Travel to Munich

Flying to Munich

Airlines operating direct flights to Munich from the UK include British Airways, easyJet, bmi regional and Lufthansa. Cheap flights are available year-round if you book well in advance. Lufthansa and United offer direct flights from the USA.

Flight times

From London - 1 hour 50 minutes; New York - 8 hours; Los Angeles - 11 hours 30 minutes; Toronto - 8 hours; Sydney - 22 hours 30 minutes.

Travel by road

Germany has an excellent network of roads and motorways. Generally, there are no speed limits on much of the motorway network, but individually marked speed limits appear on a large percentage of motorway miles. A maximum of 130kph (81mph) is recommended.

On normal roads, speed limits are 100kph (62mph) outside built-up areas, and 50kph (31mph) or 30kph (19mph) in built-up areas. Traffic drives on the right and the minimum age for driving is 18 years. Foreign drivers require their national driving licence and proof of insurance. Third-party insurance is mandatory, but a Green Card is strongly recommended. A country identification sticker must be displayed on the vehicle.

General information on travelling by car in Germany is available from the Allgemeine Deutsche Automobil-Club (ADAC) (tel: 0800 510 1112, in Germany only; www.adac.de).

Emergency breakdown services

ADAC (tel: +49 180 222 2222).

Routes

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).

Coaches

Eurolines (tel: +49 6196 207 8501; www.eurolines.de) operates international coach services between Munich and numerous European destinations. Coaches depart from Munich Hauptbahnhof, Bahnhofsplatz 2. 

Time to city

From London - 12 hours; Berlin - 5 hours 20 minutes; Frankfurt - 4 hours 15 minutes, Hanover - 6 hours 15 minutes; Nuremberg - 2 hours; Stuttgart - 2 hours 45 minutes; Paris - 8 hours; Vienna - 4 hours 30 minutes; Venice - 5 hours 30 minutes; Zurich - 3 hours 30 minutes.

Travel by Rail

Services

Germany's rail network is modern, extensive and highly efficient. Munich Hauptbahnhof (central station) is situated at Bahnhofsplatz 2, in the centre of the city. Information on pan-European rail travel is available in English from the EurAide office behind the Deutsche Bahn Reisezentrum.

Operators

Deutsche Bahn (DB) (tel: +49 180 699 6633; www.bahn.de) is the national train service provider. 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 Länder-Tickets, valid for one day's travel on local trains throughout Bavaria.

Daily ICE services include: Dortmund (via Düsseldorf, Cologne and Mannheim); Hamburg (via Hanover and Kassel); and Berlin (via Frankfurt and Stuttgart, or Nuremberg). A sleeper service, the ÖBB Nightjet (www.oebb.at/de/angebote-ermaessigungen/nightjet), runs between Munich and Düsseldorf or Hamburg. There's also an overnight train to Rome. International services arrive from Vienna, Zurich and Venice via Innsbruck.

Journey times

From London - 9 hours (including change in Paris); Paris - 6 hours; Berlin - 6 hours; Dortmund - 5 hours 20 minutes; Hamburg - 5 hours 30 minutes; Innsbruck - 1 hour 45 minutes; Rome - 12 hours.