Guides
Munich and Memmingen for the Alps: two airports, one mountain range
Most people who land at either of these are not going to a city. They are going into the mountains, and the mountains have no railway station.
Southern Bavaria has a full-service airport and a low-cost one, and the honest way to choose between them is to ignore both names and look at where the Alps actually are. Munich Airport is 28.5 km north-east of Munich — which puts it on the wrong side of the city from the mountains. Memmingen is 118 km west of Munich and is marketed against it, but it sits much closer to the Allgäu, Neuschwanstein and Lake Constance.
This guide is about the journeys that follow the landing, because for a large share of arrivals at both airports the city is not the destination at all. It is a valley, a ski resort, a lake, a castle, or somewhere over the Austrian border.
Munich: a big network on the wrong side of the city
Munich Airport is the second-largest in Germany and the reason to use it is the flight network — long-haul, frequency and connections that Memmingen cannot approach. Its geography is the trade-off. The airport is north-east of the city and the Alps are south, so almost every mountain journey starts by going round or through Munich.
For the city itself the S-Bahn from under the terminals is the honest recommendation for one person with hand luggage. It is not fast, but it is completely predictable, which the A9 at eight in the morning is not. Munich Airport to München Hauptbahnhof is 39 km by road against 28.5 as the crow flies, and that gap is the city sitting between you and everywhere else.
Where a car earns its price at Munich is the ski and lake traffic, and the reason is luggage as much as geography. Ski bags, boot bags and golf luggage are not an S-Bahn proposition, and the resorts are dispersed valley destinations rather than stations. The same applies to the Bavarian business runs: Landshut is 40 km, Ingolstadt 73, Augsburg 88 and Regensburg 105 — all short by road from the airport and all awkward via the city.
Dachau is 32 km and worth naming separately: the memorial site is one of the most-visited destinations from this airport and it is not a place most people want to reach via two changes and a walk.
Salzburg and the Austrian border
Munich Airport to Salzburg is 183 km, and it is one of the most-requested journeys from this airport in either language. Salzburg has its own airport with a much thinner network, so a great many visitors fly to Munich deliberately and take the ground leg — for the Festspiele, for the old town, or as the gateway to the Salzkammergut and the Austrian ski areas beyond it.
There is a separate transfer to Salzburg Hauptbahnhof for anyone connecting onward by rail into Austria, which is a common pattern for Kitzbühel, Zell am See and the Tyrol.
A fixed price matters more than usual on a leg like this. It is nearly three hours of driving across an international border, which is exactly the journey where a meter or a dynamically-priced app becomes a guess — and, at a late arrival hour, exactly the journey an app is least likely to have a car for. The price on the route page is agreed before you fly and does not move.
It is also worth knowing that Austria requires a motorway vignette and charges tolls on some Alpine sections. On a booked transfer that is the operator's problem rather than yours; in a hire car it is a queue at a petrol station on the border and a fine if you get it wrong.
Memmingen: badly named, well placed
Memmingen is sold as "Munich West" and is 118 km from Munich, which is the sort of distance that makes the name a marketing decision rather than a description. It is one of four such airports in this network and we wrote about all of them.
Read it as an Allgäu airport instead and it is very well placed. Neuschwanstein Castle is 89 km — the single most-visited sight in Bavaria, and one with no useful rail connection at the end. Immenstadt is 70 km, in the middle of the Allgäu walking and skiing country. Ulm is 61, with its Hauptbahnhof at 62 for onward ICE connections, and Augsburg is 93.
The Munich run itself is worth being straight about. There is a coach, it is priced per passenger, and if you are one person with time to spare it will be cheaper than a car — take it. The 118 km transfer makes sense at two and is usually cheaper as well as faster at four, and it is the only option at all outside coach hours, which a low-cost schedule regularly falls outside.
Where there is simply nothing to compare against is the Allgäu itself, the Alps, Neuschwanstein, Oberstdorf, Lake Constance and anywhere over the Austrian border. Those have no scheduled connection from this airport at any hour, and they are, conveniently, where most people who land here are actually going.
