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Getting around Munich

Public transport: 

The comprehensive public transport network in Munich is run by the Münchener Verkehrs- und Tarifverbund GmbH (MVV) (tel: (089) 210 330; www.mvv-muenchen.de). This consists of an integrated system of 10 Strassenbahn (tram) lines, around 70 bus lines, eight U-Bahn (underground) lines and 10 S-Bahn (suburban train) lines.

Tickets are available for purchase from blue ticket machines marked with the MVV logo and from other ticket outlets. Tickets must be validated in blue Entwerter machines, marked with the letter ‘E', upon boarding - except on new trams, for which pre-validated tickets are available.

Both one-day and three-day passes are available, and up to five adults travelling together can save money by buying a one-day group ticket (Partner-Tageskarte).

Taxis: 

Taxis in Munich are usually cream-coloured Mercedes and can be safely hailed on the street. Taxi-München (tel: (01733) 825 038) is the central dispatching service. A tip of 5-10% is common practice.

Driving: 

Traffic can be heavy, particularly during rush hour, and parking is often problematic. Drivers should note that trams always have priority in Munich, although driving on their tracks is permissible and usually unavoidable. Buses have priority when leaving stops.

The most useful car parks in Munich include Carpark am Stachus (Adolf-Kolping-Strasse 10), Carpark Vor der Oper (Max-Joseph-Platz 4), Carpark Marienplatz (Rindermarkt 16) and Carpark Färbergraben (Färbergraben 5), just south of the pedestrianised Kaufingerstrasse.

Car hire: 

Drivers need to be at least 21 years old to hire a category-one car. Nevertheless, small cars, such as a Smart car, can be hired at 18 years. Insurance in Germany is mandatory and drivers must hold a valid national driving licence.

There are numerous car-hire firms, both at the airport and in central Munich. Central locations of representative major providers, with late hours, include Avis (tel: (089) 550 2251; www.avis.de) and Hertz (tel: (089) 550 2256; www.hertz.de). Autoverleih Sander (tel: (089) 348 046; www.sander-autoverleih.de) is a local alternative.

Bicycle hire: 

Call A Bike (tel: 0700 0522 5522; www.callabike-interaktiv.de), operated by Deutsche Bahn (DB), has bikes spread over Munich. By calling the number, a credit card account is set up, which enables customers to release the electronically locked bike by inputting a pin code. The appropriate fee is deducted from the credit card after the bike is returned to a bike rack. Once an account and pin code are set up, any available bike can be used at any time.

Bikes can be hired in the ordinary way from Radius Touristik, in Munich’s Hauptbahnhof opposite platform 32 (tel: (089) 5502 9374; www.radiusmunich.com) from mid-March to October, or Spurwechsel, Ohlmüllerstrasse 5 (tel: (089) 692 4699; www.spurwechsel-muenchen.de) all year round.

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