Munich: Your Gateway to Bavaria and the Alps

Why Start in Munich

Munich Airport (MUC) sits 37 km northeast of the city — about 35 minutes by private transfer, from €75 — and ranks among Europe's busiest hubs. Munich is the gateway to Bavaria, the alpine south of Germany, and a great city in its own right: from the same arrivals hall, direct fixed-price routes fan out to the center, the mountains at Garmisch and Kitzbühel, and the cities of Augsburg, Ingolstadt and Nuremberg. The S-Bahn into town takes around 40 minutes when it all works; with skis, luggage or children it rarely feels that quick, which is why the pre-booked car is the standard play here.

In Munich: What to See and Do

Munich centers on Marienplatz — about 35 minutes from the airport on the Munich route — where the Glockenspiel chimes on the New Town Hall, and spreads to the twin onion domes of the Frauenkirche, the royal Residenz, and the vast English Garden where surfers ride a standing river wave. No visit is complete without a beer hall: the Hofbräuhaus is the famous one, but the tables under the chestnuts at any beer garden do the same job on a summer evening, Maß in hand.

Give the museums real time. The three Pinakothek galleries cover old masters to Warhol within two blocks; the Deutsches Museum on its river island is one of the world's great science collections; and BMW Welt by the Olympiapark shows the city's other religion free of charge. The Viktualienmarkt feeds you between stops — weisswurst before noon, cheese and bread for the English Garden lawn — and in December the squares fill with Christmas markets under the Frauenkirche's domes.

West of the center, Schloss Nymphenburg spreads its baroque wings behind swan-filled canals — the summer palace of the Wittelsbachs, with carriage museum and porcelain works attached. North, the Olympiapark's tent-roofed stadium and hill give the best free view over the city to the Alps. And the rhythm matters as much as the list: Munich does mornings in museums, afternoons in gardens and evenings at long tables, and fighting that rhythm is the only real mistake a visitor can make here.

The Alps, the Castles and Beyond

Airport to City: Times and Prices

Private transfers out of Munich Airport start from €75 for a saloon car, fixed at booking, with minivans for seven, a business van for eight and a minibus for sixteen — the van sizes matter here, because ski bags and hiking packs travel free as noted luggage when you flag them at booking. The times below are normal-traffic estimates from the live route pages.

Sequencing the day trips is half the craft. Garmisch works as a single long day — cog railway up the Zugspitze in the morning, the Partnach Gorge in the afternoon — while Nuremberg deserves an overnight in the castle quarter. Families splitting between Legoland and the Audi museum can chain Günzburg and Ingolstadt on the same axis, and wine drinkers pointing at Würzburg join the Romantic Road at its northern end. With a driver on call, none of it depends on the last train back.

Where to Stay: City, Lake or Mountains

For a first visit, the Altstadt around Marienplatz keeps everything on foot, with the beer halls and the Residenz at the door; Schwabing, by the English Garden, trades a short tram ride for leafy streets and café life. Ski trips often skip the city altogether — landing at MUC and riding straight to Garmisch-Partenkirchen or Kitzbühel puts you at the lifts the same afternoon. In summer, a lakeside base at Starnberg gives you alpine water with the city 30 minutes away by S-Bahn — the best of both.

When to Go

May–September brings warm days ideal for the beer gardens, the lakes and alpine hiking. Late September to early October is Oktoberfest — spectacular, but hotels and transfers book out far ahead, and airport demand spikes on the opening and closing weekends. December glows with Christmas markets, and the winter months are prime ski season for Garmisch and Kitzbühel: morning arrivals reach the slopes by lunch when the transfer is booked to the resort door.

Getting There and Around

Direct flights connect Munich Airport (MUC) to cities worldwide. It lies northeast of the city, linked by S-Bahn to the center in around 40 minutes — longer with luggage and a change, and the line does not go anywhere near the mountains. A pre-booked private transfer takes you straight to the old town in about 35 minutes or to the resort door in the Alps — the driver meets you inside the terminal with a name board, tracks your flight, and waits up to 60 minutes free after landing.

In town, trams and the U-Bahn cover everything and the Altstadt walks in an afternoon. For a castles day — Neuschwanstein pairs naturally with Linderhof — or an evening run back from a beer garden in the country, the hourly service keeps a driver on call at a price fixed in advance. Cancellation is free up to 24 hours before pickup, so a weather-driven change of plan costs nothing.