Transportation from Munich Airport (MUC) to Nuremberg (Nürnberg), Germany

Published on

by Henk Bekker

in Bavaria, Franken / Franconia, Germany

Trains are usually the cheapest and easiest way to travel between Munich Airport (MUC) and Nuremberg (Nürnberg) on public transportation but require a transfer at München Hauptbahnhof.

Trains are usually the cheapest and easiest way to travel between Munich Airport and Nuremberg (Nürnberg) using public transportation but require a transfer at München Hauptbahnhof. ICE Munich Hauptbahnhof

Getting from Munich Airport (MUC) to Nuremberg (Nürnberg) in Bavaria is easy by car, cheap by trains via München Hauptbahnhof, and very cheap on occasional intercity Flixbuses. Flying from Munich to Nuremberg Airport is not currently possible. Driving is fast by rental car or pre-booked minibus shuttle services. Trains and long-distance, intercity buses offer the cheapest options with special bargain savings deals available for rail users on the Rail&Fly and Bayern Ticket.

Private airport shuttle transfers from Munich Airport (MUC) to downtown Nuremberg are expensive — at least €400. Get online quotations and compare rates for private airport transfers before booking.

Flying from Munich Airport (MUC) to Nuremberg Airport (NUE) on Lufthansa

It is no longer possible to fly from Munich Airport (MUC) to Nuremberg Airport (NUE) on Lufthansa. These 40-minute flights never made sense for traveling from downtown München to Nürnberg but from Munich Airport were handy for international connecting flights.

On Lufthansa and some other airlines, it is possible to book international flights through to Nuremberg (IATA code NUE). Some flights go to Nuremberg Airport (NUE) but in many cases, travelers transfer at either Frankfurt Airport or Munich Airport to a train (or a Lufthansa bus from Munich Airport) to reach Nuremberg around two hours later. Booking through to Nuremberg has the advantage that missed train connections have the same protection as missed connecting flights (and Lufthansa even adds mileage points for the train ride).

Rail&Fly — see below — is also a good option for Lufthansa passengers or any airline that allows this service.

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By Car and Shuttle Bus Transfer Services from Munich Airport to Nuremberg

Driving from Munich Airport (MUC) to Nuremberg is fast and straightforward. From the airport, follow the Autobahn A92 towards München and then the A9 to Nürnberg. The distance is around 160 km (100 miles) and should take around 90 minutes.

Car rentals are available from almost all major car hire firms at Munich Airport. Taxis operate according to the meter. Private airport shuttle services are available to any destination but are best reserved in advance. A pre-booked private minibus shuttle from Munich Airport to Nuremberg hotels should be around €450 — compare offers before making reservations. A door-to-door shuttle is convenient, especially with luggage or at odd hours, but the bus and train could be significantly cheaper.

Bla Bla Car is a car-sharing option – it has offers as cheap as €10 for travel between Munich Airport and Nuremberg. It is a fast option but availability is of course limited and often hard to book far in advance.

By Train from Munich Airport to Nuremberg in Germany

Trains are the most sensible public transportation option for traveling between Munich Airport and Nuremberg. Total traveling time is around two hours and always requires at least one transfer — generally avoid journeys with additional train changes.

The basic railway routing from München (Flughafen) to Nuremberg, unfortunately, requires quite a slow detour via München Hauptbahnhof (Munich Central Main Train Station) and then on to Nürnberg Hbf. This detour and lower prices make buses very competitive with trains. The standard one-way fare is around €60 but several savings options are available.

The following basic train routing options are available between Munich Airport (MUC) and Nuremberg:

Via München Hauptbahnhof

All train journeys from Munich Airport start on the S-Bahn train S1 or S8 to München Hauptbahnhof. These commuter trains take just over 40 minutes from the airport to Munich downtown. S1 and S8 follow different routings but the traveling from the airport to the main station is roughly the same — take the first train to depart from the airport and stock up on supplies while waiting for the ICE train at the main station.

From München Hauptbahnhof to Nürnberg, two basic options are available:

  1. The fast ICE trains, for a total journey time from the airport to Nuremberg of around two hours.
  2. The slow regional trains, for a total journey time from the airport to Nuremberg ranging from 2h45 to 3h30. Avoid routings that require further transfers. The Bayern Ticket makes the slower option very attractive, especially for small groups.

Traveling via the Hauptbahnhof is usually the better choice and gives more options in case of delays or missed connections.

Via Freising:

A further regional train option is available every two hours or so. This schedule avoids the detour through central Munich but doesn’t really save much time: from Munich Airport, use bus 685 to Freising and then an RE train from Freising to Nürnberg. Total traveling time is 2h45.

