Munich
Munich, located at the river Isar in the south of Bavaria, is famous for its beautiful architecture, fine culture, and the annual Oktoberfest beer celebration. Munich’s cultural scene is second to none in Germany, with the museums even considered by some to outrank Berlin in quality. Many travelers to Munich are absolutely stunned by the quality of the architecture. Although it was heavily damaged by allied bombing during World War II, many of its historic buildings have been rebuilt and the city center appears mostly as it did in the late 1800s including its largest church, the Frauenkirche, and the famous city hall (Neues Rathaus).
Munich is a major international center of business, engineering, research and medicine exemplified by the presence of two research universities, a multitude of smaller colleges, headquarters of several multinational companies and worldclass technology and science museums like the Deutsches Museum and BMW Museum. It is Germany’s most prosperous city and makes it repeatedly into the top 10 of global quality-of-life rankings. Munich’s ability to stay at the forefront of technological developments and maintain its cultural heritage is often summarized in the chracterization as a city of “laptop and lederhosen”.
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Munich International Airport is located 30 km (18 miles) north-east of Munich, close to the city Freising. Originally, the airport was closer to the city center in Riem. However, in 1992 it was moved to its current location to meet the demand for more capacity and modern facilities. Due to the constantly increasing number of flights, the airport has continued to expand since then and now offers connections to most airports in Germany and Europe, as well as many intercontinental destinations. Intercontinental destinations include Abu Dhabi, Atlanta, Bangkok, Beijing, Boston, Cairo, Charlotte, Chicago, Delhi, Doha, Dubai, Hong Kong, Jakarta, Jeddah, Johannesburg, Los Angeles, Mexico City, Montréal, Mumbai, Muscat, New York, Osaka, Philadelphia, Riyadh, San Francisco, São Paulo, Seoul, Shanghai, Singapore, Tel Aviv, Tokyo, Washington and many others.
In 2011, Munich Airport has been named the winner of the “Best Airport in Europe” award for the third year in a row based on an worldwide survey of close to eight million passengers. Passengers also ranked Munich #4 in the global rankings behind three Asian hubs.
Terminal 1
All airlines, which are not members of the Star Alliance, including the second largest German carrier Air Berlin, are based in Terminal 1. It is segmented into five modules A, B, C, D, E and F. Module F is used for high risk flights only – right now those are only flights to and from Israel. The Terminal has multiple levels: The train station is on level 2; the passenger transport system, which connects the modules, is on level 3; check-in counters, security checkpoints, arrival areas, customs and most restaurants are on level 4 (ground floor); level 5 is used by passengers with connecting flights.
Terminal 2
Terminal 2 hosts Lufthansa and its Star Alliance partners, e.g. Air Canada, Air China, All Nippon Airways, Egypt Air, SAS, Singapore Airlines, South African Airways, Swiss, Thai, Turkish Airlines, United Airlines and US Airways. It is also used by additional Lufthansa partners such as Qatar Airways, PrivatAir and some regional partner airlines. Terminal 2 consists of the central plaza, Pier North, and Pier South. Terminal 2 also has multiple levels: The arrival area and some check-in counters (e.g. United and Turkish) are on level 3; all other check-in counters, the security check-points and duty-free shops are on level 4; the visitor deck as well as restaurants and art exhibitions can be found on level 5.
Munich Airport Center
The Munich Airport Center (MAC) is a recreation and service center at the airport located between terminals 1 and 2. It includes a shopping mall, restaurants, a medical center, the conference center municon and the MAC-Forum. The MAC-Forum is Europe’s largest roofed outdoor-area, which is used for various events like a christmas fair and ice-skating in winter and a beach volleyball tournament in summer. Located next to the Munich Airport Center is the Kempinski Hotel Airport Munich.
- Train
The airport connects to central Munich by suburban train (S-Bahn) on the S1 and S8 line. The S1 runs to Munich Central Station via the northern and western districts of Munich, while the S8 serves the eastern districts before arriving at Munich Central Station.The journey in 2014 costs €10.40 for a single ticket, €11.70 for a day pass (valid until 6AM the following day), or €21.30 for a partner ticket (valid for up to five adult people or ten children). Trains run every 5-20 min and take about 40 min to reach the central station. Like many European cities, the train system runs on an honor system, with a €40 fine if you are caught without a validated ticket. For more information see the get around section. A slightly cheaper option is to buy a Tageskarte Außenraum (daypass for the city’s outskirts; single: €6.00, partner: €11.20) and then an additional single ticket (€2.60 per person) for the trip into the inner city. If traveling from the airport, the latter ticket only has to be validated in Feldmoching station, which means that you can only travel using the S1 train. You’ll have to exit (or change for the subway train) in Feldmoching. If traveling from downtown to the airport, you can just validate both tickets and the restriction does not apply anymore.
- Bus
Lufthansa also runs an Airport Bus to and from Munich Central Station that is comparably priced. - Taxi
Taxis to the center will cost about €50 and take around 40 minutes.
