can someone advise me on the Isarcard please

I am not too clued up on the u-barn and I think I want an Isarcard for 2 zones since I live in zone 2. Does anybody know if it costs anything for the card, or is it just the 36 euros quoted per month.

Also is it worth getting more zones. Is there much to see and do outside the 2 inner zones. Is it worth getting 3 or even 4 zones? I will have my afternoons and weekends free to explore!

Any thoughts would be most welcome. Thx

If you live in Zone 2 and want to travel between there and the city centre, then get a zones 1 and 2 card, which is €35 as far as I remember. The card is just a ticket that you can throw away after the month is up: you can also get little covers free where they sell the cards. Yeah there is stuff to see outside the city: 2 nice lakes on the s-bahn to the south Starnbergersee and Ammersee. Ammersee has Kloster Andechs which is also worth a visit. You will have to weigh up, how often you would be exploring vs what it would cost to just get your zones 1 & 2 and extra tickets / strips on the days when you go further afield. I for example am in zone 9 and that costs €92 a month. Check out the BOB (Bayerische Oberland Bahn) when you arrive: it's a train that heads down into the pre Alps south of Munich: plenty to see on that line.

The Isar card is a good deal. You choose which of the zones you want to travel in an pay according to how many you take. A card for 2 Zones costs €36 per calendar month.

If you are travelling after 9am the Grüne Karte is a better deal. This covers ALL of the inner zones (4 rings) for €39 or all of the outer zones (12 rings) for the same price. The cost for a Grüne Karte for the whole of the region (16 rings) is only €7 Euros more. Unlike the Isar card the Grune karte is NOT valid from 4am to 9am each workday, so is useful for those on flexitime who can arrive at work later. It is valid all day Saturday and Sunday. You can also take up to 3 kids (up to 14 years) on this card.

Not many people realise, but both the Isar card and the Grüne Karte can be used by anyone, so you can loan or give the card to a friend to use at will...

The MVV have a very good website, also in English with further details and VERY good scheduling at www.mvv-muenchen.de. You can even make timetable enquiries by SMS and WAP...

YL6

If you are going to be here for a long time and your choice of rings is fairly stable you can get a years card (called an Abo) but only pay the price for 10 months.
They book the money monthly off your bank account. Call into the info centre in Marienplatz station to do that. You can also pick up all the MVV infor you need there on paper too.

There are 2 versions of Isarcard, transferable (Übertragbar) and not.
A transferable one means you can lend it to friends etc when you don't need it.

If you lose a non-transferable card (has a photo) they will replace it.
If you lose a transferable one they won't.
The yearly Abo mentioned above comes as a sheet of monthly tickets so you can't lose a whole years worth of travel if you lose the card.