Day 1-Munich-Marienplatz & FC Bayern

My love affair with Munich began on day one, but not immediately. I travelled to Germany to see the Kansas City Chiefs play the Miami Dolphins in Frankfurt. But first, Munich. The city was intimidating. Months of studying German on DuoLingo were seemingly lost the first time someone spoke to me in German. My expression could only be described as “deer in headlights.” I did quickly locate a FC Bayern München store at the airport. Bayern scarf secured, I was prepared for the rest of the trip. Just a few snafus in trying to figure out public transportation later, we were at the hotel. We stayed five nights at the Holiday Inn-Munich-City Centre. It’s in a very convenient location and we enjoyed everything about our stay.

After checking in, we made our way to Marienplatz, the heart of Old Town Munich. It’s absolutely stunning and there is no question you are in Germany when you exit the train station below. It was a beautiful day and people were standing around, watching the Glockenspiel, where figures were beginning to dance. Some were dressed in Lederhosen, while others were decked out in their Bayern kit, many having a few pre-match beers. We explored the area a bit before having our first meal in Germany, at an Irish bar, Kilian’s Irish Pub. This was our first indication that the portions in Germany are quite large. We occasionally wondered how we were supposed to eat the gigantic sandwiches.

After spending a bit of time in and around Marienplatz, we headed to Allianz Arena to watch Bayern play. I must admit that I know very little about Bundesliga, well, honestly soccer in general. I did a little research into the German soccer scene while planning this trip, learned Harry Kane played for Bayern and quickly became a diehard Bayern fan. I actually enjoy when they play at 8:30 a.m. Central time on Saturday mornings. The match was pretty epic-Bayern won 8-0. It was really the only time I used my minimal German language skills: eins, zwei, drei, vier, fünf, sechs, sieben, and my favorite, acht to Darmstadt’s null. Harry Kane had a hat trick, including one from the middle of the pitch. The match was well worth the money spent and, in fact, it was one of my favorite activities of the entire trip. We made our way back towards the train station and had a glimpse of Munich and the distant mountains. a perfect ending to a great day.

Day 2-Munich-A Full Day of Exploration

On our second day in Munich, we spent the day exploring the major sites. We started back in Marienplatz and walked by Alter Hof and through Hofbräuhaus. Hofbräuhaus is a famous beer hall in Munich that was originally built in 1589. Adolf Hitler made a speech founding the Nazi party in the Hofbräuhaus. We weren’t really sure if you were supposed to sit down anywhere (we were later told that yes, that is what is supposed to happen), so we moved on without sampling any beer or food.

We went from the history of Hofbräuhaus to…the Hard Rock Cafe. This is completely on me because I am a bit of a picky eater (and vegetarian). It was actually amazing, I highly recommend the fajitas! We went back a second time because it was so good.

Don’t worry, we didn’t spend all of our time in an American restaurant. We also went to see the outside of Bayerische Staatsoper (Bavarian State Opera), the inside of St. Michael’s Church (briefly as mass was ending), Odeonsplatz, and Munich Residenz. The Residenz is the former home of the Wittelsbach monarchs of Bavaria. We sped through the Treasury and a shortened tour of the main part of the palace due to confusion about the time. I still felt like we were able to see enough of the museum to get a good impression of the museum and there had been plenty of walking throughout the day. There were some amazing rooms, but sadly personal photographs cannot be published.

After the Munich Residenz, we made our way to another Irish pub, Dubliner Irish Pub. By the second day I realized that the tap water in Munich is very good. I’ve known water to be bad, but usually don’t think about water having a taste if it isn’t bad. The water is Munich is good. Make sure to order tap water or you may end up with sparkling water, which in my opinion is virtually undrinkable. Who knew I had such strong opinions on water? I also watched as the bartender made a drink of banana juice, with a bit of cherry. I would not recommend it based on how it looked, but the beer was very good. I wish I had kept track of the beer I tried and had ranked them, but sadly, I did not.

