Munich over Christmas - Trip Report
Dec 29th, 2007, 02:02 PM
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: May 2005
Posts: 132
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Munich over Christmas - Trip Report
Hello,
I would like to thank all of you that helped me plan my family’s trip to Munich over Christmas. We arrived in Munich on Sunday Dec 23rd at 8AM. We purchased the partner ticket (ticket covered our family of 4) for 18 euro for our trip into the city. This ticket also covered our travels throughout Munich city the entire day. It was a quick 30 minute trip to our hotel stop at Rosenhimer Platz- We stayed at the Novotel Munich City Center. This hotel was a nice modern business class hotel near the Holiday Inn and Hilton. It is also close to a small mall with 2 grocery stores, drug store and some small stores- this was nice to be able to purchase some water and snacks for the room. The staff was wonderful to us during our stay by providing us with directions and helpful information on our trips each day. On the 23rd we went to Marienplatz for the Christmas Market. We arrived in time to see the Glockenspiel which was a big treat. The Christmas market was much bigger than I expected it to be. They offered lots of shops with Christmas ornaments, nativity sets with many, many choices to help create your own scene, lots of food and drinks to enjoy. They also offered many nativity scenes made out of beautiful pieces of wood. We purchased several carved wood ornaments that are beautiful. Most of Munich closes on Sundays- so the Christmas Market was a treat. We had an early evening after our all night flight from the US.
December 24th- Christmas Eve- We once again went back to the Christmas market for a few last minute purchases. We used another partner ticket that was only 9 euro for the 4 of us since we were only going to be traveling in the immediate Munich city center area. We also enjoyed a little shopping in Marenplatz area until the stores closed at 2PM sharp... it was amazing how quickly "Everything" Shut Down at 2PM...There was also a large department store that displayed a beautiful and detailed window show of animated bunnies, bears and other animals in a little winter wonderland. They were all mechanically operated. Some of them were chopping wood, skiing, working, ice skating, cooking in the kitchen, etc. It was magical! We enjoyed watching the ice skaters at the end of the plaza and grabbed a quick sandwich at McDonalds- one of the few or maybe only places open after 2PM. We decided to stay and attend a mass- the Church we chose listed a mass at 6PM that evening but we arrived early and waited until 6:15 and there were very few people there and no service had begun. We caught the train back to the hotel and enjoyed our family Christmas. I brought a small lighted Christmas tree from home and small gifts for the kids. We had our large family Christmas the night before we left home. The kids were so surprised that they were getting more presents and that I had decorated our hotel room. It was a nice evening!
Christmas Morning - our kids woke up to stockings filled with sweet goodies. I think that they were a little concerned with spending our Christmas holiday away from home and these treats make it nice for them. We vacationed in Bruges, Belgium and Amsterdam last December but we left Christmas night on our trip and arrived in Europe on the 26th. We had planned to travel to Salzburg but decided to tour Dachau instead. Our train ticket was once again a partner ticket and cost a little over 11 euro for our family. We arrived at Dachau in time for the 1:30 tour in English. The camp was full of tourists and our tour guide was surprised that there were so many people in her tour on Christmas Day. The tour was very moving and informative. About 1/2 way thru our trip it started to snow.... this was our families 1st white Christmas as we live in the south. All of the trees and grass were covered in snow from previous days- I guess it does not get warm enough to melt the snow. The city did not have any snow only in the outlying areas.
December 26th- We caught a train to visit Neuschwanstein castle. We purchased a Bayern Ticket partner ticket for 27 euro the night before- when you make your choice in the ticket machine it asks for the date you will be traveling- this was another family ticket that covers up to 5 people. I made reservations before we left home as it was recommended by the castles as the Christmas season is busy. The tours were 9 euro for each castle or 17 for both- adults only with the kids being free. They do charge a small booking fee for the service… but well worth it to know that you will be able to tour the castles. About 1/4 of the way our train stopped and an announcement was made about a personal injury on the track ahead of us and that we would be delayed about 20 minutes. Later they instructed us to get off the train and wait for a bus to pick us up that would take us to the next train station. We waited about 30 minutes on the side of the road for a bus that never showed up. They then instructed us to re-board the train- we waited about 45 minutes longer. Finally, another passenger helped with the translation to let us know that the personal injury on the track was a person who committed suicide by jumping in front of a train between stations. They had to wait for the police and other personnel to arrive and clean up and take care of the body and scene. We arrived in Fussen about 2 hours late... this caused us to miss our 1st castle tour but thankfully were able to tour Neuschwanstein Castle- which was beautiful... we took the horse drawn carriage ride which was 5 euro each for the ride up and 2,50 each down- well worth the cost as the walk up was steep, wet and cold- it must be at least a 45 minute walk. The castle tour was really nice- it is an amazing castle and amazing to think about how they created such a masterpiece in the 1800's. There was even running water and a toilet with running water for Ludwig. We could not take pictures inside of the castle, but purchased a book of the castle. We did not get to spend time in the town like we had planned as after our tour we ate dinner at a cute little place and caught our 7:05 train back to Munich. If I had to do it over again, I would have spent at least 1 night there... it was such a beautiful little town.
