The second I clicked the "Submit Reply" - Button I knew that somebody would tell me where he is staying and that the S8 will be the better option :D

Help me please.
 

I am doing a MR to Munich this March- never been there before- on AA. Last year I did Frankfurt and had no problems figuring out for myself. But this time I am arriving and departing from two different locations. I arrive ZMU at about 4 P.M. (on the weekend) and am departing the next morning from MUC at 7 A.M.. I have been trying to find out what I can (Google and Flyertalk) but I'm not sure what the German name for ZMU is and I'm getting a bunch of different names for different stations. Is there a subway between ZMU and MUC, what is it and how long does it take? I would like to stay at a (preferably a Marriott chain) hotel (if it make sense to) either close to ZMU and take a subway to MUC early in the morning or whatever makes the most sense- should I go straight to the airport and sleep near there? I really don't grasp the train situation at all and all suggestions/explanations/plans on where to stay (or not to stay) would be very very much appreciated. Thank you.

Without knowning your flight numbers I have a very strong feeling that your inbound flight will go into Frankfurt and they put you on a train to ZMU. ZMU is the AA code for the Central Munich Train Station whereas MUC is Munich Airport.

Assuming I am right, this is what you should do:

Make your reservation either at the Munich Marriott or the Munich Renaissance. They are in five minutes walking distance from each other. To get to these hotels, take any S-Bahn (from the underground railway station) at ZMU (Munich Central Station) to MARIENPLATZ. There you change to the U-Bahn U6 (Subway) to the direction of FRÖTTMANING or GARCHING FORSCHUNGSZENTRUM. Get of the train at Nordfriedhof and you will be directly at the Renaissance and five minutes from the Marriott. For the S-Bahn and the U-Bahn you need one ticket for 2,10 Euro. Depending on what you plan to do that day buy a daypass. If you plan to do nothing but flying, have a "stopover" at MARIENPLATZ. You are in the heart of the beautiful town and close to HOFBRÄUHAUS. Enjoy.

On your way back you can take the Airport Bus which departs five minutes walking distance from the hotel (you have to crosss the huge ring road) and will take you directly into MUC in about 25 minutes.

http://www.airportbus-muenchen.de/cm...ome/index.html

Good luck!
Thomas

You arrive on AA at ZMU (stands for Munich??) If it is on AA I bet it's the main station (train) in Munich as AA has a cooperation with the German Railway company (AA flies into Frankfurt), the rest goes by train.

The train from Munich train station to MUC airport takes about 45 minutes. Now it's up to you to figure out where you want to stay and what do you want to do with your time, when to get up, etc.

Both, Marriott and Renaissance are 9 minutes by subway from Marienplatz AND both hotels are on the second stop for the Airport Bus taking you to the airport in 25 minutes and minimizing the risk of delays caused by traffic (because you both hotels are close to the Autobahn to the airport). Appears to be more convenient for an early start.

I did not think about the Courtyard. Could be a choice too. The Courtyard is two stops on the S-Bahn (not: the tramway) from Marienplatz. From there it will take you 45 to 50 minutes to MUC either by S-Bahn (prefereably S8 or alternatively S1, both with departures every 20 minutes) or on the Bus. Cost is 10 Euro for the bus an 8.80 Euro for the train. Train has a tendency to be more predictable.

An alternate would be to stay at the Courtyard by Marriott, which is within walking distance from ZMU/Hauptbahnhof/Main Railway Station. It's probably not as nice as the Marriott or Renaissance, in a busier (potentially noisier) area but would put you a quick tram ride or 20 min walk from Marienplatz.
I second the recommendation for the airport bus recommended above. It leaves from the just outside the Hauptbahnhof (on Arnulfstrasse) around every 20 min and you can purchase your ticket on the bus.

Thank you
 

Thank you, thank you, thank you, all for your suggestions. Yes, I am flying into FRA and taking the train to ZMU. I am still deciding which way to go- stay at the Courtyard and be in the middle of things or to go to the Renaissance- more peaceful and closer to the airport (have to be up early in the morning- about 4:30 a.m.- does that sound right for a 7 a.m. flight to LHR?) so I made reservations for both the Courtyard and Renaissance till I decide. Thanks so much for the details about the trains. I hope I'll be able to do them- I speak no German at all. I'll write down the names and hopefully somebody will speak English if necessary, is that realistic? Also, what is "underground railway station" is that mean as opposed to a tram or are there two subway systems there or something? I still have a couple months to decide so I may be back for more questions as I finalize my plans. Once again, thanks again for your help

Munich has four public transport systems:

1. S-Bahn = fastest of the four, going underground and elevated outside the city - only one that goes all the way out to the airport
2. Tram (also knows as Straßenbahn) = street cars in the center of the city
3. bus (no explanation needed)
4. U-Bahn = subway (95% underground)

Also, regular trains go all over Germany but they do not belong to the public transportation system of the city.

