minutes; from Los Angeles is 14 hours 50 minutes; and from Toronto (via Frankfurt) is 9 hours 20 minutes.
Airport facilities: Facilities include banks, bureaux de change, tourist information, an automated hotel reservation service, a 24-hour medical emergency center, pharmacy, post office, duty-free and other shops, bars, restaurants and executive lounges. Car hire is available from
Avis, Budget, Europcar, Hertz, National and
Sixt. Business facilities are available.
Transport to the city: Autobus Oberbayern (tel: (089) 323 040; website:
www.autobusoberbayern.de) operates a bus service to Munich Hauptbahnhof (central station, journey time - 45 minutes). During large exhibitions, another service runs to the Messe München
and is free with a valid exhibition entry ticket.
MVV (tel: (089) 210 330; website:
www.mvv-muenchen.de) commuter trains S1 and S8 run daily to various stops, including Munich Hauptbahnhof (journey time - 45 minutes). Taxi transfer to the city center costs just under €60 one way (tel: (01733) 825 038; website:
www.taxi-muenchen-online.de/engl).
Getting There By Road:Germany is covered by an excellent and extensive system of major ‘B’ roads and
Autobahnen (motorways) or ‘A’ roads. Generally, there are no speed limits on
Autobahnen but individually marked speed limits appear on a large percentage of motorway miles. A maximum of 130kph (81mph) is recommended. Speed limits of 130kph (81mph) or 100kph (62mph) apply outside built-up areas and 50kph (30mph) in towns. Traffic drives on the right. Seat belts must be worn at all times and children under 12 are forbidden to travel in the front seat without a child restraint. The legal maximum alcohol to blood ratio for driving is 0.05%.
The minimum age for driving is 18 years. Foreign drivers require proof of insurance and their national driving license - a Green Card is strongly recommended. A country identification sticker must be displayed on the vehicle.
In Munich,
Mitfahrzentralen (agencies that link motorists with travelers heading for the same destination) include
Citynetz Mitfahrzentrale, Adalbertstrasse 10 (tel: (089) 194 44; website:
www.citynetz-mitfahrzentrale.de) and
Mitfahrzentrale Hauptbahnhof, Lämmerstrasse 4-6 (tel: (089) 19440).
General information on traveling by car in Germany can be obtained from the
Allgemeine Deutsche Automobil Club (
ADAC) (tel: (0180) 510 1112); website:
www.adac.de).
Emergency breakdown service:
ADAC (tel: (0180) 222 2222).
Routes to the city: The A9 runs south to Munich from Berlin via Würzburg and Nuremberg, the A92 from Passau enters the city from the northeast, while the A96 from Lindau is to the west, connecting with the A1 to Zurich. From the Alps, the main route is the A95. From Salzburg, the A8 heads northwest via Munich towards Ulm, Stuttgart and Karlsruhe, where it connects with the A5 to Frankfurt. Motorways from all directions converge on the
Mittlerer Ring (middle ring road).
Approximate driving times to Munich: From Salzburg - 1 hour 40 minutes; Zurich - 3 hours 30 minutes; Frankfurt - 4 hours 10 minutes.
Coach services: Deutsche Touring GmbH (tel: (089) 8898 9513; website:
www.deutsche-touring.com) operates international
Eurolines services between Munich and numerous European destinations. Coaches depart from Munich Hauptbahnhof, Bahnhofsplatz 2
. Tickets are available for purchase at the station or on the bus.
Getting There By Rail:Deutsche Bahn (
DB) (tel: 11861
or 0800 150 7090; website:
www.bahn.de) is the national service provider. Germany’s rail network is modern, extensive and highly efficient. National and international services include high-speed InterCityExpress (ICE) trains, which run between major cities in Germany and further afield, InterCity (IC) and EuroCity (EC) trains, which serve cities in Germany and Europe respectively, and InterRegio trains, which link different regions of the country. DB offers a number of rail passes, including the Bayern-Ticket, valid for one day’s travel on local trains throughout Bavaria and on the
MVV public transport system.
