My Life in Travel

When I was planning my trip to Munich, I was thinking about how shall I spend that 2 weeks in Germany. I didn’t want to stay in Munich only, so I was checking nearby towns and villages, where can I go for a day-trip. A lot of places, a lot of options, a big choice and seems so less time to see at least the main part of them. Along with this it was important to check the transportation, how can I go there, by bus or train, how much time will it take, how much will it cost etc. Accidentally I found a great option which saved a lot of money during my trip. Now I’m going to open the secret, so you can also know all the tricks for using public transport in Bavaria (and not only in Munich).

If you are traveling not alone, but with a group of friends or family up to 5 persons, then the Bayern Ticket is almost always the best deal, especially if you’re planning to do more than one trip in a day. Sometimes it can be great even for a single traveler, in case your one way ticket price is more than 15-20 euros. Before every trip do a quick search for your trip, check the full-priced ticket cost. If that amount is more than what your Bayern Ticket would cost, then definitely you better buy a Bayern Ticket! How is it calculated? According to the official web site of Bahn services, single Regional day ticket cost is 25 Eur and +7 Eur for each additional person (up to 5 adults).

This is how Regional Bayern Ticket looks like (for 2 persons)

This ticket covers UNLIMITED public transport in Bavaria for the day, including public transport like buses, U-Bahns, S-Bahns, etc. All you need is to pay attention on the validity time, as they vary for weekends and weekdays, as well as on type of the ticket. There are two types of Bayern Tickets: the regular Bayern Ticket and the Bayern Ticket Nacht (Night). Each of them has a choice between first and second classes, but actually the difference between them in regional trains is minimal and honestly not worth the cost difference. Here you can see the difference of the validity times  between day and night tickets depending on the days of week and holidays:

• Regional day ticket for Bavaria:
• On a day of your choice from 9am to 3am the next day
• On weekends, holidays (including Ascension Day) and on 24 and 31 December from midnight to 3am the next day

In the below table (from DB official web site) you can easily see the prices for your Bayern ticket which actually depends on the following factors: the type of Bayern Ticket (regular or Nacht), number of passengers, and class. Prices are from May 2019.

You can buy Bayern Tickets online, using DB app, at any DB Ticket Machine located in the train stations and usually at any ticket machine you find in train/tram stations (including U-Bahn, S-Bahn, etc.). It is very easy to find the exact ticket you need. You just need to go step by step on the ticket machine screen: choose your preferred language, find “Bayern Ticket” option from the offers, select the number of passengers (make sure you make right calculation and use correct ticket type, as you might be paying also for pets & bicycles as well), select your class (really, no need to buy 1st class ticket), select the date of your travel, make sure all your data is correct and take a last note on Terms & Conditions on the screen and make a payment by cash or credit card. That’s it! Your Bayern Ticket is being printed and you’re ready to take the train! One important thing as well: take a pen with you to write down the names of each passenger riding on it. If they’re not written, DB inspector will ask you to do so immediately once checking your tickets. And yes, don’t forget your ID/passports, as they might ask for your it to check if that’s really your ticket or not.

The great bonus that this ticket will allow you is that except that great feature of using it to travel in all around Bavaria from South to North, you can even use an exception and travel to Salzburg, as it’s also valid with this kind of ticket. So don’t miss your chance!

Note that with Bayern Ticket you are free to use ALL Regional trains, eg. RE, RB, BOB, Alex and more (ICE and IC trains are not valid with this ticket) within Bavaria as well as any Public transportation across Bavaria (e.g. S-Bahn, U-Bahn, tram, bus).

But if you’re going to travel outside Munich, but not that far, don’t hurry to buy Bayern ticket. Check the metro map of Munich and give attention on stops of S-Bahn services. Some of the lakes (like Starnberg Lake) and castles (e.g. Schleissheim or Dachau palaces) nearby, as well as the train to the Airport, are easily accessible with S-Bahn trains. Here you also will have possibility to buy a single trip ticket, single day ticket, group ticket etc.

For those kind of trips you can buy a single day Munich XXL ticket which will be valid for one person for any number of trips in the selected area of ​​validity until 6am of the following day. This will cost you €8.90 for a single person. For example, for the trip to Starnberg only one way single trip ticket price is €5.80, so as you see, this unlimited single pass is much better. But if you’re travelling with a group up to 5 persons (adults), better to buy a group ticket for €16.10. As you see, you have a little saving here as well! You can buy your tickets online and print it later or at the ticketing machines in any station (the same as used for Bayern Ticket or any ticket for Public transport)․

But for the Airport transfers I’ve found a better option. Of course you can still reach Munich city center from the Airport using S1 or S8 lines of S-Bahn service and pay €11.60 for one way journey (duration 40-45 min.), but at the same time you can reach city center by Lufthansa Bus service, which runs every 15 minutes and has the same 45 min. trip duration (last stop at Hauptbahnhof Nord station). According to their official web page, single ticket cost is €10.50 for one adult, while round-trip ticket cost is €17 and your return ticket is valid within 1 year after purchasing (with open date). You can buy your tickets online or directly from the bus driver. I bought it from the driver and payed €18: probably there is some difference on price depending on how you buy your ticket. If you are limited with time and don’t want to miss your flight, make sure you’re at the bus station in advance, as they will never wait for you to come 😃 They work with exact schedule and never are late. Find their timetable here to plan your trip.

Despite of this you will have a very big variety of options on the ticket types to use inside Munich, starting from the single ticket for a short trip (which includes 4 stops only and is limited with transport types), day tickets for Inner and Outer zones, daily (1/3/7 days) and monthly Isar cards and much more! All this information you can find on ticket machines while purchasing your ticket. Please be careful while buying a ticket, in order to buy a correct one, which will cover the rings of your trips, as if you will have a ticket that covers only rings 1&2 but you are in ring 3 and checked by inspector, you’ll be fined for €60! No need to take the risk, as you never know when you’ll be “caught”.

Uhh.. seems that’s all, all the general information that I wanted to share with you regarding using any kind of transport in Munich and Bavaria region in general. Hope you find this useful and if you have anything to add to this list, your comments are welcomed 😉