That depends on your passport and on where your two flights go. Between two flights outside Europe's Schengen area you can stay airside and need nothing, unless you're one of 20 nationalities. To go into Munich, US, UK, EU, Canadian and Australian passports need no visa, and Indian passports need a Schengen visa.
Not to change planes between two flights outside Schengen: you stay airside at Munich, and only 20 nationalities need an airport transit visa. To leave the airport, US, UK, EU, Canadian and Australian passports need no visa for a short stay; Indian passports need a Schengen short-stay visa, applied for before you fly.
If you stay airside
At Munich Airport (MUC), whether you see a German border officer depends on where your two flights go, not on how long you wait. Germany is in the Schengen area: most of the EU, plus Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland, with no passport checks between them. The UK, Ireland, the Americas, Africa and Asia are outside it.
- Outside Schengen to outside Schengen (Toronto to Dubai, say): you stay airside and pass no passport control, so most passports need no visa. You may go through security again, so allow time for it.
- Outside Schengen to a Schengen country (Toronto to Rome): Munich is where you enter the Schengen area, so you pass passport control here and need permission to enter, even if you never leave the airport.
- A Schengen country to outside Schengen (Vienna to New York): no check when you land, then passport control on your way to the gate.
- Within Schengen (Paris to Berlin): no passport control at all.
Both terminals and the Terminal 2 Satellite have Schengen and non-Schengen gates, so the letter on your boarding pass doesn’t tell you which side you’ll be on. Follow the signs for your gate, and if you change between Terminals 1 and 2, take the free shuttle bus: walking between them means extra checks.
Airport transit visa
A few nationalities need an airport transit visa just to stay airside: Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Cuba, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Ghana, Iran, Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, Mali, Nigeria, Pakistan, Somalia, South Sudan, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Syria and Turkey, with exceptions for some Jordanian and Turkish travellers. India isn’t on the list.
Even on one of those passports, you can change planes without one if you already hold a valid EU or Schengen visa or residence permit, or a valid visa issued by an EEA country, the US, Canada or Japan. Some residence permits from the US, Canada, Japan, Andorra and San Marino count too.
If you want to leave the airport
Even a few hours on Marienplatz means entering Germany and the Schengen area, so you need permission to enter.
| Passport | What you need to leave Munich airport |
|---|---|
| US | No visa; stays of up to 90 days in any 180-day period |
| UK | No visa; up to 90 days in any 180-day period, British Nationals (Overseas) too |
| EU and Schengen | Nothing; adults can use the EasyPASS gates |
| Canada | No visa; stays of up to 90 days in any 180-day period |
| Australia | No visa; stays of up to 90 days in any 180-day period |
| India | A Schengen short-stay visa, applied for before you fly; an airport transit visa doesn’t let you out |
Passport validity
Two dates on your passport matter: it must have been issued less than 10 years ago, and it must stay valid for 3 months or more after your onward flight leaves Germany. The officer may also ask the purpose of your visit and how you’re paying for it; on a layover, your onward boarding pass answers both.
The EES and ETIAS
Since April 2026, Munich registers non-EU visitors under the EU’s Entry/Exit System (EES): fingerprints and a photo instead of a passport stamp. It makes the queue slower. At some checkpoints there are self-service kiosks before the desks; enter your details at one, then see the officer at the desk, which is quicker. EU citizens aged 18 or over can use the EasyPASS gates instead.
ETIAS is the next step: an online permission to travel that Americans, Britons, Canadians, Australians and other visa-free visitors will apply for before a trip. It hasn’t started, and the EU will announce the start date several months ahead, so there’s nothing to apply for yet; its first 12 months or more will then be a transition and grace period. Look at the EU’s ETIAS page before you fly.
If you’re on separate tickets
Two bookings that don’t know about each other leave you to carry your own connection: off the plane, through the border, to the baggage belt, then up to the departures hall to check in again. Since that route crosses passport control into Germany, your passport has to let you in, visa-free or with a Schengen visa, even if you’d never planned to see the city. Build in time for check-in, security and, for a flight leaving Schengen, the border again.
At the border
Allow about an hour from landing to sitting on the S-Bahn. Munich doesn’t publish queue times, and the EES checks add time at the desks, so a long queue is likely at busy times. It shortens your time in town, but not the time you must head back, so on a 6-hour layover with a queue well over an hour, staying at the airport may be the better choice. If you’ve flown in from inside Schengen, there’s no queue at all: you walk out to the train.
Before you go landside
- Your passport and onward boarding pass go with you into town.
- Ask at check-in, or read your bag tag, to be sure your bags go through to your final destination. If you’ve had to collect them, the Service Center in the Munich Airport Center or Terminal 2 stores them, €8 for a suitcase for up to 5 hours.
- Plan to be back at the airport 90 minutes before departure. That covers security and, for a flight leaving Schengen, the border on the way out; add more if you still have to check in or drop a bag.
- The train into town and back: getting into the city.
Lufthansa’s Munich stopover
Lufthansa’s stopover programme is for Munich: a stay of one to seven days in the city. It’s no help on a layover of a few hours, but if you’re flying Lufthansa and could stay a night or more, it’s worth a look on Lufthansa’s site. The airport gives stopover guests a 10% coupon for its Service Center, which runs left luggage. You enter Germany for it, so the passport rules above apply.