Arrivals
A Munich layover is worth leaving the airport for from about 6 hours: the ride into town takes 36 minutes each way, which rules out anything shorter.
Munich Airport (MUC) lies well outside the city, so the train is the long part of the trip. Its S-Bahn station is under the Munich Airport Center, the covered plaza between Terminals 1 and 2, and both terminals walk down to the same platforms.
- Your terminal. Lufthansa flies from Terminal 2 and many other airlines from Terminal 1, so check your boarding pass. Terminal 2’s gates J, K and L are in the Satellite, a minute away on an underground shuttle train. From either terminal, follow the S-Bahn signs; allow about 7 minutes from the terminal to the platform.
- Bags. On one ticket, checked bags normally go straight through to your next flight. On separate tickets you collect them after passport control; the Service Center in the Munich Airport Center or Terminal 2 keeps a suitcase for €8 for up to 5 hours.
- Tickets. Buy one Airport-City-Day-Ticket, €17.50, before you board. It covers the S-Bahn there and back and every U-Bahn, tram and bus in town until 6am the next day. Two to five adults travelling together pay €32.60 for the group version. From 1 January 2027 they cost €18.50 and €33.90. Buy it at the machines in the airport station or in the MVV app.
- Phone. Wi-Fi is free in the terminals: choose “Free Wifi – Munich Airport” and sign in with an email address. An eSIM set up before you fly keeps maps working in town.
Left luggage, showers and rooms: at the airport.
eSIM
Data before you land
A Germany eSIM set up at home means maps and MVV's journey planner work the moment you land, and keep working on Marienplatz, well beyond the airport's free Wi-Fi.
Get an eSIM from Airalo (opens in a new tab)Get a Saily eSIM (opens in a new tab)
Border
Most Western passports walk out with no visa; whether you queue at all depends on where your flight came from.
Not needed when you stay airside.
- Schengen, in brief. Germany is in the Schengen area, the group of countries (most of the EU, plus Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland) that don’t check passports between them. Fly in from outside it, from London, Dubai or New York, and you clear passport control in Munich. Fly in from inside it, from Paris or Vienna, and you walk out with no check, then meet one on the way back if your next flight leaves Schengen.
- No visa needed. US, UK, EU, Canadian and Australian passports, for a short stay. Your passport must be valid for 3 months beyond the day you leave and less than 10 years old.
- India and other visa passports. You need a Schengen short-stay visa to leave the airport, arranged before you travel.
- Staying airside. Between two flights outside Schengen, you normally stay in the gate area and meet no passport control. Nationals of 20 countries, among them Pakistan and Nigeria, need an airport transit visa even so.
- Time. Allow about an hour from landing to the train. Non-EU visitors are now registered with fingerprints and a photo, which slows the queue; where you see self-service kiosks before the desks, use one to enter your details first. A long queue costs you time in town, never your flight: the time you head back stays the same.
Who needs which visa: visa and transit rules.
Into Munich
The S8 is the way in: a train every 20 minutes, 36 minutes to Marienplatz, the square at the heart of the old town.
Not needed when you stay airside.
| Ride | Into town | Fare |
|---|---|---|
| S-Bahn S8 to Marienplatz, the best for most | 36 minutes | €17.50 day ticket, there and back (€18.50 from 1 January 2027) |
| S-Bahn S1 to Marienplatz | 43 to 47 minutes | The same ticket |
| Taxi | About 45 minutes | €96 fixed to the Hauptbahnhof if pre-booked |
The S8 leaves from platform 2 at 4, 24 and 44 minutes past the hour, and the slower S1 from platform 1 in between. Take the S8 unless an S1 leaves 8 minutes or more before it. Trains start at 4:04am, before the first flights land. Towards the airport the S8 runs all night, so there’s no last train to catch on the way back. The gap is the other way: no train leaves the airport for town between about 1:44am and 4:04am.
Tickets, the night timetable and taxis: getting into the city.
What to do
Marienplatz is the whole plan for a short layover: the town hall, its Glockenspiel and the Frauenkirche are a few minutes’ walk from the platform.
Not needed when you stay airside.
The fastest plan for a short layover
- Take the S8 to Marienplatz, 36 minutes from the airport.
- Come up into the square in front of the Neues Rathaus, the town hall, whose Glockenspiel plays at 11am and noon every day.
- Walk two minutes to the Frauenkirche, the cathedral with the twin domed towers: free, and open daily 8am to 8pm.
- Leave Marienplatz 2 hours 40 minutes before your flight.