We finished the day with pizza near the hotel and beers in the hotel lobby. The pizza had corn on it, which effectively ruins pizza in my opinion. We did meet some interesting British flight attendants, so that made the pizza stop a bit more fun. We also found a Dolphins fan watching NFL in the lobby. It was very late in Munich and the Chiefs didn’t play well, but meeting other people from the US was fun (and starting to talk with our bartender more too).

Day 3-Palace and Castle Tour

On the third day we had booked a tour to see Linderhof Palace and Neuschwanstein Castle. Both were built by King Ludwig II. In the United States he is sometimes referred to as “Mad King Ludwig,” but he is more often known as the Swan King or Fairytale King outside of the US. He died under mysterious circumstances before Neuschwanstein Castle was finished. I had heard stories that he kept changing his mind about the layout, so there were stairs that lead nowhere and a mostly unfinished castle. I expected to see this, but the tour leads through the rooms that were finished when Ludwig II was still alive. As pretty as I found the inside of the castle to be, the outside and surrounding area blew the inside away. The castle is on the edge of the Alps, near the Austrian border. The mountains and lakes in the area are stunning. The countryside, with cows and horses, reminded me of pictures of Switzerland. I’m already mentally planning another trip to Munich, with more time in the Alps. We had time to go to Marienbrücke for amazing views overlooking the castle, as well as a bit of time to eat and shop for souvenirs.

Linderhof Palace was also included in the tour and it was interesting to visit; however, Neuschwanstein won me over more. We visited at the end of October, which made the surrounding area very beautiful, with fall foliage, but this meant that the grounds of Linderhof were not camera ready (statues covered with boxes, no water in the fountains, etc.).

Our tour also went through Oberammergau, home of the world famous Passion Play. I would highly recommend the tour we went on. Although possible, getting to these areas via public transportation seemed complicated. We also learned interesting facts from our bus tour guide that we would have missed if we went on our own.

Day 4-Old Masters and Macabre Munich

On our fourth day in Munich, we stayed in town and went to the Alte Pinakothek. The Alte Pinakothek is an art museum that has a significant number of Old Master paintings. My body was starting to feel the effects of non-stop action and I thought I could use the benches throughout as a resting spot, while also taking in the surrounding art. As per usual in Germany, there were a lot of steps to get to the portion of the museum with art. We did enjoy our trip; I was especially excited to see paintings from Rembrandt and Leonardo Da Vinci.

In the evening we went on a guided tour to learn about the dark history of Munch. The guide is an archaeologist by trade and provided an excellent tour of the area around Marienplatz, with stories from medieval times. I would recommend the tour to anyone who is interested in the history of Munich.

After our tour, we had our only proper German meal of the trip at Augustiner am Dom. I ended up only have a pretzel and a beer, which is plenty German, while my friend tried the Rostbratwurst. I pictured myself eating pretzels every day, but the pretzels weren’t the soft variety that I love. My friend did enjoy the German food that she tried and I enjoyed the beer in a traditional German restaurant setting.

Day 5-Final Day in Munich

We spent our final day in Munich packing in the last items on our to do list. We had lunch at another Irish pub (Kennedy’s), visited Asam Church, Alter Peter, Sendlinger Tor, the crypt at St. Michael’s, Siegestor, Englischer Garden, watched surfers at Eisbachwelle, had craft beer at Higgins Ale Works, and ended the day with another trip to the Hard Rock Cafe (the fajitas were really that good!).

Review

If it isn’t already clear, I loved Munich and can’t wait to go back and explore Bavaria more. High on my list of things to do will be to head to Zugspitze, Germany’s highest mountain. On my next trip to Munich, I will definitely stay at the same hotel as it was a very convenient location, it was comfortable, and the lobby restaurant/bar was a great spot to have a snack, meal, and or drink. Make sure to read about the rest of our trip with stays in Deidesheim and Frankfurt!