While we are in MUC for Chrismas, we want to take a trip to Berlin also. We are going to land in MUC and go straight to Berlin for two days. Can you please link me to some information on the trains that I should take from the airport and how much I might be looking at spending?

I will have a total of 5 people in my party and it will be good the train station is right in the airport and at the Hilton I will be staying at in MUC.

Any further information would be a great help.

Thanks in advance.

Also, would it be best to get the Euro's before I leave the states or just get them there? Good idea to use the credit cards or just Euro's for the complete trip? I know I used to use dollars when I was stationed there many years ago and that was with the Mark so I'm not sure if it's the same way now or not.

Thanks again for all your help.

Try this address. You'll be able to organize everything yourself.
http://www.bahn.de/-S:PtVOZ9:d2T0Y9N...l_guests.shtml

I would get Euros at the ATM at Munich airport uponm arrival. Check with your bank which card is going to be cheaper in terms of exchange rate and fees.
Make sure you make one larger withdrawal instead of many small ones.

Hope you enjoy your time in Germany.

Log onto http://www.bahn.de/ and click onto English on the left hand side. You can get significant discounts on tickets if you buy ahead, have several people travelling and/or travel non peak/weekend times.

I've spent a fair amount of time in the country and found the train a lot cheaper than planes, in addition to the time savings/security hassles. Also, the central stations of each major city are a cinch to get to rather than the airports, especially in Munich.

That said, it once took me 12 hours to get from Berlin to Munich, however this was for 20DM, and I went via about 7 other cities.

Hi!

You should also have a look at www.flydba.de or www.lufthansa.de. If you book well in advance you should get cheap flights there. Both sites are available in english! Flying to Berlin (usually TXL) takes about an hour... compare to time you loose while travelling by train...

Is time travelling by train really "lost time" - especially when it's somewhere you've never been? You get to see a lot more on a train, and I always find that I'm a lot more "in touch" with a place when I explore it by train rather than going everywhere by air.

One more idea would be to check www.nachtzugreise.de - this is the homepage of the night-train-services of Deutsche Bahn (German Railroads). If you have a chance to do so, you could save the money you normally spent for a night in a hotel and use the Nighttrain instead of. If you dont mind to sleep in a couchette, their cheapest fares begin with 29 Euro per trip.

Thanks for all the good information. I tried to get prices for the trip but it says I'm too far out to price. I don't think 6 hrs is too long a time on a train and we can see some very nice views from the train. Since the family has not been to Germany before (I lived there for almost 10 years a long time ago) I think the train would be the best bet.

Does anyone know how I can find out the pricings now instead of waiting a few months? I might have to wait but just wanted to see if there were other options out there I didn't see.

Thanks again.

Try to find out prices after June 24th. I enquired this afternoon, they'll start to take reservations 6 months in advance.

MUC is a snap to get to via the S1 or the Lufthansa airport shuttle ... I've done the former once and the latter three times so far. No fuss, no muss.

Hey NCRBILL,

since you still seem to be monitoring your threads on Munich, I just wanted to add a few tips.
I agree that taking a train from Munich to Berlin will be much more fun than flying, especially if you haven�t yet been to the former East and your family hasn�t been to the country. Just make sure that you are taking the train called ICE (short for intercity express), and that you�re getting the direct connection which takes about 6 to 7 hours. The ICE is incomparably nicer than the ICs or ECs (though not much more expensive) and you can have dinner with your family in the restaurant car, if you want.
If you�re chosing to go by train, it would also be best to reserve seats - the trains can sometimes be very crowded. If you�re a group of 5, you could, for example, reserve a compartment with 5 or 6 seats. Otherwise, the cars have a 2-2 constellation with a couple of 3- and 4-seat tables, you can chose between smoking/non-smoking, a children�s compartment, a quiet zone and one with heightened reception for cells.
Pricewise, it depends on the age of your children. They travel for free if they�re under 15, but only if they�re entered in your itinerary. Regular adult tickets MUC-BER-MUC are 200 Euro in 2nd class.
Enjoy your trip!

a few years ago I took my wife for a weekend in GErmany - munich, berlin, dusseldorf. we spent the first day in munich, then the night train to berlin, then a night train to dusseldorf.

I would recomend the night train - I take it all the time for work, but for somebody who hasn't done it it can be a real adventure. it gets you right down town in berlin, early in the morning, and this way you don't waste any siteseeing time. the rooms are pretty comfortable, the big problem is that not all the trains have showers, so you either have to not care about showing in the morning or check into your hotel early (or use the nr. clean showers in the berlin train station, which isn't a bad option).

Don't forget that it gets dark VERY early in December, around 4PM. After that, no scenery at all outside the window....