After an amazing stay in Frankfurt, I took the train to Munich, about a 4 hour ride. I booked my train ahead of time on the Deutsche Bahn website, which is one of the best for finding the train times, prices, and reserving seats for the longer rides. I’d long ago made reservations at the Le Meridien Munich, which to my pleasant surprise, was directly across the street from the train station.
I checked in, and the gentleman at the desk informed me that I’d lucked out, since Springfest (or Frühlingsfest in German), was still going on. Springfest is essentially Oktoberfest’s little sister. It happens at the same fairgrounds, with the same events, rides, beer tents, etc. It was about a 15 minute walk from my hotel so once I’d dropped everything off, that was my first stop. The loop is all festival rides, amusement games, food stands, and beer tents. I did a loop that included riding the Ferris Wheel to get a lay of the land. It was mid-day on a weekday so the rides weren’t very crowded – I was the only one on the Ferris Wheel for a while, and after the 6th loop around I was worried they had forgotten I was on it!
After the ride, I went into the Hippodrom, which is the main beer tent for both festivals. Normally, on a weekend, or during Oktoberfest, the tables are full right when they open. Luckily, since it was a weekday, I was able to grab a table and sit down right away. Pretty much everyone in the tent was wearing a Dirndl or Lederhosen, so I definitely stuck out. I got a beer and had a great time watching all of the drunk people.
After Springfest, I walked down to the Marienplatz, which is the main square of Munich. The Neus Rathaus, or New Town Hall is the center building of the plaza, and you can walk into the open center of the building where there is a beautiful cafe.
After walking through the Marienplatz, I walked a few blocks to the Hofbrauhaus, which is the most famous beer hall in Munich. The place is HUGE with live music and a super fun atmosphere. It was the number one recommended thing when I mentioned I was going to Munich. It’s open seating, so I found an empty corner booth and snagged a seat. One thing I’ve noticed about Germany, is that people will gladly share a table with you if there aren’t any empty ones. I was joined by a German family right after I’d ordered my beer, and boy am I glad they sat down. As soon as all of our beers arrived, a SUPER drunk British man sat himself down and decided to introduce himself and strike up a conversation. I pretended to be “Daniel’s sister” and luckily the German family accepted me as their own for the duration of drunk Brit’s stay. As would be the theme for most of this trip so far, I ordered a beer and some sausage. It was DELICIOUS.
It was about 6 pm when I left the Hofbrauhaus, so most places were already closed. I walked the ~20 minutes back to my hotel, and found a spot called Munchner Stubn with a great outdoor patio. I had a couple of beers while watching everyone coming and going from the train station before heading back to my hotel.
On Day 2 I had a bit of late start thanks to jet lag and one too many biers. I walked back to Marienplatz and had lunch (more sausage and beer) at Ratskeller, which is the cafe in the open atrium of the Neus Rathaus. In addition to the outdoor portion, they have a restaurant that takes up the entire underground of the Town Hall – it’s said to be one of the largest restaurants in the country.
After lunch, I walked around the Viktualienmarkt which is a large outdoor market area nearby with lots of stands for food and fresh produce.
After walking through the market, I was able to visit St. Peter’s church. After viewing the church itself, for 2 Euro you can ascend a really amazing staircase up to the top of the bell/clocktower. The views are incredible, but be ready to stand a LOT. There is only room for one person width wise on the viewing deck, so everyone walks around in a single file line. Unfortunately, some people don’t get the concept of others waiting, so it took about 20 minutes to get halfway around. There are doors on both sides of the tower, so I bailed when I got to the first one in order to make sure I had enough time to see more of Munich.
Next, check out the Heiliggeistkirche, which is another beautiful church nearby. When I went, they had a choir singing and it was absolutely magical.
Afterwards, I stopped for a beer at the Rischart: Café am
After Rischart, I hailed a taxi out to the BMW Museum. It’s about an hour walk from the city centre, and I didn’t have enough time to walk both ways, so a taxi was a must. Along our ride, he pointed out a bunch of significant buildings, including the Munich University, which I had a chance to walk through on the way home. The BMW Museum is located in between the BMW headquarters building, the BMW factory, and the BMW Welt, which is a showroom of newer vehicles. Everyone in the city jokingly calls the museum either the “rice bowl” or the “salad bowl” because of it’s unique shape.
A word of advice, if you have a backpack, or a large purse, they will make you put it in one of the lockers downstairs. Good news, they’re a 1 Euro deposit which you get back when you come and retrieve your items, so it’s super easy. Just know that it only takes a 1 Euro coin. I tried putting in two 50 cent coins and I broke the locker!
The museum itself is super cool. One half takes you through a temporary exhibit showcasing the move to electric vehicles and automated driving. The other half takes you through the entire history of BMW with a ton of old motorcycles and cars to view.
After going through the museum, you can cross the bridge to the BMW Welt, which is essentially a huge BMW showroom with shops for all of the different brands. You can test drive and purchase a car here too. It’s completely free, and only takes a few minutes to walk through, so definitely make this a stop if you’re already out here.
Next, you can walk across the bridge to the OlympiaPark, the site of the 1972 Olympics. While standing around on top of St. Peters earlier, a man from the area pointed out the tv tower a bit of a ways out, next to the BMW Museum. He told us that you can also go to the top of that tower, which is much higher, way less crowded, and also has a restaurant/lounge on top. It’s part of the OlympiaPark, and called the OlympiaTower. After walking through the park, I went up to the top for some incredible views of all of Munich. Unfortunately I didn’t get a chance to go to the restaurant, but I heard it was a great spot to stop for a drink if you have the time.
After I finished the tower, I had just enough time to walk the hour back to the city centre. Along the way I walked through the University and some of the more residential areas of town, which was really great to see.
I made it a point to pass by the Munich Residenz, which coincidentally was surrounded by another festival happening in the city. After that, I booked it the rest of the way to my hotel to grab my bags and catch my train to Salzburg, Austria!
The one thing I missed out on was getting a chance to walk through the Englischer Garten, which is even larger than Central Park in New York and follows the river. If you have time, you should definitely add the park to your itinerary! Next time that’ll be top of my list. Any tips on things I should see next time I’m in Munich or questions about your upcoming trip? Let me know in the comments!!