Would you rather follow a guide? No airline runs a transit tour at Munich, and tours start in town rather than at the airport, so add about 4 hours 40 minutes to a tour’s length for the border, the train and the airport. GetYourGuide (opens in a new tab) and Viator (opens in a new tab) list walking and food tours of the old town.
Watch the calendar
- Sundays and public holidays. Viktualienmarkt’s stalls and most shops are shut. The churches, the Glockenspiel, the Hofbräuhaus, the Residenz and the museums are open, and the Alte Pinakothek costs €1 on Sundays.
- Mondays. The Alte Pinakothek is closed; the Residenz and the Deutsches Museum open every day.
- Christmas markets. From 20 November to 24 December 2026 the Christkindlmarkt fills Marienplatz, right on the short plan, from 10am to 9pm (8pm on Sundays). It’s closed on Sunday 22 November and shuts at 2pm on 24 December. The airport has its own market from 13 November to 27 December.
- Christmas and New Year. 25 and 26 December and 1 January are public holidays. The Residenz, the Deutsches Museum and the Alte Pinakothek are closed on 24, 25 and 31 December, and the Residenz and the Deutsches Museum on 1 January too. The S-Bahn’s holiday timetable isn’t published yet, so check your trains on MVV’s journey planner.
- Weekend works. Engineering works close parts of the S-Bahn on some weekends, so check your train on MVV’s journey planner or app on the day.
Timed plans from 6 to 24 hours, from a beer-hall lunch to the Residenz and a morning for late arrivals: itineraries.
Layover tour
Tours of Munich
Old-town walks and food tours start in the city centre, not at the airport. Check where yours starts and ends, and add about 4 hours 40 minutes to its length for the border, the S-Bahn both ways and 90 minutes before your flight.
See tours on GetYourGuide (opens in a new tab)See tours on Viator (opens in a new tab)
Head back
Be back at Munich Airport 90 minutes before departure, with your onward boarding pass.
Not needed when you stay airside.
- Time. Leave Marienplatz 2 hours 40 minutes before your flight. That covers up to 20 minutes’ wait for an S8, 38 minutes on it, the walk up to the terminal and 90 minutes at the airport. It makes 6 hours the realistic minimum, with about 1.5 hours in town; 8 hours gives about 3.5.
- Why 90 minutes is enough. With your boarding pass already issued and no bag to drop, you only need security and, if your flight leaves Schengen, passport control. Munich asks travellers to come earlier than usual for flights outside Schengen because of the new border checks, but that advice is mostly for people checking in. If you still need to check in or drop a bag, allow longer.
- A gate in the Satellite. Gates J, K and L are a minute from the main Terminal 2 building on the shuttle train, which runs every few minutes from 4am to midnight. The 90 minutes covers it.
- Late at night. Passenger flights don’t normally land or take off between midnight and 5am, so on a same-day return you’ll leave Marienplatz by about 9:20pm. Before an early-morning flight, the S8 back runs all night, and you can rest at the airport until check-in; a taxi takes about 45 minutes.
Time in town at each layover length: how much time you’ll have.
Departures
Best for your layoverStaying at the airport instead: you can rest past security without entering Germany, for free or in a cabin.
Both terminals and the Satellite have Schengen and non-Schengen gates, and the gate letter alone doesn’t tell you which side you’re on, so check the departures board and rest near your gate.
- napcabs. Sleeping cabins past security in Terminal 2, by gates G and H and in the Satellite by gates K and L, open 24 hours: €17 an hour from 6am to 10pm and €12 an hour overnight, minimum €34. The larger napcabsXL costs €24.50 an hour by day and €18 at night, minimum €49.
- Free recreation areas. Five, all past security, in Terminal 1 by gates A and in Terminal 2 by gates G, H, K and L, with lounge chairs, USB charging and flight screens, open 24 hours.
- Hilton Munich Airport. Between Terminals 1 and 2, before passport control, with day-use rooms; the hotel doesn’t publish their price.
- Showers. €25 for up to 2 hours with towels, plus a €20 key deposit, in the Munich Airport Center and Terminal 2.
- Lufthansa’s stopover. For a stay of a night or more: Lufthansa’s programme covers one to seven days in Munich.
Rooms, lounges, showers and left luggage: at the airport.
Hotel
Hotels at the airport
The Hilton Munich Airport stands between Terminals 1 and 2 and sells day-use rooms as well as nights. It's before passport control, so you need to be able to enter Germany; if you can't, use a napcabs cabin past security.