Hello Going Expat people,
It is almost holidays time for many of you, mine were a bit earlier this year. I have already talked about my trip to Zagreb in May, and now it is time to share what about Munich.
As usual this is not a professional guide but the storytelling of 3 days in Munich through my eyes.
When and how I went to Munich
This trip was a bit different than the usual, in fact I went with one of my nephews. It is the second time I bring a nephew travelling, the first time was a couple of years ago to Barcelona with my niece, and I am so happy I got the chance to do so.
Anyway, he chose Munich because he was curious about Germany, and wanted to see the stadium and the BWM museum. Therefore the short vacation was built around these activities.
We went by the end of June, during the week and we spent there 3 days. We flew there from Sicily with Lufthansa. It was my first time with this company, nice experience, though.
What to visit?
There are many attraction to visit in Munich and I found the city pretty easy to explore via public transport and very nice. I don’t think we had visited everything but we saw what we came for and some other attraction that were worth it. My vote for Munich is positive.
But here some details and how we split the visits in the 3 days.
Day 1:
we arrived in Munich on a Tuesday evening, therefore the day after we were fresh and ready to explore the city.
First things first: cappuccino and pretzel please! And then we spent the morning exploring the old city, which I would dare to call city center. The highlights are definitely the Cathedral and the City hall
The Frauenkirche, in gothic style is basically visible from anywhere thanks to the 2 huge towers which make the church the highest in the all city (in fact it is prohibited to build anything higher than 99m) and the biggest hall church in the world.
The church can be visited and it is possible to ascend one of the the towers. I recommend it, in fact not only you see the whole city, but there are also many info you can read in the monitors next to every window, to have a better idea of the city and what you are going to explore next.
The admission for adults is €7,50, kids above 7 years pay €5,50 and below have the visit for free.
You go up by stairs only for a few floors, then you take an elevator in any case, so no worries, you won’t have to walk up for 99 meters!
The City hall of Munich, Neues Rathaus is terrific! I mean the building is really present and beautiful in my opinion. It really takes time to take off your eyes from it. Also here you can access the tower and see the city from the top, but having it already done we thought it wasn’t needed.
We waited for the carillon to make its show instead. It is a nice one, with the moving statues which tell something about the tradition and culture of the city, but coming from Messina, it wasn’t that spectacular for us. The carillon show is visible everyday at 11am, 12pm and from March to October also at 5pm.
After the city hall, we went to the famous Viktualienmarkt where you can really find different kind of food, souveniers, a beer garden etc… and there we had lunch, but that’s a story for later.
In the afternoon we went to visit the Allianz Arena Stadium which was one of the main reasons my nephew wanted to come here. Did I tell you I was travelling with one of my nephews, already?
There are various way to visit the stadium and the museum, we chose the FC Bayern Museum + Arena View
The visit was nice, the museum interesting as well. We reached it via metro, even though you still need to walk for 16 minutes to get to it, and if it is sunny, make sure you get something to cover your head.
Last visit of the day was just a quick walk at the English Gardens. A beautiful park where people were enjoying some sport, swimming in the river, taking the sun and laxing with friends.
Day 2:
After a night of rest, we started another day of exploration. This time we went to Olympiapark. This place was created in 1965 and used for the Olympic games in 1972. Since then is the place for sport, with many different sport facilities, but also for events of any kind.
We were supposed to have a nice evening there, in fact, at this kind of food fair with food from everywhere and som activities to play and have fun, but it was a rainy afternoon and the evening went way worse therefore it is good we haven’t stayed.
After visiting the park and learning a bit about all the facilities, we went t what we were really there for: The BMW Museum and the Welt.
The adults ticket is €14, while for kids, students and seniors is €8. Also here there are possibility to book guided tours and group tickets. The Welt, is free entrance.
It was actually cool to se all the different vehicles and the engines and learning about the history of this well known brand. I thought it would have been a bit boring, but it is no! You can definitely see the past, present and future of cars.
The Welt is more for the ones who have a huge passion an want to “try out” cars and motorbikes, in fact you can seat in some and see the functionalities. Kind of cool if you like it, not my cup of ta, though.
Day 3:
On the last day we went exploring a different area. In fact I was curious to see the place where they have the Oktoberfest and it is huge spot of the new area of the city, or better what it is opposite to the old city (on the other side of the main station to make it a bit more clear) and there I found the huge statue symbol of Munich: Bavaria
Bavaria is the female symbolic figure and secular patron of Bavaria and appears as a personified allegory for the state of Bavaria in various forms and manifestations. She thus represents the secular counterpart to Mary as the religious Patrona Bavariae.
Not far from there, there are some other museum that might be interesting and an installation about infinite staircase, we checked it out online and looked nice, but unfortunately there were some work in progress and we could not see it.
Also we were heading to the Residenz, the royal palace of the city. The admission is €10 and kids until the age of 14 don’t pay.
It would generally take a couple of hours to visit it all, and listen to all the info provided by the audioguide.
What about food?
Food is always an important element of travelling and a way to learn about the country tradition. This wasn’t my first time in Germany, therefore I wasn’t too eager and curious, and also I had to deal with the eating habits of 12 years old boy.
The most succesful food, together with the pretzel, was the worst and especially at the beergarten at the Viktualienmarkt.
We went there twice for lunch. Fair price, tasty sausage, nice environment, there was everything is needed to have a great local food experience!
And the amount of food is enough to get until dinner.
Around the markt there are also a few fountains to fill in your bottle of water and this is not only good for you but also sustainable.
We have been in some other places to eat. But the other lunch we had was at the Olympiapark and at that moment there was only one place open which wasn’t special. And also the second dinner was nothing to remember that much.
The first dinner instead was really good in a super nice location in the city centre, but unfortunately it is going to close, therefore it makes no sense to talk about it here, since you won’t probably find it open anymore.
We liked Munich, the place, the people and everything we have visited. I think it is worth a (long) week end and I am very happy I had the chance to explore a bit of the city in such great period of the year. June is always my favourite month to explore cities.
Have you ever been in Munich?
What was your impression?
Talk to you soon
Rossella
Written by
Rossella Daví
