Take the S8 from Munich Airport to Marienplatz, then walk about five minutes to Hofbräuhaus München at Platzl 9. Under the standard 2026 timetable, the S8 normally reaches Marienplatz in about 36 minutes without a change, while the S1 normally takes roughly 48 minutes. Temporary exception: from August 18 at 03:30 until August 25 at 05:00, S1 airport trains begin or end at Moosach, so S8 is the more useful airport route through Marienplatz. From August 26 at 05:00 until August 31 at 04:30, S8 is disrupted between Ostbahnhof and Johanneskirchen, and S-Bahn München advises airport passengers to use S1 instead. Outside these works, check the displayed arrival times: an S1 that is ready to leave may still beat the next S8, but the S8 is the faster train once both are moving.
Do not get off at Hauptbahnhof merely because it is Munich’s central station. On the S1, remain aboard through Hauptbahnhof and Karlsplatz to Marienplatz. On the S8, Isartor appears one stop before Marienplatz, but leaving there exchanges one minute on the train for a longer, less obvious walk. Hofbräuhaus itself identifies Marienplatz as the easiest public-transport stop.
After reaching the square, find the Altes Rathaus at its eastern end. Walk past it into Tal, turn left onto Sparkassenstraße, then right onto Münzstraße. Münzstraße leads directly into Platzl, where Hofbräuhaus occupies number 9. The building is close to Marienplatz, but it does not stand on the square and may not be visible when you first emerge from the station.
Check the complete destination before following a map result: Hofbräuhaus München, Platzl 9, 80331 München. Hofbräukeller at Innere Wiener Straße 19 is a different Hofbräu venue in Haidhausen. The airport ride is straightforward; the avoidable errors happen when travellers leave the train too soon, follow the shopping crowd west or select the wrong establishment.
Compare arrival times instead of waiting blindly for the S8
The airport station serving Terminals 1 and 2 is named Flughafen München. Follow the green S-Bahn signs from the terminal area. Besucherpark, which may appear on airport maps and departure screens, is a separate stop serving administrative buildings, cargo facilities and remote parking areas. Arriving airline passengers do not need to travel there first.
The S8 approaches central Munich from the east and normally takes about 36 minutes to Marienplatz. The S1 travels through Neufahrn, Moosach, Laim and Hauptbahnhof, taking approximately 48 minutes. Both lines usually run every 20 minutes, producing an alternating service from the airport at intervals of roughly ten minutes during most of the day.
The difference in running time does not mean every passenger should reject the S1. If it is already at the platform and the next S8 is more than ten minutes away, both trains may reach Marienplatz at nearly the same time. Compare the predicted arrival time at Marienplatz on the departure board rather than choosing only by line number.
Before boarding, confirm that the train is running through to Marienplatz. Annual timetables cannot include every construction period or short-notice disruption.
Stay aboard at Hauptbahnhof and Isartor
On the S1 and S8, the main mistake is leaving the train before Marienplatz.
On the S1, the central stations appear in this order: Hauptbahnhof, Karlsplatz and Marienplatz. If Karlsplatz is your intended destination, use the Stachus from Munich Airport guide instead of staying on to Marienplatz. Hauptbahnhof sounds important, but it is west of the destination. Getting off there means finding another S-Bahn, using the U-Bahn or walking across a substantial part of the old town. Remaining seated for two more stops delivers you to the station recommended by Hofbräuhaus.
On the S8, Isartor comes immediately before Marienplatz. If the Deutsches Museum is your actual destination, use the Deutsches Museum from Munich Airport route and leave at Isartor instead. It can be a sensible stop for a hotel near the Isar or for someone already visiting the eastern old town. For Hofbräuhaus at Platzl 9, remain aboard to Marienplatz; the published walk from there is about five minutes.
For Platzl 9, remain aboard until Marienplatz. Hauptbahnhof and Isartor are nearby alternatives for other destinations, but neither gives the same final approach to Hofbräuhaus München.
Leave Marienplatz on the Altes Rathaus side
Marienplatz station has several underground passages. Instead of depending on a particular staircase, reach the square and orient yourself using the two town halls.
The large Gothic Revival building with the Glockenspiel is the Neues Rathaus, occupying the northern side of Marienplatz. The smaller Altes Rathaus closes the eastern end of the square and marks the beginning of Tal. If you are heading to the market instead of Hofbräuhaus, the Viktualienmarkt from Munich Airport guide keeps you on the south-eastern side of Marienplatz. Hofbräuhaus lies beyond that eastern side.
Walk past the Altes Rathaus into Tal. Near the beginning of Tal, turn left onto Sparkassenstraße. Continue until Münzstraße branches to the right, then follow Münzstraße into Platzl. Hofbräuhaus is at Platzl 9. These two named turns are more dependable than trying to follow a phone compass among closely packed buildings.
Kaufingerstraße is the main wrong turn. It leaves Marienplatz in the opposite direction, heading west through the shopping area toward Karlsplatz. The crowd entering it can be much larger than the flow toward Hofbräuhaus. Dienerstraße, leading north toward Dallmayr and Max-Joseph-Platz, is another possible but indirect route. If the Munich Residenz is your real destination, use the Residenz Munich from Munich Airport guide rather than continuing toward Platzl.
If you remain on Tal long enough to see Isartor ahead, you have passed Sparkassenstraße. Turn back toward the Altes Rathaus rather than searching for a new route through the eastern lanes.
Confirm Platzl 9 before trusting a Hofbräu map result
Munich has two well-known venues whose names are easy to confuse.
The old-town beer hall covered here is Hofbräuhaus München, Platzl 9, 80331 München. Hofbräukeller is at Innere Wiener Straße 19, 81667 München, beside Wiener Platz in Haidhausen. It also serves Hofbräu beer and has a large beer garden, so photographs and search descriptions may not immediately reveal the mistake.
