🇩🇪 Munich · Getting around
Transport and the shape of the city in Munich
An efficient S-Bahn and U-Bahn network on one MVV ticket, a flat city that cycles well, and a single tunnel that everything depends on.
The thing people get wrongEvery S-Bahn line in Munich runs through one shared central tunnel, the Stammstrecke. When it fails, the whole regional network fails at once. If your commute depends on a single S-Bahn line, that is a fact worth knowing before you choose the flat.
Tickets and zones
The MVV covers U-Bahn, S-Bahn, tram and bus on one integrated fare, with concentric zones m and 1 to 6 running outwards from the centre. The nationwide Deutschlandticket, a flat-rate monthly subscription valid on all regional and local transport across Germany, has made most local season tickets redundant for anyone travelling regularly. Single tickets and strip tickets still exist and must be validated before boarding.
- Zone m covers the city; the zones beyond it cover the surrounding region.
- The Deutschlandticket is a monthly subscription and is valid on regional trains nationwide, but not on ICE or IC services.
- The MVGO and DB Navigator apps handle tickets and live disruption.
- Inspections are frequent and an unvalidated ticket counts as no ticket.
The network
U-Bahn lines cover the city densely and run frequently; trams fill the surface gaps and are often faster for short cross-town hops. S-Bahn lines radiate far into Upper Bavaria, which is what makes living in the surrounding towns viable — and what makes the Stammstrecke bottleneck matter. Night buses and some night trams cover the hours when the U-Bahn is closed, and the network runs later at weekends.
- Hauptbahnhof, Marienplatz and Ostbahnhof are the main interchanges and the Stammstrecke's core.
- S-Bahn frequencies drop sharply the further out you go — check the timetable, not the map.
- Long-distance and Austrian and Italian services run from Hauptbahnhof.
Cycling and driving
Munich is flat, has extensive cycle infrastructure and a serious commuting cycle culture, and the Isar paths make crossing the city pleasant. Driving is straightforward but parking in the central districts is metered and permit-controlled, and Germany's Umweltplakette environmental sticker system governs entry to low-emission zones. A car is genuinely optional here in a way it is not in smaller German cities.
- Resident parking permits are tied to your registered address, so the Anmeldung matters here too.
- An Umweltplakette windscreen sticker is required for the environmental zone.
- Cycle lanes are used at speed and pedestrians standing in them are treated accordingly.
The airport
Franz Josef Strauss sits well outside the city to the north-east and is reached by the S1 and S8 S-Bahn lines, taking around forty minutes from the centre and covered by the standard MVV zone fare or a valid pass. The Lufthansa Express Bus runs from Hauptbahnhof. Driving there and parking is expensive enough that most residents do not.
- S1 and S8 both serve the airport from opposite sides of the city.
- Journey time is around 40 to 45 minutes from Marienplatz.
- The airport is in the outermost fare zone; check your pass covers it.
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