Munich Main Station
To Munich by train
Arrival at Munich Central Station
Munich's main train station is being used by more than 300 000 thousand passengers every day. It is a terminus - which means the end of rails all point to the center of town. To Marienplatz ("Holy Mary's square") and the city hall it is a 20 minutes walk.
From Marienplatz / city hall, you are able to reach the Englische Garten / "English Garden" and Schwabing in 10 minutes, the right bank of the Isar within 5 minutes, less than 10 minutes to Deutsches Museum and the south bank of the Isar (the river that cuts from southwest to north east of town; the main attractions are on the northeastern side).
So the Hauptbahnhof / Central Station is a bit west of the Marienplatz but is is still in the center of town - contrary to any city map of central munich that suggests longer distances.
On your way from the station to Marienplatz is Stachus, which is the colloquial name for Karlsplatz, with the monumental turn of the century Justizpalast on the other side of the road) and some remnants of the torn down medieval city wall.
Also from the middle ages is Frauenkirche near the Kaufingerstraße that leads from Stachus east to Marienplatz (about 300 meters) That street is very populated when the weather is fine, it is one of the meeting places in Munich. The Frauenkirche, a gothically styled church, is located northerly of the Kaufingerstraße and very close to Marienplatz. It´s one of the symbols of the city.
South of (about 800 meters) the Hauptbahnhof/train station you will find Theresienwiese (Wiese is German for meadow) where the Oktoberfest (that needs no translation) takes place every year in autumn.
About 800 meters to the east of the train station are the Pinakotheken, world famous art museums, and a very bizarre kind of royal architecture from the 19th century, the Propyläen and the Glyptothek which counts among the first public musems in Germany.
So if you come to Munich for art or beer the Hauptbahnhof is the right place to start.
Just use subway or tram if you want to get on through Munich from the train station.
Munich transfer is one of the best you might come across in Germany. There are eight subway lines and a dozen "S-Bahnen" supporting this fine net. There is also the so called U-Bahn, very similar to the S-Bahn. You have to check them out to notice the difference.
As a golden rule you might want to remember that the S-Bahn runs west to east and vice versa, and they all pass by the main train station and the Marienplatz, the latter offering transit to north and south. At Marienplatz catch the U-Bahn to the north, to the Olympic grounds and the new football stadium "Allianz Arena" that will host the opening game of the world football championship in 2006.
If you come to Munich just for athletics or a football match go from Hauptbahnhof to Marienplatz, there catch the U3 north to "Olympiagelände" or U6 north to "Fröttmaning" for Allianzarena.
Once your train has arrived at central station go downstairs to catch any S-Bahn that goes to Marienplatz - of course, you have to check if you´re waiting for trains in the right direction. All subway and S-Bahn-stations are under ground. Directly in front of the main entrance there is a tramway stop. If you want to discover Munich riding the tram - just step out of the building. By the way across the street, there is a large internet café - in case you want to check your e-mails.
From and to the airport "Franz Joseph Strauss" runs the S-Munich Main StationBahn no. 8 and no. 1. Both trains stop at the main train station and run every 10 minutes.
You might want to buy a "blaue/blue Streifenkarte" at one of the coin machines. the price is 10 Euro. Riding the S-Bahn from or to the airport will cost you eight stripes out of the ten. You will need some 40 minutes to get from Marienplatz or Hauptbahnhof to the airport. (the S-Bahn needs about 5 minutes from the center station to Marienplatz).
A taxi ride from or to the airport will cost about 60 Euro.
From the main train station to "Messgelände" / exhibition grounds on the eastern edge of Munich take subway U 2 (don´t mix it up with the rock-band). Riding the U2 also takes you to Deutsches Museum, famous for its exhibitions on technology and science (Munich is home of the German and the European Patent Office, as well). If your technical interest is less scientific try the BMW museum whose Guggenheim-like ramp is in a cylinder-shaped high rise next the Olympic grounds.
Some facts on Munich Central Station
The first German railway line ran between Nürnberg and the lesser known town of Fürth in Bavaria. The locomotive's name was "Adler": Eagle. Only a few dozen of years after Napoleon was defeated by guns and cavallery at Waterloo the Bavarian King Ludwig I had the first train station built in Munich, not very far from the site of the present building. This buiding burnt down only a couple of years after its inauguration, and King Ludwig had his renowned architect Gärtner build a new, larger one - 110 meters long. This building came into use around 1850 and barely met the needs of mass transportation that exploded around the 1880s. The building receiced several new annexes. During World War II it was heavily damaged by allied flight squads and had to be torn down after the wall. In around 1960 the construction of the new building, which is still in use, was finished. In the 80ies, the interiors of the station were drastically modernized.
Links in the Internet
Homepage of Deutsche Bahn
the "national carrier". Click for "international
guests" above. Then choose "time table" to have all the
connections be listed in detail. This information system is
among the best functioning in Europe.
MVV - Münchner
Verkehrsverbund
Click the Union Jack above for the English version. The MVV
unites all local means of transportation, i.e. subway,
"S-Bahn" (that connects directly to the train system)
and tram ("Straßenbahn"). With one ticket you are
allowed to use any of those.
Messe München
In English language: information on how to get to the exhibition
ground in the east.
Infos
zum Bayern-Ticket
"Travelling around Bavaria" - for only 24 Euro a group
of up to four people may ride all trains, within Bavaria, for
one day.
Discover
Munich
Easy accesible map of the Main Station area.
English
German