Munich (Germany) > Reviews > Munich in December

Author's product rating:   

Value for Money	Good
Sightseeing	Excellent
Shopping	Good
Nightlife	Good
Ease of getting around	Excellent

Advantages:	Christmas markets in Munich are great  !
Disadvantages:	Too many tourists and weather was terrible

Recommend to potential buyers:

yes

Full review

Went to Munich for two nights in December 2005. The christmas markets were great. Very special. We stayed near the central train station and the location was very convenient. I am going to focus on two important tours in Munich here.

If you have little time in Munich, two things that you should miss are : The Third Reich Tour (there are a few tours to choose from and all start around 10.30am in the morning) and a visit to Dachau, the first concentration camp being opened.

The Third Reich tour is about 2.5 hours and for the Dachau camp, you should allow 4 hours. We went by ourselves and wasn't a problem. But if you are not confident with taking the public transport (40 minutes one way), then you should join a tour.

Third Reich Tour:
This is like a mini history lesson for about 3 hours. You will go around Munich, following the footsteps of Adolf Hitler. You will see be told stories behind the buildings and monuments. These are unknown to most casual tourists. Munich is the birthplace and headquarters of Nazi movement so this is the most important place to explore if you want a deeper understanding of Nazi movement and also of Hitler. There are many Third Reich tours in Munich and most of them cost 10 Euros per person. (From the brochures: You cannot experience a tour like this anywhere else because no other place has this history)

Dachau Concentration Camp:
In 1933, the first concentration camp was opened in Dachau. This place is about 18 kilometres away from Munich (about 40 minutes from Munich). This camp is now a memorial rather than a tourist attraction site. There's a museum where you will be able to see pictures and stories of the past. The cinema shows a film of about 30 minutes. This film is very disturbing. More than 200,000 prisoners from about 30 countries were here in total. Many buildings on this site have been brought down so you will only see a few. Entrance fee to this camp is free but it costs 3 Euros for the audio guide.

Getting to Dachau by Public Transportation
From Munich with the "S-Bahn" the S 2 in the direction of Dachau / Petershausen
It takes about 20 minutes to get from Munich central station to Dachau station.
At Dachau station take Bus 724 to the Memorial Site car park ("KZ-Gedenkstätte Parkplatz") or Bus 726 to the main entrance of the Memorial Site ("KZ-Gedenkstätte Haupteingang")

You can buy the Munich XXL ticket. If you are going to the airport on the same day, you can use this day ticket too.