Munich's rail hub is the Hauptbahnhof (main train station), just 500m east of the Old Town (follow signs for Stadtmitte to get there).

For information, go to the tourist information office overlooking the square or the EurAid office inside the station. Check your email at the Times Square internet café in the main hall or cross Bahnhofplatz to find the easyInternetcafé. ATMs can be found dotted through the station; change currency or cash travellers’ cheques at the Reisebank near the Bayerstraße exit (open 07:30 - 19:15, Sat 09:30 - 16:45, closed Sun). Use the lockers (Schliessfächer, €1-2) or the counter (Gepäckaufbewahrung, open 06:00 - 22:00, €2.05/24hrs) for your baggage. The McClean ‘safe and clean’ toilets and showers are downstairs in the entrance to the U-Bahn station; there are also toilets on the right by the Bayerstraße exit. Taxis are readily available at each of the three exits. U-Bahn lines 1, 2, 7 and 8 can be found at the left exit as well as city buses and the airport bus, while metro lines N°4 and 5 are at the right exit. The Lufthansa airport bus stop is just outside the northern exit.

DB (Deutsche Bahn, German railways) uses a number of train types on long-distance routes. The supersexy, delux highspeed ICE trains (InterCity Express; 'eeh-tsay-ay') zip through the countryside on purpose-built tracks at up to 300km/hr. Every seat has a headphone plug for the eight music stations, and you may get a TV screen too. Table seats have 220V plugs for laptops, and some carriages have amplifiers to enable clear mobile phone conversations. EC (EuroCity) and IC (InterCity) trains are less swank, but still very good, connecting international and German cities respectively. Seat reservations are not always obligatory (check before boarding), but the €3 investment may save you from having to stand in the corridor for five hours.

Tickets can be purchased at the the DB Centre and travel agency (open 06:00 - 22:30) in the main hall. DB has a complicated pricing structure; the sooner you buy the ticket, the more likely you’ll get a reduced price. The DB's German and European online train timetable at www.bahn.de is so good that it's often easier to use for planning trips within neighbouring countries than the relevant national websites. It can handle complicated international connections and lists prices for trips within Germany; click on the link to Int. Guests for the English version. You can book online in advance, pay by credit card and print out your ticket and seat reservations at home.