It is very likely that you will meet people who speak English in Germany. The quality might not be perfect but in most cases quite OK to get along with and get some decent information. Especially at larger train stations, at the airport, hotel, etc. people are trained to help you in English. Also, people on the street are familiar with the language (especially younger people as English is mandatory in school starting in early grades)

You will for sure not run into any problems. On arrival in FRA you follow the signs to "FERNBAHNHOF (LONG DISTANCE TRAIN STATION) and board your ICE train. On arrival in Munich Central Station (MÜNCHEN HBF) you follow the signs to "S" which leads you to a railway station literally directly under Munich Central Station (MÜNCHEN HBF). It is signposted with a white letter "S" on green ground. Easy. The U-Bahn (Subway) is a seperate System and it is signposted with a white letter "U" on green ground.

With getting up at 4.30 your are on the very safe side. At this time of the day no train or bus should need more than 40 minutes. Munich is an airport known for a great layout. It is my policy to leave Central Munich 90 (- 5/+15) minutes before departure.


And you can check all of this on www.mvv-muenchen.de. And believe me or not, there is even an English version.

Hey there--

When in March are you doing your MR? I'm thinking of doing another one in Feb/Mar, to get a head-start on miles for next year. If you share your info, I can try to go at the same time.

As the others have said, and I'll share from my very limited experience, MUC is a great airport to get in/out of. Especially if you are flying directly to/from the U.S. from there, compared with FRA or LHR, MUC is a breeze.

The language thing is pretty easy. I took 3 or 4 semesters of German in college, and was surprised that I could communicate as much as I could. If I was in doubt, I'd politely ask (in German) if they spoke English. The response was usually, "A little," but their definition of, "A little," meant quite well. If you get a chance, I'd recommend you go onto Wiki books, there's a few German texts there, you can learn some phrases and/or print out (studying German helped me sleep on the long PHL-MUC flight). This link should get you started:
http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Wikibooks:German_bookshelf
Also, if you have an iPod (or even if you just use iTunes), there are several podcasts for studying German available for free. I think I did a search for, "German Language," and found at least a dozen. One was pretty interesting, it got into sports, such as skiing and cycling terms. Since you have over 3 months, you should be able to learn some basics. Again, I listened to some Podcasts while I tried sleeping on the plane, you could even listen in your car before you go.

What kind of pricing are you getting for the Marriott-branded properties in MUC? I do the HHonors program, but when I went, the 2 Hiltons were way too much for a mileage run (160E+/night). I ended up at a local hotel, certainly not extravagent, but served my needs for while I was there (and at 53E/night).

Good luck, and let me know if you need anything else.

what I got
 

I am leaving the Feb. 29th and returning March 2nd. I am going from Florida through Dallas and Chicago to FRA and returning through Los Angeles back home to FL. Doing it all on AA for a grand total of $453 (all in) for a total of
almost 14,700 miles not counting the trains codeshare miles.

Was able to get the Renaissance for 76E all in.

Wow, that's a great deal. The best I can find on US for close to those dates is $547 all-in, about 13k miles (2/28 PHX-CLT-FRA-MUC, arrive 3/1; 3/3 MUC-PHL-LAS-PHX). I could use a cheaper UA/LH combo (PHX-LAX-MUC), but US only gives 50% miles on LH S class. US is also doing a 10k bonus miles deal with Mastercard....The MUC Hilton is actually only 99E, which isn't bad (I just booked it, just in case). I'll keep my eye on this and get back to you if I book air.

Will be there Saturday the 29th if anyone is around - I'll definitely need a beer or three after 12 hours in LH coach (middle seat no less). :(

Unless of course my $7 Godiva chocolates are tradeable for a C seat... in which case, :D

Planning on lunch somewhere, dinner at the restaurant across from the HBf that's part of Eden Hotel Wolf. Haven't picked a hotel yet, but likely to be the aforementioned EHW or a Holiday Inn or Hilton. If you're bored on Saturday or need into the LH lounges, feel free to PM me... :)

Happy New Year, All!

Sean

More Munich questions
 

1. Looking at 3 day partner. Is Andechs in the inner district? Looked at web site but still not sure.

2. Augustiner Braeu - What would the the location closest to the Munich City Hilton and how far a walk would that be? I know that the comments from this forum seem to refer to the Augustiner by the Haufbrau Haus but if another is closer to our hotel are they all good?

Thanks everyone. Will be there next week. The coolest thing is that while telling a cousin about our quick trip to Munich I discovered that he and his brother in law were going to be in Europe at the same time so they set up their trip to meet us in Munich for next weekend. ^^

Danke,

Gwen

No, Andechs is not in the inner district. It is really some distance away from the City. Andechs will take you at least half a day maybe longer.

I think the Augustinerbräu in Neuhauserstr. 27 (Downtown) would be the closest. I think you can walk or you take the S-bahn from Rosenheimer Platz to Karlsplatz(Stachus).