A Stroll Around a Bavarian Gem

Be sure and give yourself an entire day or two to see Munich's fantastic museums. The Alte and Neu Pinakothek are very much worth seeing, and the BMW Museum, Deutsches Museum, and Residenz are spectacular. Also, spending a day shopping and dining along the Marienplatz is a must. One finds anything and everything there for sure. If the weather is agreeable, please walk through the Englischer Garten.

Quick Tips:

Mike's Bike Rental is a nice way to get exercise and see almost all the worthwhile sites in beautiful Munchen. Check with your hotel and arrange a day trip to see the famous "Cinderella" (Neuschwanstein) castle, which sits along the German/Austrian border, a truly gorgeous area. Your hotel will normally sell bus tickets and/or will have 10%- to 15%-off coupons.

Best Way To Get Around:

Munich is fairly easy to get around. There are four excellent choices. My personal favorite is walking. However, you can bike it or take the S-Bahn (Look for the "S" signs) on the street-car trains. There is also the U-Bahn, for underground trains. Transportation in Munich, like most major German cities, is clean, safe, and fairly priced.

There are many good hotels in Munich. Some of them are not so inexpensive. However, I always say, "You get what you pay for." This is definitely true for Munich lodging. One can stay at a budget hostel for a few Euros per day, or in a local gasthaus or even a small pensionen for under $50 per day. I am lucky enough to have friends in Munchen who allow me to stay a night or 2, or even 3. However, I almost always stay a couple of nights in one of Munich's nicer (four or five-star) hotels. The Hotel Excelsior is excellent. The service is top-notch, the rooms are spacious, and the food and wine are excellent inside the hotel.

This is not a hotel for the budget traveller, or even the people with a medium stack of money! However, the Bayerischer Hof edges the Konigshof, Meridien, Mandarin Oriental, and Excelsior for the absolute best in the city. This hotel is sive-star in every way and features some of the largest, most unique, and extremely elegant suites in all of Europe. If you have the means, this is a MUST-STAY, at least for a night. A person can really get spoiled here with the 24-hour butler service in the suites.

The Augustiner Keller has been around since the beginning of time, or so it seems. The indoor/outdoor restaurant and biergarten offers a great atmosphere. This place is definitely what Munchen and Bavaria are all about! Even if you have only 2 or 3 days in Munich, I would definitely recommend coming here for dinner and/or later in the evening to hang out in the rear bierhalle. This place is a lot of fun, and the roasted chicken halb hendl is wonderful. Bavarian monks built this place and have been brewing the ever-popular Augustiner brau since the mid-1300s.

Munich's Neu Pinakotherk (new picture gallery) is something special. It has modern works of art from all cultures. It seems that all walks of life are represented, along with several very unique German pieces. The museum is definitely different than the Alte Pinakothek, and they both deserve a look. There is much to see, but the setup and configuration make things fairly simple. I enjoyed my 4 hours there very much.

Oktoberfest is the world's largest beer bash. In fact, it's the largest gathering of any festival, averaging a whopping 6.8 million visitors per year. Visitors from all over the globe consume 5.5 to 6.0 million litres of Bavaria's best local bier. The breweries are Paulaner, Spaten, Hacker-Pschorr, Augustiner, Hofbrauhaus, and Lowenbrau. All are good in their own way. My personal favorite is Augustiner, which is definitely the most popular with local Bavarian folk. I also love Paulaner. With 14 large bier and wine tents to visit, countless carnival type rides and games along the midway, and excellent food, there is no place I would rather be. The Hofbrau tent, or zelt, is the largest, accommodating close to 11,000 at capacity. The Hippodrom, serving Spatenbrau, is open the latest, till 1am most nights. The festival runs from the third Saturday in September till the first Sunday in October each year. Definitely 16 days of fun! Get there early, even during the week, as seats in the large bier tents go very fast. Hours for the 16 day event are 10:30 or 11am till 10:30pm each night. Beers are served in litre or Mas glasses and will cost approximately 7€ to 8€ in 2005.