The similarity is not accidental. Munich’s official city information records that the brewery moved from Platzl to Innere Wiener Straße in 1896, where Hofbräukeller now stands. Hofbräuhaus remained at Platzl as the famous old-town beer hall.
A navigation result mentioning Wiener Platz, Haidhausen, Max-Weber-Platz or Innere Wiener Straße is therefore taking you to the other venue. The correct result must show Platzl 9. This check matters especially when sharing a meeting location or giving a destination to a driver. “Hofbräu” is not precise enough; “Hofbräuhaus München at Platzl 9” is.
Once Münzstraße opens into Platzl, use the street name and building number as the final confirmation rather than entering the first restaurant displaying Hofbräu branding.
Free seating downstairs is how Hofbräuhaus normally works
A visitor expecting a conventional reception desk can enter the ground floor, see busy communal tables and assume that every seat is reserved. That is not how the main hall operates.
According to Hofbräuhaus’s current reservation information, advance reservations are available for the upstairs Bräustüberl and begin with groups of four. The ground-floor Schwemme and the Wirtsgarten use free seating at large communal tables. An empty place beside another party can be taken; sharing a table is part of the normal arrangement.
If you have a confirmed Bräustüberl reservation, go to the upstairs Bräustüberl rather than taking a seat in the Schwemme. Travellers without a reservation should look for available places at the free-seating tables rather than waiting for every table to become empty.
The currently published restaurant hours are daily from 11:00 until midnight. The kitchen closes at 22:00, and the final drinks are served at 23:30. This difference matters after an evening flight. Arriving at 22:15 may be acceptable for a drink, but it is already too late for the regular kitchen service.
Check current venue information before travelling on a special-event date or planning an arrival close to the kitchen cutoff.
Use an M–5 ticket, not a Zone M city ticket
Munich Airport is in fare zone 5, while Marienplatz is in Zone M. A ticket valid only within central Munich does not cover the airport journey. Select a ticket covering zones M–5 before entering the S-Bahn.
For travellers who will use public transport again after reaching the city, the Airport City Day Ticket is a practical option. Under the 2026 fare schedule, the single version costs €17.50 and the group version costs €32.60. The single ticket covers one adult and up to three children aged 6–14. The group ticket covers two to five people; two children aged 6–14 count as one person.
The ticket remains valid until 06:00 the following morning and covers S-Bahn, U-Bahn, tram, bus and participating regional trains throughout zones M–5. A standard Single Ticket may cost less when the airport journey is your only paid trip, so compare the products shown by the machine rather than selecting the day ticket automatically.
Airport City Day Tickets purchased from the S-Bahn or DB machines at the airport are normally valid from the time of purchase. They do not require the separate manual stamping associated with certain tickets bought from stationary MVG machines elsewhere in Munich.
Read the carriage destination if you return on the S1
To return to Marienplatz, leave Platzl through Münzstraße, turn left onto Sparkassenstraße, then right at Tal. Continue toward the Altes Rathaus and enter Marienplatz station.
On the return journey, an S8 marked Flughafen München continues toward the airport. If the S1 is the better live connection, check the carriage destination as well as the line number. At Neufahrn, the S1 divides: the front section continues to Freising, while the rear section goes to Munich Airport.
This division does not affect the inbound journey described at the beginning of the article because the airport and Freising sections have already been joined before travelling into central Munich. It becomes important only when riding away from Marienplatz toward the airport.
Use the platform indicator and the display on the train to identify the section marked Flughafen or Airport. Do not assume every carriage of an S1 reaches the terminals. Announcements before Neufahrn provide another chance to check, but boarding the correct section at Marienplatz avoids having to move through the train later.
For an early flight, check the live timetable before leaving Hofbräuhaus. August 2026 construction currently changes the normal S1/S8 airport pattern on several dates, so use the live S-Bahn München or MVV journey information rather than relying only on the standard timetable.
Sources checked
Hofbräuhaus München official directions — confirmed Marienplatz as the recommended public-transport stop, the Platzl 9 address and current operating hours — https://www.hofbraeuhaus.de/en/directions/
Hofbräuhaus München official reservation information — confirmed Bräustüberl reservations from four people and free seating in the Schwemme and Wirtsgarten — https://www.hofbraeuhaus.de/reservieren/
Munich Airport official public-transport information — confirmed the S1 and S8 routes, normal frequencies, terminal station and separate Besucherpark stop — https://www.munich-airport.com/public-transport-260822
MVV 2026 S1/S8 airport timetable — confirmed scheduled journey times, central station order and the M–5 fare area — https://www.mvv-muenchen.de/fileadmin/mediapool/03-Plaene_Bahnhoefe/Minifahrplaene/2026/S-Bahn/1-1-18-s26-1-MFP_M.pdf
MVV Airport City Day Ticket — confirmed current prices, passenger conditions, validity period and airport-machine validation rules — https://www.mvv-muenchen.de/en/tickets-and-fares/tickets-daytickets/airport-city-day-ticket/index.html
Hofbräukeller official website — confirmed the separate Innere Wiener Straße 19 address — https://www.hofbraeukeller.de/
City of Munich Hofbräuhaus information — confirmed the Platzl location and historical connection with the present Hofbräukeller site — https://www.muenchen.de/sehenswuerdigkeiten/bauwerke-und-denkmaeler/hofbraeuhaus
TUM/FRM II Hofbräuhaus route map — confirmed the walking route through Sparkassenstraße, Münzstraße and Platzl — https://indico.frm2.tum.de/event/263/attachments/817/1398/route_map_to_Hofbraeuhaus.pdf
Last updated: August 20, 2026
