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MUNICH’S AIRPORT - FLUGHAFEN MÜNCHEN
Modern Europe Flight Stop-Over - A Destination All Its Own

In today’s world of hectic air travel, traveling through hub airports “hubports” with connecting flights and layovers, questions of air passengers constantly arise: “what do I do on a 10 hour layover” “can I leave my luggage” “can I get into the city and what is there to do in…”? These questions are being answered at some airports around the world with on-site and neighborhood activity solutions. Heathrow in London, one of the maddest of major European travel points is set to open its Terminal 5 in March of 2008 for the use of British Airways passengers, but one of the first Europe entry ports to focus on the airport as a stop-over destination is Munich’s International Airport (Flughafen München). Europe’s 7th largest airport and the 30th busiest in the world, Munich’s Flughafen has been named the Best Airport in Europe for three years in a row by the Skytrax passenger survey.

The airport north of the Bavarian capital replaced the old airport to the southeast in 1992. While the old airport grounds have been transformed into the Munich Convention Center Complex (Messe) the new airport has become one of the fastest growing hubs on the continent. While Frankfurt had been the top German connecting destination, Munich has been growing in popularity as a European entry point and connecting hub for Europe’s airlines, especially Lufthansa and its Star Partners, seeing a growth in connections to the east European destinations of the new EU member countries (Cyprus, Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Slovakia , Slovenia, Bulgaria and Romania).

What to Do On a Layover at Munich Airport

The question of what to do with all these connections and layovers has been answered at Munich by an innovative offering of shopping, leisure services and activities that make a stop-over in Munich a destination all its own. The Munich Airport takes pride in its efficiency having minimum connection times of 30 minutes, laid out in two long parallel main terminals 1 and 2. Terminal 1 has the usual airport duty free shops and a lower public area with shops and bistros. The new terminal 2 (Lufthansa) has a virtual shopping mall with a whole collection of upscale brand and local German stores and restaurants. Plan a trip at the on-site travel bureau, get a breath of oxygen and vitamin treatment at the VitaminCounter, cosmetics and pharmacy, optician and a barber. The Munich Airport has a medical center open to the public where you can even get a Botox treatment on your way to that spa vacation or business meeting. Munich’s Airport is the only one in the world to have its own brewery, serving the signature Airbrau beer and German dishes. A massage, sauna and exercise workout can be had at the Kempinski Spa and Health Club at the Kempinski Hotel next to the terminal. Entrance is €15-€22 depending on day or evening. Massages are extra, but the “Hot Chocolate Massage” sounds rather enticing. You can get a quick massage between flights at Terminal 2 Gate 13 for €1 per minute. For a view of the arriving planes a glass enclosed “Skywalk” leads to the Visitor’s Terrace at Terminal 2 for airport operations view. A three minute shuttle bus or train to the Visitor’s Park allows an even broader vantage from a special man-made mountaintop viewing platform, or a chance to look at and in a few historic airplanes on display like a Fokker Tri-Motor and DC3 or a playground park for the kids.

With more than 3 hours for a stop-over at Munich airport, the nearest town to visit is Freising, one of northern Bavaria’s oldest towns with a lovely historic section for wandering. The current Pope Benedict XVI is associated with Freising, where he taught at the ancient University of Theology, and the Domberg Cathedral of St. Maria and St. Corbinian houses the largest collection of religious art in Germany, the DiozesanMuseum. Close by to Freising are the three Royal Bavarian Palaces of Oberschliessheim, The Old Palace, New Palace and Lustheim Palace in the Hofgarten Park. All three can be visited for €6. Freising is also home to one of the oldest breweries in Germany, now called the Bavarian State Brewery Weihenstephen, established in 725 A.D. The on-site brauhaus has a summer beer garden and a view of the Freising old town. The Flugwertt Schleissheim, one of the oldest aerodromes in Germany is within walking distance of the Schlosses. Now an outlying air museum connected to the Munich Deutsches Museum (see Deutsches Museum Messerschmitt) with a collection of 60 historic aircraft and helicopters on display and a view of the restoration work rooms. The rail trip to Freising is about 15 minutes. There is a bus 635 or take the S1 train to Obersschliessheim. A taxi is about €20.

With over 5 hours to kill, you can head to Munich for a look around the Kaufingerstrasse, watch the Glockenspiel at the NeusRathaus at Marienplatz and try some wurst at the Viktualianmarkt (See A Walk Around Munich). To get to the center of Munich the S8 and S1 trains go to the Main Train Station (Hauptbahnhof) or the East Station (Ost Bahnhof) and take about 45 minutes with 20 minutes between trains. Lufthansa operates a shuttle bus available to passengers from any airline from Terminal 1 and 2 to the Hauptbahnhof with one stop in Schwabing, north Munich. It also runs every 20 minutes from 5:10am to 9:40pm and takes around 35 minutes, a little longer at rush hours, subject to traffic, €9. There is an ultramodern Maglev train from the Airport to Munich in the planning stage which will turn the trip into 10 minutes, but that is yet a ways off in the future. For overnight stops, if you can't afford the Kempinski at the airport, hotels can be found in Freising or many around the Munich main train station.

Visits to any sites outside the airport will require documents through passport check. Luggage can be left at the center Service Center of either terminal. © Bargain Travel Europe

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Munich Flughafen

These articles are copyrighted and the sole property of Bargain Travel Europe and WLPV, LLC. and may not be copied or reprinted without permission. Photos courtesy Munich Tourism.

See Also:

MUNICH SIGHTSEEING TOURS

STUTTGART MUSEUMS

SINSHEIM AUTO & TECHNIK MUSEUM

HOHENZOLLERN CASTLE

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