Special discount transportation savings tickets are available for travel on S-Bahn and U-Bahn trains, buses, and trams in München in Bavaria, Southern Germany.
Munich (München) has an excellent and vast public transportation network that smoothly integrates the use of S-Bahn and U-Bahn trains, trams, and buses. Single-journey tickets are not particularly cheap but visitors may save by using special discount savings passes. The Munich Group transportation day card is a particularly good deal for couples, small groups, and families.
Buying Tickets for the Munich Public Transportation System in Germany
Using the public transportation system in Munich (München) is very simple with unlimited transfers allowed between trains, buses, and trams. However, selecting the best ticket is potentially a far more complex matter.
The Münchner Verkehrs- und Tarifverbund (MVV) offers around twenty different types of tickets, which are further divided into one to seven different travel zones, which can be divided into up to four further sub-subcategory price classes. Fortunately for most visitors to Munich, the choice can be reduced most of the time to simple single-ride tickets or day passes.
Single-Ride Tickets on Munich’s Mass Transit System
The simplest ticket for the Munich public transportation system is the single-ride ticket (Einzelfahrtkarte) but day tickets usually work out cheaper. Single tickets must be validated prior to boarding trains, buses, or trams. (Tickets bought from vending machines for immediate use are valid from the moment of purchase and won’t fit into the validation stamp machines.)
The price of the single ticket depends on the number of zones that the journey lasts. For single-ticket purposes, central Munich’s transportation system is divided into seven price zones, which are in rings around the town center, which is the central zone M. A journey starting in the west of Munich in zone circle two and ends in the east in zone circle two will require a ticket for three zones as the reentry into zone two is calculated as a separate zone change.
Almost all tourist sights in Munich are in the central Zone M, including for example Schloss Nymphenburg Palace, Schwabing, Olympia Zentrum, BMW Welt and the BMW Museum.
Single tickets are valid for up to two hours for zones M and 1 and three hours for more zones. During this time, travelers may interrupt journeys and transfer to different modes of transportation as long as the journey continues in one direction. Return or circular journeys require a new ticket.
Munich transportation single tickets are €3.70 per zone. Children (6 to 14 years old) pay €1.80 irrespective of the number of zones traveled.
For really short journeys, a short-ride ticket (Kurzstrecke) is €1.90. It is valid for up to an hour and for a maximum of four bus or tram stops (or two train stations). Transfers are allowed but no return journeys.
Save with Day Tickets and Group Transportation Cards in Munich
Munich transportation day passes are great bargain deals and most travelers will save with these transportation cards if taking two or more journeys in a day.
Day tickets are bought for specific zones, e.g. Zone M covers the center of Munich (previously referred to as Innenraum). To include Dachau, buy a Zone M-1 ticket, and for Munich Airport (MUC) buy a Zone M-5 ticket (also referred to as the Airport Day Ticket). (The previous München XXL and Gesamtnetz tickets are no longer sold.)
The day tickets for Munich transportation are available in single, group, and child versions. The Group Ticket is valid for five adults (or ten children) and is the savings option even when only two adults travel together.
See Save with Munich Transportation Day Passes for more details on the day tickets. See Save with the Munich Card and All-Inclusive City Pass and save with the Munich City Tour Card for day tickets combining a travel card with discounts on sightseeing. Travelers heading out of Munich may also save with the Bayern Ticket, which covers virtually all local public transportation in Bavaria. The Deutschland-Ticket may also be of interest but note that it is a subscription season ticket with special cancelation conditions.