Due to its privileged location in the middle of Europe and its relevant position as the third biggest city in Germany, Munich is a very well-connected city.
The natural arrival point is the international Munich Airport, which is a hub for Lufthansa Airlines and hosts flights from many major airlines to a long list of countries around the world. A smaller, further-away airport, the Memmingen Airport, hosts flights from low-cost airlines to many European destinations. Also, the city of Munich is well connected by highway, with a possibility to easily arrive by road from neighbouring countries such as Switzerland, Italy, and Austria. Additionally, Munich’s Hauptbanhof central train station hosts a wide range of train lines that connect the city with the rest of Germany as well as the neighbouring countries with high-speed trains. Finally, Munich’s central bus station (ZOB) also hosts a series of low-cost bus lines including international lines to a variety of Eastern European countries.
Airports
Munich’s Franz Josef Strauß Airport (MUC), located 28 km north of Munich, offers a myriad of international flights from various airlines and serves as a hub for Lufthansa. Being the second-busiest airport in Germany, it transports nearly 50 million passengers per year.
It is connected to Munich’s city centre by public transport with the S-Band light rail services through lines S1 and S8. Trains depart every 20 minutes and reach the city centre in 40 minutes. The Lufthansa express bus, running every 20 minutes as well, connects the airport with the Hauptbahnhof central train station. Additionally, the airport is well connected by the A92 highway.
Another nearby airport, which hosts low-cost carriers such as Ryanair and WizzAir flying to different European airports is the Memmingen Airport. The Allgäu-Airport-Express bus directly connects the Hauptbahnhof central train station with the airport in 1 hour 20 minutes.
Hauptbahnhof central train station
Munich’s central train station offers high-speed, long-distance and regional train services to most German cities (Hamburg, Berlin, Dortmund, Cologne, Frankfurt, Karlsruhe, and Stuttgart are reachable with the high-speed ICE) as well as French (Paris is reachable with the TGV), Hungarian (Budapest with the RJX), Austrian (Salzburg with the RJ/EC), Italian (Bologna with the EC), and Swiss (Zurich with the ECE) cities.
The recent introduction of the NightJet enables even further-distance trips including Brussels, Vienna, Venice, or Zagreb at competitive fares and with a lower carbon footprint compared to air travel.
ZOB central bus station
Munich’s central bus station (ZOB) is located near the central train station (Hauptbahnhof). It offers a myriad of low-cost bus connections, from companies such as Flixbus or RegioJet, to German cities like Berlin and Hamburg, and to other European cities like Innsbruck, Prague, Zurich, or Zagreb, with a special coverage of Eastern European countries.
Highways
Munich is also very well connected by highways, going to important German cities such as Stuttgart (A8), connecting to the rest of Bavaria (A9, A92, A94, A95), and through Salzburg (A8) to Austria, Switzerland, and Italy.