From Munich airport to the centre
3 stopsUpdated July 2026
Forty kilometres to the north-east, in open countryside: they put it there in 1992 precisely so it wouldn’t bother anyone, and it is genuinely far out. That means the transfer isn’t fifteen minutes like Frankfurt’s, it’s about forty, and it’s worth counting when you work out what time to leave the hotel.
There are two ways and both work well. The S-Bahn comes in on two lines that loop round the city from opposite sides, and the bus takes the motorway. The difference that actually matters shows up overnight, and it’s the one almost nobody knows: one of those two train lines runs all night and the other doesn’t.
The route, stop by stop
3 STOPS- 01
The S1 and S8, and which one to take at night
Two S-Bahn lines reach the airport doing the same journey by opposite routes: the S8 loops round the east of the city and the S1 round the west, and between them there’s a train every ten minutes. The S8 is the direct one for what you want: Marienplatz in about thirty-eight minutes and the Hauptbahnhof in about forty-one.
And here’s the fact almost nobody tells you, the one that decides a night arrival: the S8 runs twenty-four hours, with a train every forty minutes overnight, and the S1 doesn’t. It stops around midnight. So if your flight lands at two in the morning you aren’t stranded: there is a train, but there’s only one, and it’s the S8.
Check that before you contemplate a forty-kilometre taxi.
- 02
The Lufthansa bus, which isn’t Lufthansa’s
The name, Lufthansa Express Bus, puts off half the terminal for no reason: anyone can take it, whoever you’re flying with. It runs on the motorway to the Hauptbahnhof and Schwabing, leaves every twenty minutes and operates three hundred and sixty-five days a year.
Against the train it has two concrete advantages: a real luggage hold, which with big bags and a full train isn’t nothing, and a stop in Schwabing that the S-Bahn doesn’t serve well. Against the train it has one disadvantage: it’s a motorway, and the motorways into Munich jam at exactly the hours you’d expect.
At rush hour, take the train.
- 03
The Stammstrecke, and why everything sometimes stops
Munich has a design flaw worth knowing before it demonstrates itself to you: every S-Bahn line, all eight, shares a single seven-kilometre tunnel under the centre, the Stammstrecke. It’s what lets you reach Marienplatz from anywhere, and it’s also what makes a problem in that tunnel stop the whole network.
It happens several times a year and when it does there’s no quick plan B: half the city loses its S-Bahn at once. A second tunnel has been under construction for years, with considerable delays.
For you the conclusion is short: if you’re heading to the airport and you see any notice about the Stammstrecke, take the bus, which goes round the outside on the motorway.
Frequently asked
How do you get from Munich airport to the centre?
On the S1 or S8, which loop into the city from opposite sides and between them give a train every ten minutes: the S8 reaches Marienplatz in about thirty-eight minutes. Or on the Lufthansa Express Bus, by motorway. The airport is about forty kilometres out: allow forty minutes.
Is there a night train from Munich airport?
Yes, but only one: the S8 runs twenty-four hours, with a train every forty minutes overnight. The S1 stops around midnight. If you land at night, the S8 is your line, and you don’t need a forty-kilometre taxi.
Do you need to fly Lufthansa to take the Lufthansa Express Bus?
No, despite the name: anyone can take it. It runs on the motorway to the Hauptbahnhof and Schwabing every twenty minutes, 365 days a year, and it has a proper luggage hold. At rush hour the train is more reliable, because the bus eats the inbound jams.