German Railways train services are generally available through the night but between around 10 pm (8 pm for regional trains) and 4 am journey times can exceed five hours due to bad connections.

When checking timetables or buying tickets on the Deutsche Bahn website, simply use station shortcodes MUC for Munich Airport (or more exactly “München Flughafen Terminal”), M for München Hauptbahnhof, and N for Nürnberg.

Savings Options and Cheap Tickets for Trains from Munich Airport to Nuremberg

The standard second-class one-way ticket fare from Munich Airport to Nuremberg is around €60 (or €40 if only regional trains are used). This ticket allows for full flexibility and other savings such as the BahnCard may be applied. Return tickets are double the one-way ticket but can be discounted if specific trains are reserved in advance. However, this may be risky, as the ticket will not be valid if a flight arrives late.

Children under 6 travel for free on German Railways trains and those under 15 are free when traveling with their parents but must be added to the ticket at the time of purchase.

The easiest ways to save on train tickets when traveling between Munich Airport and Nuremberg are to use Rail&Fly or the Bayern-Ticket.

Save with the Bayern Ticket from Munich Airport in Bavaria

The best railway deal is usually the Bayern Ticket, which costs €27 for individuals, €36 for two, and only €63 for a group of up to five. (The Bavaria Ticket is also available for First Class travel €40 for one, around €124 for a group of five). The Bayern Ticket is valid for unlimited travel on regional trains and most city buses within Bavaria and is often a very good deal.

The basic requirements of the Bayern Ticket are that only regional trains (no ICE, IC, or EC trains) may be used and that travel must commence after 9 am on weekdays but any time on weekends. For travel after 6 pm, the Bayern Ticket Night is only €25 for individuals and €49 for up to five. Only children under 6 travel for free when the Bayern Ticket is used.

See Use the Bayern Ticket to Save on Train Travel for more details on the restrictions and advantages of the Bayern Ticket. A major advantage is that the Bayern Ticket is valid on all regional trains (including S-Bahn S1 and S8), metros (U-Bahn), trams, and buses in both Munich and Nuremberg.

The Bayern Ticket can be bought from any railway or bus vending machine. If bought on the bus (not available on any trains) or from a ticket window, the ticket is €2 more expensive. To buy the Bavaria Ticket online, check the “Only Local Transportation” tick box to receive the Bayern Ticket as a Sparpreis option, or buy direct Bayern-Ticket (German only), or select the Bavaria option from German Railways regional options.

The Deutschland Ticket is a bit similar to the Bavaria Ticket but valid for all regional transportation in Germany and could be astonishingly good value at €49 per month. However, it is a subscription so read the details before buying online — it is never sold at vending machines.

Save with Rail&Fly Train Tickets from Munich Airport

Rail&Fly is a special train-to-airport deal offered by many airlines flying to Germany including Lufthansa but not by for example EasyJet, Ryanair, or British Airways. It allows passengers on most international routes to continue their journeys in Germany from the airport on any German Railways (Deutsche Bahn DB) train.

The Rail&Fly one-way fare is around €30 (€60 in first class) and 50% discount for children 2 to 11 — the price and exact conditions are set by the airline selling the ticket, not by German Railways. The ticket is valid in almost all trains (no real restrictions on the MUC to Nürnberg route) and may be used on the day of the international flight, or on the day before departure or after arrival.

The only real catch is that the Rail&Fly ticket must be booked usually at the same time as the international flight ticket — it depends on the specific airline whether it may be added later or not. This is no problem when booking by phone or through a travel agent but is more complicated for online reservations. Rail&Fly tickets are sold by the airline and are never available from Deutsche Bahn.

See Rail&Fly for more details and restrictions.

Rail&Fly tickets do not allow for travel on the local trains, trams, and buses in either Munich or Nuremberg except for the S-Bahn S1 and S8 between München Hauptbahnhof and Munich Airport.

By Long-Distance Intercity Bus from Munich Airport to Nuremberg

Intercity buses are increasingly offering competition to trains in Germany with prices lower but traveling times often much slower than the trains. Buses from Munich Airport to Nuremberg are only faster on direct coaches — services tend to change frequently with availability limited in the off-season.

Flixbus is the largest operator of intercity busses in Germany and the most likely to have direct connections between München (Flughafen) and Nürnberg – a very convenient option if the times work out. Routes requiring a transfer in downtown Munich or in other cities may be very slow and not necessarily cheaper than taking the train.

No airport shuttle bus service currently connects Munich Airport and Nuremberg other than the Lufthansa Express bus, which is only available to Lufthansa passengers and must be booked in advance – often at the same time as the original flight reservation.

More on Traveling to Nürnberg:

More resources for planning travel to Nuremberg in Bavaria, Germany:

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