Good times in Munich, the city
 

We'll be in Munich for about two weeks in April (probably). We'll be making a number of side trips, but the question here is about best (and worst) experiences in Munich city proper.

Art, culture, history, gardens? Are there definitely "not to be missed" locations and are there any "over-rated, forget'em if you are running short of time" places?

Food and drink: same deal. We love small, ordinary, family-style restaurants. We'd prefer to eat as the locals do. We're definitely not fancy folk or inclined to fancy, dress-up establishments.

Shopping: Well, we do as much shopping as possible to stock up for Christmas and birthdays when we travel. So local items, crafts, fun things, doo-dads, cool stuff. It things are fragile and unsuited to packing in suitcases we can always have them shipped.

Thanks so much!

I LOVED the Munich Botanical Gardens (and this is coming from a person who kills dried flowers).

latebloomer, you are too funny! Thank you. That's a great suggestion!

One of the outstanding cultural sights of Munich is called the "Asam church", named for its designers, but its formal name is St Johann Nepomuk. It is not a large church, and it is about 20 minutes slow walking from the Marienplatz, and easy to walk past if you are not looking for it. But it is extraordinary inside. It would be a world class site anywhere in Europe for its artistic accomplishment.

My best experiences in Munich with respect to museums were the Bavarian National Museum and the Lenbachhaus, and I also really enjoyed the Glyptothek. The other major art museums are quite worthwhile if you enjoy art museums with large collections. My least favorite experience in Munich was the huge Residenz -- although I rather enjoyed the smaller Treasury section -- and I also was not much interested in the museum of science and technology (whose name escapes me at the moment).

Munich has an abundance of restaurants just as you describe. There are some obvious "tourist" restaurants around the immediate surroundings of the Marienplatz, but otherwise Munich's restaurants are mainly kept in business by locals, who appear to dine out a great deal, and they don't dress up to do it. There are many informal places serving Bavarian classics and beer at easy prices, but I also ate reasonably good Portugeuse food, Vietnamese food, etc. Lots of choices. One of my favorite meals was Cohen's, which serves Jewish classics from very old recipes and Israeli dishes as well, informal and a very comfortable price. I also happened to pass through the central food market and saw quite a number of very attractive fish eateries. Despite its being a tourist attraction, many locals head there to eat lunch outdoors on a nice day.

If you have time to see another side of Munich that is charming but not really "touristic," the area around St Anna's church (near Lehel) makes a nice lunch or brunch destination, and I believe it has an organic food market some days.. During the time I was in Munich (one week in March) it just wasn't the right season for the Englischer Gardens, but I am sorry I missed it because everyone tells me it is very well used by locals when the weather is nice.

Hi Lnwyd,

There's a great exhibit now at the Deutsches Museam about man's impact on the planet --basically a history/study of Anthropocene. A friend of mine, a retired chemist, contributed a bit to it.

I also like the Nymphenburg Palace, its exhibits, and its grounds.

I haven't been there yet, but I would put the Hirschgarten at the top of the list of things to see and do.

For restaurants, I really love the Zum Alten Markt, which is near the Vikttualienmarkt, the foot market stalls that sanralist mentions above.

Have fun as you plan!

s