Choosing, and the mistake to avoid
Fly to Munich when the flight network decides it — long-haul, a tight connection, or simply no Memmingen service from your origin. Also fly to Munich for Salzburg, the Salzkammergut, the eastern Bavarian Alps and anywhere via the Austrian border in that direction.
Fly to Memmingen for the Allgäu, Neuschwanstein, Oberstdorf, Lake Constance, Ulm and the western Alps. On those journeys it is not a compromise, it is the closer airport by a wide margin — and the difference is roughly the width of Munich plus the width of the traffic around it.
The mistake to avoid is the one the name encourages: booking Memmingen because it says Munich, then discovering the transfer into Munich is 118 km, and separately, booking Munich for the Allgäu and driving 150 km back west past the airport you should have used. Both happen, and both are the name doing its job on the wrong traveller.
One more practical note for winter. Alpine roads in snow are a professional-driver problem, not a rental-car adventure — winter tyres are a legal requirement in the relevant conditions, snow chains are sometimes needed on the passes, and a booked car arrives equipped. If you are landing at either airport in January with skis, that is the whole argument.
What to take from this
- Munich Airport is north-east of Munich and the Alps are south, so mountain journeys from it start by getting past the city.
- Memmingen is 118 km from Munich but much closer to the Allgäu — Neuschwanstein is 89 km, against a far longer run from Munich.
- Munich Airport to Salzburg is 183 km and one of the most requested legs here; Salzburg's own airport has a much thinner network.
- The Memmingen coach to Munich is genuinely cheaper for one unhurried person. It does not serve the Allgäu, the Alps or the castle at all.
- Ski, boot and golf luggage is the practical reason a car wins here, more often than distance is.
FAQ
Questions this raises
Which airport is closest to Neuschwanstein Castle?
Memmingen, at about 89 km. Munich Airport is considerably further because it sits north-east of Munich while the castle is south-west, so the journey has to get past the city first. Neuschwanstein also has no useful rail connection at the end — the last stretch is a road journey however you arrive — which is why a direct transfer is the normal way to do it rather than an upgrade.
How far is Munich Airport from Salzburg?
About 183 km by road, or a little under three hours of driving across the German–Austrian border. It is one of the most requested journeys from this airport, because Salzburg's own airport has a much thinner route network and many visitors deliberately fly into Munich instead. There is a separate transfer to Salzburg Hauptbahnhof for anyone continuing by rail into the Tyrol or the Salzkammergut.
Is Memmingen airport really near Munich?
No. It is about 118 km away, which is roughly ninety minutes by road, and the name is a marketing decision from the low-cost era rather than a description of where the airport is. It is one of four German airports in that position, along with Frankfurt-Hahn, Weeze and Karlsruhe/Baden-Baden. What Memmingen genuinely is near is the Allgäu, Neuschwanstein, Ulm and Lake Constance — for those it is much the better arrival airport.
Should I take the coach from Memmingen to Munich?
If you are one person, travelling light and not in a hurry, yes — it is priced per passenger and will be cheaper than a car, and we would rather say so. The arithmetic narrows at two passengers and usually reverses at four, where a single vehicle is often cheaper as well as faster. The coach is also tied to its timetable, and low-cost schedules regularly land outside it. For the Allgäu or the Alps there is no coach to compare against at all.
Do I need winter equipment for an Alpine transfer?
In a booked transfer, no — that is the operator's responsibility and the vehicle arrives equipped. Winter tyres are a legal requirement in Germany in the relevant road conditions rather than on fixed dates, and snow chains are occasionally needed on Alpine passes. In a hire car it becomes your problem, which is worth weighing if you are landing in midwinter with ski luggage and an unfamiliar mountain road ahead of you.
Read next
- Munich, Nuremberg or Memmingen: arriving in Bavaria Bavaria is the largest German state, and its three airports are 5, 28.5 and 110 km from the city they name.
- From the gate to the city centre at all nineteen German airports At most of these airports the train wins. We would rather tell you which ones than sell you a car you do not need.
- Uber, Bolt, FreeNow and the German taxi: what actually picks you up Uber exists here. It is a different product from the one on your phone at home, and the reason is a law rather than a business decision.
