Car rental at Munich Airport - For the Best of Bavaria

Officially opened in May 1992, Munich Airport (known locally as Flughafen München Franz Josef Strauß) is conveniently located less than 30 kilometres north-east of the city near the town of Freising. It has two modern terminals plus an additional midfield terminal, with two runways capable of handling wide-body aircraft such as the Airbus A380. Connecting the terminals, the innovative and very stylish Munich Airport Centre (MAC) is a shopping, business and recreation area with a large supermarket open from 5.30am to midnight seven days a week. The number of passengers passing through MUC has more than tripled since its inauguration, with 12 million registered in 1992 to around 40 million today.

A car rental at Munich Airport is the best way to explore the beautiful Bavaria region of southern Germany, an area bursting with unique tourist sights and natural attractions. These include the lovely town of Bamburg, a place marked by its rare architecture and the famous Neuschwanstein Castle built by Ludwig II. The region is also blessed with numerous lakes where visitors can enjoy a boat trip or go for a swim to cool off on hot summer days. If you're an art lover, then this is also the perfect travel destination for you because Munich boasts several very interesting art collections, from the old masters at the Alte Pinakothek to the more recent works on display at the Brandhorst Museum, as well as the Pinakothek der Moderne, Europe's largest art and design museum. Another must-see tourist attraction is the Deutsches Museum, Munich's excellent science and technology museum which is acclaimed throughout the world.

Once you've finished your tour of the city, and if you have a few more days to spare, then you should take full advantage of your affordable car hire in Munich to venture out on a road-trip around Bavaria. One idea is to head west and follow the Romantic Road (Romantische Strasse) which stretches for more than 500 kilometres between the cities of Frankfurt, Würzburg, Rothenburg, Nördlinger, Ausgburg and Hohenschwangau. You can also drive into the Bavarian Alps along the famous Alpine Route (Deutsche Alpenstrasse), one of Europe's oldest and most iconic roads, starting from Munich Airport, after which you can take the Biergarten Route which incorporates the cities of Munich, Freising and Bamberg. Visitors planning to travel longer distances might want to take advantage of Auto Europe's One-way Car Rental offers, which allows drivers the opportunity to collect their vehicle in one place (such as Munich Airport) and drop it off somewhere else like Berlin, for instance.

Established in 1954, Auto Europe works with all the main car rental companies in the industry, such as Alamo, Avis, Hertz, Dollar, Enterprise, Europcar and Sixt, among many others. You can rent a car in Munich quickly and easily in just a few clicks by using our high-tech booking engine located at the top of this page. With the widest selection of vehicles in Germany, we're sure we'll be able to find you the most suitable car for your itinerary with pick-up at Munich Airport.

Airport Information

Handling around 40 million passengers a year, Munich Airport (MUC) is one of the busiest airports in the world, with dozens of daily flights to some 300 destinations worldwide. Located near Freising, less than an hour's drive north-east of Munich city centre, it has two large, modern terminals plus two runways and an extensive loading/unloading area. Opened in the first half of 1992, the airport also features a very extensive shopping and leisure precinct known as the Munich Airport Centre, which is conveniently situated between the two passenger terminals.

Munich Airport (MUC)
Address: Nordallee 25, 85356 Munich, Germany
Telephone: +49 89 975 00
Airlines operating at Munich Airport: The list of the most important airlines operating at Munich Airport currently includes Aegean Airlines, Aer Lingus, airBaltic, Air Cairo, Air Canada, Air China, Air Dolomiti, Air Europa, Air France, Air Montenegro, AJet, All Nippon Airways, American Airlines, Austrian Airlines, BeOnd, British Airways, Brussels Airlines, Cathay Pacific, Condor, Corendon Airlines, Croatia Airlines, Delta Air, Discover Airlines, easyJet, Egyptair, El Al, Emirates, Etihad Airways, EVA Air, Eurowings, Finnair, FlyErbil, FlyOne, Freebird Airlines, Gulf Air, Iberia, Icelandair, Israir, ITA Airways, KLM, KM Malta Airlines, Kuwait Airways, Leav Aviation, LOT Polish Airlines, Lufthansa, Luxair, Nesma Airlines, Nile Air, Norwegian Air Shuttle, Nouvelair, Oman Air, Pegasus Airlines, Qatar Airways, Saudia, Scandinavian Airlines, Singapore Airlines, Sky Alps, Sky Express, SmartLynx Airlines, Somon Air, SunExpress, Swiss International Air Lines, TAP Air Portugal, Thai Airways International, Transavia, Travelcoup, TUI fly Deutschland, Tunisair, Turkish Airlines, United Airlines, Universal Air, Uzbekistan Airways, Vietnam Airlines, Vueling and Widerøe.

Where to pick up a car rental at Munich Airport

To pick up your car rental at Munich Airport, you just need to present yourself at the counter of the rental company you selected at the time of making your reservation. You can check the name of the company on the confirmation voucher sent to you by e-mail Auto Europe after the booking was confirmed. The car hire counters are located in the Munich Airport Centre area located between terminals 1 and 2. At the time of pick-up, the local rental company will need the main driver's documents (ie passport, driving licence, credit card, etc.) in order to proceed with the rental agreement, block the security deposit, check the condition of the vehicle and hand over the keys to the customer. It's very important to read the terms and conditions of the booking to confirm that you have all the necessary documents prior to collecting your vehicle. For example, an international driving licence or a second credit card may be required in some situations. When checking in, you can also take the opportunity to ask for more information about where the vehicle will be returned. At this drop-off point, a member of staff from the local company will check the vehicle to confirm that everything is in order, so you can close the contract, unlock the deposit and return the papers and keys of your rental car.

