Public Transportation

Tickets can be purchased from vending machines in the train stations, or in the buses. A single trip ticket is valid for three hours and only one-way. Tickets are validated by inserting them into the blue stamp machines in train stations, buses and trams. For more information on the kinds of ticket that are available, please consult:

https://www.mvv-muenchen.de/en/tickets-and-fares/tickets-daytickets/index.html

A brief overview as advance information follows here:

Streifenkarte (stripe ticket): a convenient and cheap way is to buy a Streifenkarte (10 stripes, 14 Euro) instead of a single trip ticket, and to cancel the appropriate number of stripes depending on the route. For up to two U- or S-Bahn stations you should cancel one stripe (for example from Garching to Garching-Forschungszentrum). The public transportation area is divided in four main rings around the Munich city center. Every two stripes allow a one-way trip inside one main ring.

Tageskarte (day ticket): valid for the whole day. This ticket comes in four flavours: "Innenraum", 6.70 Euro (central zone covering most of Munich city); "München XXL", 8.90 Euro (Munich city plus the first external ring zone - includes Garching and the research centre, but not the airport); "Aussenraum", 6.70 Euro (the 3 outer ring zones, including Garching, the research centre, and the airport, but not the central Munich city zone); and "Gesamtnetz", 13 Euro (the entire network including the airport and Munich city).

Partnerstageskarte (daily ticket for a group of up to 5 people): With the same 4 flavors as the daily ticket ("Tageskarte"), but with the possibility to have up to 5 people traveling together, it is already worth taking Partnerstageskarte if there are 2 or more people traveling together. Prices: "Innenraum", 12.80 Euro; "XXL", 16.10 Euro; "Aussenraum", 12.80 Euro; "Gesamtnetz", 24.30 Euro.

If you want to find more information on the right fare for your specific journey within Munich and the surrounding area please consult:

https://www.mvv-muenchen.de/en/tickets-and-fares/ticket-information/index.html

Important Connections

From-To
Distance
Means of transport
Approximate cost
Munich Airport - Garching - Munich Airport 20 km S-Bahn S1 + Bus 690* with change in Neufahrn (40-50 min)
S-Bahn S8 + Bus 230 with change in Ismaning (40-50 min)

6.70 EUR
Taxi ~ 37 EUR

Munich Airport - Ismaning - Munich Airport

 20.5 km S-Bahn S8 (15 min)

6.70 EUR
Taxi ~ 38 EUR
Munich Airport - Munich City - Munich Airport 34 km S-Bahn S8 or S1, airport bus (40-50 min)

11.60 EUR
Taxi ~ 60 EUR

Garching - Munich City - Garching

 15 km U-Bahn U6 (29 min)

5.80 EUR
Taxi ~ 30 EUR
Ismaning - Garching - Ismaning 5 km Bus 230 (17 min)

2.90 EUR
Taxi ~ 13 EUR
Garching - ESO - Garching 3 km U-Bahn U6 to Garching Forschungszentrum (5 min) plus then a 5 min walk to ESO

1.50 EUR
Taxi ~ 9 EUR

*

- Airport to Garching via Neufahrn with S1 and bus 690:  Note that the 690 bus goes from Neufahrn directly to the campus and terminates at U-Bahn station Garching-Forschungszentrum, without passing through Garching. If you wish to go directly to your hotel, you would then have to take the U-Bahn for one stop, from Forschungszentrum to Garching. Or - better - go via Ismaning with S8 and bus 230 which does pass through Garching.


- Bus 690: limited service on Sat., no service on Sun.

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