A bit of everyhing - museums, parks, palaces, shops, often great weather, ich darf da Deutsch reden
Disadvantages:
Tourist numbers soar in summer and at the Oktoberfest
Recommend to potential buyers:
yes
Full review
FACT FILE
• German name is München
• The capital of Bavaria (Bayern), the south-east region of Germany
• Franz Josef Strauss airport is approximately 40 mins from the center and has good public transport links
• Main railway station (Hauptbahnhof / Hbf) has daily services within Germany and to neighbouring countries
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Whether you’re in the city for a day or a week, one of the best places to start is at Karlsplatz. This is the less interesting end of the pedestrianized zone, and walking along it takes you not only past most of the interesting shops, but also in the direction of some of Munich’s more famous sights and landmarks. On your left after a few minutes you’ll come to the Bürgersaal. You can’t really tell by looking at it, but it’s home to a church with some gorgeous 19th century frescos. A bit further on down a little side street you can find one of the most well known landmarks in the city – the Frauenkirche, a cathedral (despite the name – Kirche (church), not Dom). It’s a dominating figure in the Munich skyline with its large Onion domes, and a useful way of finding out where you are in the city. It’s visible from as far away as the station on the other side of town. It’s one of southern Germany’s largest, and can accommodate 20 000 people at any one time. Look out for the devil’s footprint just inside the entrance. Standing here you cannot see any of the side windows, and when he came and made his mark, you couldn’t see the large central one either as it was covered up by a huge altar. The story goes that the devil sneaked in to see the building just after it had been built. He couldn’t see any windows and stamped his foot with glee, as window-less buildings aren’t über useful. Then he took a step forward and saw all those windows that hadn’t been visible from his previous vantage point. Getting all crotchety, he turned himself into a harsh wind in an attempt to blow down the building, but he failed. However, the building you see today is not the one he visited back then. Originally dating from 1597, it had to be rebuilt in 1948-1956 after we, erm, bombed it. But I think the less said about that the better.
You can ascend the tower in the Frauenkirche (with a lift, not steps) but you get only a limited view of the city due to a completely inside viewing gallery and small, mostly closed windows. A better option is the Peterskirche. The oldest church in Munich, dating from the 13th Century, it’s barely 5 minutes walk away. Here it’s steps right to the top, but there are quite a few resting places along the way, and the view is worth it. On a clear day you can see the alps, and the rest of the time you get nice views of Munich and beyond. The top is horribly graffitied, though, and as we were there two Japanese youths were adding to it. I don’t understand why people feel the need to carve their initials and a date, or profess their love for someone in sacred monuments they’ll never return to, and where no one knows them. I’m not religious, and in some ways they are just buildings to me, but I wouldn’t do it.
Back on the ground, around the corner at Marienplatz you can find the Altes Rathaus and Neues Rathaus (old and new town halls). The first now houses a small but cute toy museum with a focus on teddy bears. A rickety lift takes you between the 4 floors housing the exhibits, and the elevated ground floor has a ticket office cum small shop. The Neues Rathaus is the reason crowds gather daily at 11am and 5pm. They’re there to watch the Glockenspiel, the fancy clock with the dancing figures. If you’re the betting type, and like to take advantage of poor little Japanese tourists (and it is always, without doubt, the Japanese), you might like to know that when the knights fight, the Bavarian (blue and white) one, always, without fail, beats the Austrian (red and white) one.
The last thing worth seeing around this area is the Viktualienmarkt – Munich’s “rustic heart”. Reminiscent of Vienna’s Naschmarkt it is a large open air market selling food, flowers and handicrafts. If you head along the road between the old and new town halls, you come to the Residenz, the former home of Bavarian Kings, now a museums and gardens complex. It includes the National Theatre, a rather lavish place where we went to see the Ballet currently one (Onegin). An educational night for me, it was when I discovered that this wasn’t pronounced “One Gin”.
The Englischer Garten (English garden) is just a bit further on. It’s a HUGE place though, spanning more than 1000 acres, and the place to go for a game of football, a stroll or simply a sunbathing session. Look out for the Chinese tower the base of which is now surrounded by a beer Garden. And a typical German beer garden at that. The type of place where the 1 Liter mugs of beer are the smallest on offer….
If you’re an Art lover, there’s no better place in the city than the Pinakothek complex, home to 3 galleries; old, new and modern. We visited the old one, which manages to pack quite a few classic paintings into the 1 and a half floors (the remaining half being gift shop / restaurant). Something I thought was a lovely touch was the inclusion of a thick German or English guide in every single room. Attached to the seats to prevent them being stolen, these explained the history of the painters and paintings in every room, including why certain bits were special, and so on. Most museums offer this in laminated A4 card form, but to have access to a whole guide worth over 50 GBP wherever you looked, was unusual.
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For shopping, there choice for touristy goods isn’t as wide as you might expect, with the few larger shops pretty much all stocking the same things. We went to Max Krug on the main street, because I had a coupon for a free gift with any purchase… If you fancy one too, just pick up a brochure for “Mike’s Bike Tours” at the entrance, and show it them when you’re at the till point.
We stayed at the 4 Points München Central Sheraton which was a lovely hotel at a reasonable price. It’s just one of many places to stay in the city, though, from youth hostels to 5 star luxury hotels. You can find more information and book online at places like Expedia and Opodo.
Munich is very touristy these days, but assuming you don’t go in mid July or August, it’s bearable. The other influx is on autumn for the renowned Oktoberfest, held over on Theresienwiese (incidentally, 2 minutes from our hotel). Prices are fairly reasonable throughout the city – climbing a tower will set you back €1 – 2, and museums start at €3 though most are around the €5 – 7 mark for adults. All types of food are available, from Chinese to Italian to Bavarian – white sausage and bretzel being one example. Avoid the main street and Marienplatz, and you should be able to get a tasty, filling main course and a drink for €10 per person or less. If you’re over near Hackerbrücke, try Il Castagno, a Pizzeria with a large, leafy beer garden, perfect for whiling away a few hours.
Getting around is easy, as the city has an extensive and reliable public transport system, though a lot of the sights can be reached on foot anyway. Choose between the underground (U-bahn), trams (Strassenbahn) or trains (Schnellbahn). Tickets, which can be bought from machines at the stations, can be used on any of these. Prices start at €2 for a single trip, but if you think you’ll use it a lot, it’s worth getting a day ticket. The deceptively named “Partner ticket” can be used for up to 5 people traveling together, and at €8 for unlimited travel for 24 hours, it’s a very economical option if you’re there with friends or family.
Munich is a nice city for people of all ages. There are various museums for children as well as the toy one mentioned, and many others have hands-on sections to keep them amused. If you’re an adult traveling without youngsters, whether you’re after art, architecture, churches or shops, you can find it here.
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