Munich Hauptbahnhof
(central station) is situated at Bahnhofsplatz 2, in the center of the city. Information on pan-European rail travel is available in English from the
EurAide office (tel: (089) 593 889; website:
www.euraide.com), in room 3, along platform 11. Facilities at the station are extensive and include a hotel, shops, travel bureaux, left luggage, cafés, restaurants, bicycle hire, a children’s museum, Internet café, showers, a pharmacy, hairdresser, bureau de change, newsagents, a bank, chapel and first aid.
Rail services: There is an ICE service daily, from Dortmund via Düsseldorf, Cologne and Mannheim, from Hamburg via Hanover and Kassel, as well as from Berlin via Frankfurt and Stuttgart or via Nuremberg. The ICE-Sprinter between Frankfurt and Munich takes 3 hours 30 minutes. A sleeper service, the InterCityNight (ICN), runs between Munich and Berlin or Hamburg (journey time - 8 hours). InterRegio trains run from Dresden to Munich. International services arrive from Salzburg, Lindau and Venice, via Innsbruck (journey time - 7 hours). The fastest EC service to/from Paris takes 8 hours 40 minutes.
Getting Around:
Public TransportThe comprehensive transport network is run by the
Münchener Verkehrs- und Tarifverbund GmbH (
MVV) (tel: (089) 210 330; website:
www.mvv-muenchen.de/en). This consists of an integrated system of 20
Strassenbahn (
tram) lines, more than 80
bus lines, eight
U-Bahn (
underground) lines and eight
S-Bahn (
suburban train) lines. The area covered by the MVV is divided into concentric zones.
All transport runs daily 0500-0100, with additional hourly services on night buses and trams 0100-0500. Tickets are available for purchase from blue ticket machines marked with the MVV logo and from other ticket outlets. Tickets must be validated in blue
Entwerter machines, marked with the letter ‘E’, upon boarding - except on new trams, for which pre-validated tickets are available.
Both 1-day and 3-day passes are available and up to five adults traveling together can save money by buying group tickets (Partner Tickets).
TaxisTaxis are usually beige Mercedes and can be safely hailed on the street.
Taxi-München (tel: (01733) 825 038; website:
www.taxi-muenchen-online.de/engl) is the central dispatching service. A tip of 5-10% is common practice.
Driving in the CityTraffic can be heavy, particularly during rush hour (roughly 0700-0900 and 1600-1800) and parking is often problematic. Drivers should note that trams always have priority in the city, although driving on their tracks is permissible and usually unavoidable. Buses have priority when leaving stops.
The most useful car parks include those at Karlsplatz, particularly towards Munich Hauptbahnhof, and at Färbergraben, just south of the pedestrianized Kaufingerstrasse
.Car HireDrivers need to be at least 21 years old to hire a category one car. Nevertheless, small cars, such as a Smart car, can be hired at 18 years. Insurance in Germany is mandatory and drivers must hold a valid national driving license.
There are numerous car hire firms, both at the airport and in the city. Central locations of representative major providers, with late hours, include
Avis, Im Hauptbahnhof (tel: (089) 550 2251/2; website:
www.avis.de) and
Hertz, Bahnhofsplatz 2 (tel: (089) 550 2256; website:
www.hertz.de).
Autoverleih Sander, Leopoldstrasse 107 (tel: (089) 348 046; website:
www.sander-autoverleih.de) is a local alternative.
Bicycle HireCall A Bike (tel: 0700 0522 5522; website:
www.callabike.de), operated by DB, has bikes spread over Munich. By calling the number (above), a credit card account is set up, which enables customers to release the electronically locked bike by inputting a pin code. When finished, the cyclist returns the bike to a bike rack, situated near major intersections. The appropriate fee is then deducted from the credit card. Once an account and pin code are set up, any available bike can be used at any time.
Bikes can be hired in the ordinary way from May to October, at
Radius Touristik, in Munich Hauptbahnhof, opposite platform 32 (tel: (089) 5502 9374; website:
www.radiusmunich.com). The company also offers maps and advice and can organize tours if reserved beforehand.
Spurwechsel, Sankt-Martin-Strasse 9 (tel: (089) 692 4699; website:
www.spurwechsel-muenchen.de), also hires out bicycles.
Allround Auto- und Motorradvermietung GmbH, Boschetsriederstrasse 12 (tel: (089) 723 2343; website:
www.allroundrent.de), hires out cars, motorbikes and scooters.
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