Munich
 

I think I'm supposed to say woo-hoo or something like that.

Undeterred by the fall of the dollar, Herself and I will head off to Munich on Saturday for a short visit -- first time there, knocking one more off our list of unvisited target destinations.

Booked direct with the airline when they ran a promotion; found a hotel by using tripadvisor and other online resources; no itinerary -- bought a guidebook and skimmed through it (hope I remember to pack it); got a weather forecast, and will check again for an update when we start packing; checked that I can locate passports, insurance policies and the like; already know that our ATM cards will work in Germany; practised my German (basically, I can count, know perhaps 50 other words, and no syntax); have decided that we don't want to pass ourselves off as locals (we are usually rumbled when we try that).

Will we be all right?

Congratulations and Gute Fahrt. Enjoy your stay in Munich. We were there a couple of weeks ago and the weather was very cooperative. Take the S-Bahn from the airport into town. I think it is €17 for the partner ticket and it takes about 45 minutes to get to Marienplatz or the Hauptbahnhof.

If you're only there for a wee bit take the hop on/hop off bus tour - really gives a good overview of the city and surrounding areas. Then you can return at your leisure to those areas that really interest you. Munich is a beautiful city - now repeat after me - Ein Prosit, Ein Prosit, der gemiitlichkeit Ein Prosit, Ein Prosit, ...mmmmmmm, beeeeeeeer.

Thanks, people.

Yes, the S-Bahn seems like the way to get to our hotel, which is near the Hauptbanhof.

We generally go for hop-on-hop-off buses. I agree they are a great way to get oriented on a city. But we arrive on Saturday late in the afternoon, and I fear the service might not be available on Sunday. Sunday is not a good first full day for a visit to any city in Germany, but we are limited to using whatever time we can free up for travel.

Actually we arrived on a Saturday and took the tour on the Sunday - they have 24 or 48 hour tickets so depending on how much you want to visit you can decide which one is best for you - I have the following link that might help - enjoy!
http://www.munich-touristinfo.de/Sightseeing.htm

Thanks, starfish1. That's encouraging. Now we have a programme for Sunday.

>Depart from in front of Hertie's department store
"Hertie"s has been renamed into "Karstadt".

Noted. Thank you, logos999.

Be sure to go to Alois Dallmyer. It's a deluxe delicatessen/restaurant with French food. Located off the Marionplatz; facing the town hall, go around its right side and straight along that street for a block or so.

Mimar - French food in Munich? Bah! Bring on the sauerkraut, sauerbraten, wienerschnitzel, rouladen and bratwurst!

Hey, I like French food! [Italian, too.] Although I like to visit Central Europe, I have not fully tuned in to the culinary traditions there, but I like to check out any local specialties. Last year, in Berlin, two of our four nights were given to German food, one to French, and one to Italian.

I think I'll probably check out Mimar's recommendation.

Dallmayr at Marienplatz isn't a place one "must" vist. They're known for being expensive and their nice decorations. :-) 10 min are more than enough.

Lederhosen anyone?


You'll enjoy Munich and if you have time, many of the surrounding areas too!

logos999: I'm leaving in about 12 hours from now. I would welcome restaurant recommendations at, €30 to €40 pp for something nice, and up to double that for something special.

From the Central European menu, we like venison, boar, goose, and fish.

We like the Augustiner restaurant in the fussganger zone a couple of blocks toward the train station from Marienplatz. They had some game type dishes (venison, wild boar) on the menu when we were there last time. The beer wasn't bad either.

You'll find I'm a gourmand :D. I'd have hard time walking into those over priced restaurants that aren't better than xyz at all. (unless someone else pays :D )

xyz being: i.e. Beim Sedlmayr, Westenriederstr. 6, AUGUSTINER
BRÄUSTUBEN, Landsberger Straße 19 (NOT the place downtown). You'll also find great traditional food in some of the "Kleingarten/Schrebergärten" Wirtshauses in Munich. I'd love to be more specific, just don't want to post the address here.

Thanks, people.

I have decided to break with my usual pattern of staying offline while I am away, and might check in from Munich. [Mainly because I bought an ultra-portable recently and feel I should show Herself that it was not a total waste of money!]

Reporting from Munich, mainly on food:
- Dinner last night at Augustiner Braustuben, Landsberger Strasse (just a short distance from our hotel). Food fine, very Central European (lots of meat and carbohydrates); service terrible -- I think the waitress was on an off day, or maybe she just didn't like us; prices very modest.
- Motivated by curiosity (and a touch of perversity) we tried the one downtown for for a lunchtime snack. We got real stick-you-to-your-seat portions that we could not finish. Tasty, a little more expensive, but good value.
- For dinner tonight, we chanced the restaurant in Fleming's Hotel on the basis that it looked nice, the menu posted outside appealed to us, and it is also conveniently close to our hotel, a big plus after a day when we walked a good deal. French/International cuisine, well executed and well served. A bit more expensive, but not seriously dear. We liked it.

We have just finished Sunday here, and the day lived up to its name -- a bright day with clear skies. The whose city seemed to taking advantage of it, with people out in shirtsleeves and lightweight clothing (except us!). We took the opentop bus tour, and now have an idea of how to get around, and did some further exploration on foot. The forecast suggests that normal conditions resume tomorrow, with cloud and showers, so we will choose some indoor tourism.

Padraig, just saw your post, so this might be too late. We really liked this restaurant when we were in Munich 2 years ago:

Restaurant Zum Klösterl
St.-Anna-Str. 2
80538 München
Tel.: 089 - 22 50 86
Fax.: 089 - 29 16 18 64

You can see the menu online:
http://www.zum-kloesterl.de/

It's about a 10 minute walk from Marienplatz, along Maximillianstrasse (great for window shopping). The restaurant is very popular, so I'd advise reservations. We didn't have any and were able to be seated because we arrived early and had to be done within 2 hours or something. Good food, well prepared, we thought.