Munich travel information

Chris_533976

Hi folks, me and two others are going to Munich later this year for a week. We dont really want to hire a car and are going to rely on public transport. Theres a lot out there, U and S bahns, trams and buses, but its all a bit confusing and mostly in German.

Anyone been there that can give first hand experience?

We have a hotel in Munich, wondering what the integrated ticketing options are etc and how pricing is done. Been checking out some websites, this is a reasonable one but is badly implemented in English - http://www.mvv-muenchen.de/en/

Also we are looking to take the train to Nuremberg on one day, but that seems very expensive having looked at www.bahn.de . Are we looking in the right place?

I always say first hand information and experience is better than a pile of websites, anyone got that experience and can tell me lots about Public Transport and how to use it in Munich?

Thanks.

Wrommij

You can get a "Bayern Ticket" for €29 from a ticket counter or €27 from a ticket machine, allowing virtually unlimited travel (ICE/express trains require a supplement) for one day within Bavaria for (I think) up to five people. That will certainly cover all three of you.

http://www.bahn.de/p/view/international/englisch/travelservice/laender_tickets.shtml

For travel within Munich, the "Partner Tageskarte", available from ticket machines allows unlimited travel for up to five persons for one day within Munich.

http://www.mvv-muenchen.de/en/home/fahrgastinformation/tickets-preise/tickets/tageskarten/partner-tageskarten/preis/index.html

The staff of the railway are very helpful. At the airport, there will probably be a representative of MVV or DB there to help you. In my experience, it is easier to buy the ticket when you get there. I was there during the Oktoberfest this year and had no problems using the Bayern Ticket for an unreserved trip to Salzburg.

murphaph

There's an MVV/DB counter in Munich airport just beside where you get the train into town. They will look after you if you tell them your plans.

I'm not sure a Partner Tageskarte will be the cheapest. Is there a Partner Wochenkarte? If not it may still be cheaper to get a Wochenkarte (weekly ticket) depending on what day you arrive because Munich weekly tickets run Monday-Sunday, not for 7 days from first validation like (I think) Berlin. This infuruated me a few times when I arrived on a Wednesday for a week, only to buy 2 x 3 day tickets and a 1 day ticket which worked out a good bit more expensive than a simpe weekly ticket aimed at locals.

It'll still be very cheap compared to here. 3 day tickets used to cost just 11 euro and of course, they are valid on everything including Nachtverkehr (night transit).

munchkin_utd

Munich has a quite complicated system of tickets I'll admit. The main premise though is that single tickets are almost always something you dont want to consider. Weekly tickets are good value BUT are only valid from Monday to Sunday so arent an option for anyone over for a long weekend.

I normally get anyone visiting Munich to simply get day tickets as they go, and a group day ticket if theres more than one visiting. You can wreck your head trying to figure the best combination of tickets, but the day tickets are still great value, offer unlimited travel, and if you are in a group the partner tickets are a "No Brainer" (as you yank-ified irish are now saying ).

All you need to know about the day tickets apart from that is that, (for day ticket purposes) the city is divided into an inner zone and an outer zone(incl. the airport). There are day tickets for each of these zones AND also a ticket that covers inner+outer zones called "Gesamtnetzt".

Pricewise here's the prices of the day tickets; Gesamtnetz to get your group from the airport to the hotel is 18 euro, Inner city for your group to potter about the city all day is 9 euro. Ignore all other information as that is likely only to confuse the living sh*te out of you!
http://www.mvv-muenchen.de/en/home/fahrgastinformation/tickets-preise/prices/index.html#Fahrpreise Tageskarten
So for the group of 3 thats only 3 euro/ day for unlimited travel on U-bahn/ Suburban/ tram and busses within the city (which in Dublin terms would be out as far as Tallaght, if Dublin were Munich).

To clarify some questions from previous posts.

Is there a Partner Wochenkarte?

No there isnt.

You can get a "Bayern Ticket" for €29 from a ticket counter or €27 from a ticket machine, allowing virtually unlimited travel (ICE/express trains require a supplement) for one day within Bavaria for (I think) up to five people. That will certainly cover all three of you.

Prices/ group info is right. ICE/ IC trains are NOT covered though, not even with a suppliment.
An up to date leaflet on the bayern ticket, and the various variations of the thing, can be found here: (scroll down for english)
http://www.bahn.de/regional/view/mdb/pv/dbregio/ausfluege/bayern/bayern_ticket/bayern_ticket_2007/MDB40467-tarifflyer_4_sprachig_okt_07.pdf
Most places within 2 to 3 hours of Munich are served with an hourly regional train now, so unless you are heading to the very far corners of Bavaria, not being able to use intercity trains isnt much of an issue.

Also we are looking to take the train to Nuremberg on one day.....

You can use the Bayern ticket to Nürnberg no bother. I've attached the timetable for trains which you can use with the Bayern Ticket between Munich and Nuermberg, though the trains before 9am you cant take on workdays. Theres a new regional train service that runs on the High Speed line which is also covered by the Baern ticket, and it convienently leaves munich just after 9 when the Bayern Ticket becomes valid!
And heres a nifty little wiki article on the service
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M%C3%BCnchen-N%C3%BCrnberg-Express

Chris_533976

Thats fantastic stuff, thanks very much