Car rental operating hours

	Avis at Munich Airport Terminal Building, Munich, Germany 85356 +49 89 97597600	Opening Hours: Sun-Fri 7am-11pm (Sat 7am-8pm)
	Budget at Munich Airport Terminal Building, Munich, Germany85356 +49 69 710445596	Opening Hours: Sun-Fri 7am-11pm (Sat 7am-8pm)
	Hertz at Munich Airport Terminal Building Munich, Germany 85356 +49 89 978860	Opening Hours: Sun-Fri 6am-10pm (Sat 8am-5pm)
	Sixt at Munich Airport Terminal Building Munich, Germany 85356 +49 8161 2414003	Opening Hours: Daily 5am-midnight

Terminal

Opened in 1992 at the same time as the airport, Terminal 1 is the oldest of the airport's two terminals and caters for flights operated by all airlines except Star Alliance members. It has a total capacity of 25 million passengers a year and is divided into five modules, namely A, B, C, D and E. Modules A to D have both a departures area and an arrivals area, while module E only deals with arrivals. Based on that formula, each module functions as if it were an independent terminal. Terminal 2 opened in 2003 and also has a capacity of 25 million passengers a year, being used exclusively by Lufthansa and other Star Alliance member airlines. This terminal is not divided into modules like Terminal 1, instead all the facilities are set around a well-designed central plaza where many of the facilities and amenities can be found.

Airport Facilities

MUC offers one of the best airport shopping areas in the whole of Europe, with more than 150 shops, stores and boutiques located on-site for passengers to enjoy whilst waiting for their flights. In addition to a large Duty-free area, there is also an impressive range of world-renowned high-street stores located in the Munich Airport Centre, including Bally, Bobbi Brown, Boss, Bulgari, Burberry, Gant, Gucci, Hermes, Marc O'Polo, Mont Blanc, Parfois, Ralph Lauren, Valentino and Victoria's Secret, among several others. Furthermore, travellers with time on their hands can relax in around 65 cafés, fast-food outlets and restaurants catering for all tastes and requirements, with a wide range of gastronomic styles to suit every culinary need and budget, such as Bubbles Seafood & Wine Bar, Bistro Organic, Bamee Authentic Thai Cuisine, Dallmayr Gourmet Cuisine, Erdinger Bar & Beer Garden and McDonald's. People passing through the airport can also enjoy specialties from the Bavaria region, as well as home-made craft beers and Asian delicacies. Other useful services include free Wi-Fi, a children's play area, chemist, dentist, sleep cabins, gym, hairdresser, chapel, business centre and two high-quality hotels.

How to get to and from Munich Airport

Due to its convenient location not too far from the city centre, it couldn't be easier to pick up a car rental at Munich Airport and get your visit to southern Germany started. The journey by car to and from the heart of Munich normally takes 30-40 minutes outside the rush-hour, the fastest route being the A9 or the B301. The traffic is at its slowest in the morning between 7am and 9am, while in the late afternoon you can expect some quite heavy traffic from 5-7pm Monday to Friday, particularly on the access roads to the airport and on some parts of the interconnecting motorway.

Reaching the airport by S-Bahn is equally fast and seamless, because access to and from Munich Airport via the city's excellent suburban train service is efficient and time-saving. You can use the S-Bahn lines S1 and S8 to connect with the airport if travelling to and from the centre of Munich, passing through the city's Central Train Station (Hauptbahnhof) en route. Make sure that you purchase the correct ticket from the automatic machines at the airport, as S-Bahn inspectors often ask passengers to see their tickets, and travellers without a valid ticket face a hefty fine.

Parking Tips

You'll have no problems parking your car hire at Munich Airport, where a good choice of both overground and underground car parks exist with capacity for more than 30,000 vehicles at any one time. All these car parks have LED screens indicating the number of spaces available, where you can park your vehicle any day of the week. There are payment machines on all floors that accept cash, credit cards and German debit cards (EC-Karte). Instead of the normal payment system whereby you receive a ticket when you enter the car park and then have to pay at one of the machines before leaving, drivers can use their credit card to both enter and leave the car park, thus reducing the stress of collecting and paying for their ticket, the amount of which is automatically from the card.

Parking in Munich is a little more complicated, especially in the heart of the city centre. As in other large European cities, you can park on the street or in the many car parks scattered around the city, although on-street parking can be problematic and if you do mange to find a space, will often be of a limited duration. But Munich also has a very efficient and cost effective Park&Ride network at many of the city's metro and train stations, so you mind find that it is best to drive to one of the city's P&R car parkrun by MVV (the company that manages the entire public transport system in Munich) and head into the city centre on foot without having to worry about finding a parking space on the street or in an underground car park.

Useful links

Munich Airport Official Website