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München / Munich to Budapest by train
How to travel from München / Munich to Budapest by train
When taking the train from München / Munich to Budapest there is a choice between travelling by day on a smart and comparatively comfortable Railjet train, or overnight on a sleeper train.
Though on this route the overnight isn't a Nightjet because the Hungarian national rail operator MAV provides the sleeping cabins, couchettes and seated coaches.
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Routes
Option 1: by day on a Railjet
Journey Summary
6hr 59min - 7hr 4min
Daily
Travel Information
Final Destination: Budapest-Keleti
Train also calls at: Wien, Gyor and Budapest-Kelenfold**
Note that these trains do not call at Munchen Ost station.
This is a pleasant, but not exceptionally beautiful journey, so this is a route when taking the alternative overnight train means you won't lose out on seeing spectacular views.
4 x trains per day
Tickets
Book early and save: Yes
Online bookings open: Three months ahead of the travel date
On the DB Bahn booking site look for journeys that have:
- 0 in the Chg. column
- RJ (and only RJ) in the Products column.
Trains departing at different times can be cheaper than others leaving on the same day - so you may need to look through the day's departures to find the cheapest fares.
Use the earlier/later buttons to search for the cheapest ticket prices.
Though something to look out for is that the final direct daytime train of the day usuallyt departs from Munchen Hbf at around 13:30.
Book 1st class ticket journey tickets on with DB and your seat reservation is included, but they're optional when booking 2nd class tickets, or if you will be travelling with a 1st or 2nd class rail pass.
Where to book
| Ticket Provider | Approximate Cost | |
|---|---|---|
| DB Bahn | from €35.90 | |
| Save A Train | from €35.90 | |
| Omio | from €35.90 | |
| Trainline | from €35.90 |
On this journey
Travelling On
Journey Features
Good to Know
The train will call at Budapest-Kelenfold around 10 mins before arriving at Budapest-Keleti.
If the end point of your journey in Budapest is by a station on Metro Line 4, or has an easy connection from Line 4, then leave the train from Munchen at Kelenfold station and transfer to the Metro there.
Not only will your journey be quicker overall, the Metro transfer at Kelenfold is much easier, than at Keleti station in Budapest, particularly if you have luggage.
Journey description:
This is a pleasant, rather than spectacular train ride, the views of the mountains will be distant ones.
The prettiest part of the journey by train from Munchen to Budapest is between Salzburg and Linz, though we lack the images to prove it, as on the most recent two occasions we came this way, it was pouring with rain!
The views from the train are exceptionally dull after the train has departed from Wien, so if you do nod off on this part of the journey, you won't be missing out.
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Option 2: the overnight sleeper train
Journey Summary
9hr 15min (approx)
Nightly
Travel Information
This train is now usually scheduled to depart from München Ost at 23:54 and arrive in Budapest Keleti at 09:19.
Note that because this train now commences its journey in Stuttgart it doesn't now depart from the main station in München, the hauptbahnhof.
Though the hauptbahnhof is linked to München Ost by frequent local (S-Bahn trains) that also call at multiple stations in the city centre.
This train has fairly convenient departure and arrival times, so it can be a good alternative to travelling from Munich to Budapest on the alternative daytime trains,
You also won't be missing out on experiencing a fabulously scenic journey if you take this night train.
However, the Hungarian sleeping and couchette coaches used on these trains aren't as modern as some other night trains - note that Nightjet trains aren't used on this route.
Final Destination: Budapest
This train also calls at: Munchen Ost, Gyor and Budapest-Kelenfold
The train will call at Budapest-Kelenfold around 10 mins before arriving at Budapest-Keleti.
If the end point of your journey in Budapest is by a station on Metro Line 4, or has an easy connection from Line 4, then leave the train from Munchen at Kelenfold station and transfer to the Metro there.
Not only will your journey be quicker overall, the Metro transfer at Kelenfold is much easier, than at Keleti station in Budapest, particularly if you have luggage.
1 x train per night
Tickets
Book early and save: Yes
Online bookings usually open: 6 months ahead of the travel date
Booking on the MAV website
What can occur when using the MAV website is that the search results can be shown for the day after you chose on the calendar, with the message being that trains aren't available on the date selected.
But the trick is to click on the grey 'earlier' departures button and then you should see the night train, indicated by the crescent moon symbol.
Booking on the DB website
When making a booking on the English language version of the DB website, it can matter to select München Ost as the specific 'from' station.
If the generic 'München/Munich' is used as the from station, the DB website can assume that the traveller will want to start their journey at the city's main station, München Hbf; and in this scenario the website will offer an indirect journey with an early morning connection in Salzburg.
But because of the umlaut over the u in München, when using the English language version of DB it isn't possible to select München Ost as the from station.
So the work around is to look up a journey from chen Ost, which should then give an opportunity to select München Ost from the dropdown menu of options.
Another quirk of booking on the DB website can occur when three people are travelling together and want to book a sleeping cabin with three beds.
DB can ignore this request and default to only offering berths in the couchettes
'Kalaman Imre' is the name given to this train, which uses coaches provided by Hungarian Railways (MAV).
The train conveys:
- Compartment Seats
- Couchettes ; 4 berths AND 6 berths
Sleeping cars with 3 bed, 2 bed and 1 cabins (there are no deluxe sleeping cars with showers in the cabins available on this route).
Click the train button above for more info including the rail pass reservation fees:
Using rail passes:
Rail pass users must reserve before boarding this train.
However, these rail pass reservations can NO longer be booked online the DB website.
If you want to reserve seats, berths in couchettes or beds in the sleeping cabins before you arrive in Germany, the best option is to pay a booking fee and use the Eurail or InterRail reservation services.
Or you can avoid the booking fees by arranging the reservations when you arrive in Germany, by purchasing them at a Reisezentrum travel desk, which you will find in any hauptbahnhof.
Though it's best to do this at the first hauptbahnhof (city centre station) that you will arrive at, the later you leave booking your accommodation, the more likely it is that your preferences will be sold out.
Where to book
| Ticket Provider | Approximate Cost | |
|---|---|---|
| MAV | * | |
| DB Bahn | * |
On this journey
Journey Features
Good to Know
At Munchen Hbf the coaches heading to Budapest, will be joined to other coaches heading to Zagreb and Venezia/Venedig.
The train will be separated during its journey.
This second version of ShowMeTheJourney is exciting and new, so we are genuinely thrilled that you are here and reading this, but we also need your help.
We’re striving not to let anything get in the way of providing the most useful service possible, hence a facility has been set up with DonorBox which can be used to support the running costs and make improvements.
Instead of advertising or paywalls, your financial support will make a positive difference to delivering an enhanced service, as there’s a lot of ideas which we want to make happen.
So if you have found the info provided here to be useful, please consider saying thank you.
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