December 27th
We visited the Deutsches Museum Transportation. They offered a 10 euro family pass. This was a great museum. Our 11 year old son does not care for museums and whined on the train ride over. He "Loved" this museum and did not want to leave... He and my husband were both amazed by each part. We saw so many neat modes of transportation- bicycles, 3 wheel cars, buses, subway trains, trams from the 1930's, old steam trains, stage coaches... the list goes on and on. We left from there and went to the Nymphenburg Palace. The lake in front of the palace was frozen and there were lots of people ice skating and men playing games on the ice. Once again we were amazed by seeing people on a frozen lake. Very cool! The palace was beautiful... we really enjoyed the Marstallmuseum with the beautiful carriages that carried kings and queens. They each had so many details. That evening we went back to Marienplatz where our kids learned to ice skate. They did really well. The rink had cute little polar bears that they used to push around in order to learn the basics of ice skating... they caught on really quickly and gave up the polar bears to skate on their own. This was the highlight of my kid’s trip...
December 28th- our flight home at 10AM... We sadly left Munich while making plans for our next European being made on the flight home... hopefully we will return to Europe in early June... our plans are for Prague next.
My family has toured most of the major European cities over the past 3-4 years. I think that it offers wonderful lessons for both the adults and children. We were in Rome shortly before the Pope passed away. My son was in the 2nd grade and they watched a lot of the Pope's funeral. He was so excited to share with his classmates about the Vatican and what he recognized. Our trips have also helped to make both of my kids history class lessons come to life. Instead of just reading about a part of history they can visualize the places they have seen on our trips.
There were 2 places that we planned on visiting during our trip- Salzburg and the salt mines... but we decided to leave a day early. I guess we will have to cover those on another trip.
We were treated very well by the German people. They were welcoming, helpful and kind. Munich and each city we visited were so clean and nice. The weather was also great during our stay- the highs were only in the mid 30 degrees F and lows into the high teens low 20’s F. We brought warm clothes- gloves, pull over neck wraps- (this was the most helpful as I do not care for scarves. We purchased them at Outdoor world for about 8 dollars each). We also brought lots of disposable hand warmers- they helped to keep our hands warm.
I received so many helpful tips from Fodor’s. Thanks to each of you! I also hope that my trip report helps someone else out with their travel plans.
Happy New Year!
I would like to thank all of you that helped me plan my family’s trip to Munich over Christmas. We arrived in Munich on Sunday Dec 23rd at 8AM. We purchased the partner ticket (ticket covered our family of 4) for 18 euro for our trip into the city. This ticket also covered our travels throughout Munich city the entire day. It was a quick 30 minute trip to our hotel stop at Rosenhimer Platz- We stayed at the Novotel Munich City Center. This hotel was a nice modern business class hotel near the Holiday Inn and Hilton. It is also close to a small mall with 2 grocery stores, drug store and some small stores- this was nice to be able to purchase some water and snacks for the room. The staff was wonderful to us during our stay by providing us with directions and helpful information on our trips each day. On the 23rd we went to Marienplatz for the Christmas Market. We arrived in time to see the Glockenspiel which was a big treat. The Christmas market was much bigger than I expected it to be. They offered lots of shops with Christmas ornaments, nativity sets with many, many choices to help create your own scene, lots of food and drinks to enjoy. They also offered many nativity scenes made out of beautiful pieces of wood. We purchased several carved wood ornaments that are beautiful. Most of Munich closes on Sundays- so the Christmas Market was a treat. We had an early evening after our all night flight from the US.
December 24th- Christmas Eve- We once again went back to the Christmas market for a few last minute purchases. We used another partner ticket that was only 9 euro for the 4 of us since we were only going to be traveling in the immediate Munich city center area. We also enjoyed a little shopping in Marenplatz area until the stores closed at 2PM sharp... it was amazing how quickly "Everything" Shut Down at 2PM...There was also a large department store that displayed a beautiful and detailed window show of animated bunnies, bears and other animals in a little winter wonderland. They were all mechanically operated. Some of them were chopping wood, skiing, working, ice skating, cooking in the kitchen, etc. It was magical! We enjoyed watching the ice skaters at the end of the plaza and grabbed a quick sandwich at McDonalds- one of the few or maybe only places open after 2PM. We decided to stay and attend a mass- the Church we chose listed a mass at 6PM that evening but we arrived early and waited until 6:15 and there were very few people there and no service had begun. We caught the train back to the hotel and enjoyed our family Christmas. I brought a small lighted Christmas tree from home and small gifts for the kids. We had our large family Christmas the night before we left home. The kids were so surprised that they were getting more presents and that I had decorated our hotel room. It was a nice evening!
Christmas Morning - our kids woke up to stockings filled with sweet goodies. I think that they were a little concerned with spending our Christmas holiday away from home and these treats make it nice for them. We vacationed in Bruges, Belgium and Amsterdam last December but we left Christmas night on our trip and arrived in Europe on the 26th. We had planned to travel to Salzburg but decided to tour Dachau instead. Our train ticket was once again a partner ticket and cost a little over 11 euro for our family. We arrived at Dachau in time for the 1:30 tour in English. The camp was full of tourists and our tour guide was surprised that there were so many people in her tour on Christmas Day. The tour was very moving and informative. About 1/2 way thru our trip it started to snow.... this was our families 1st white Christmas as we live in the south. All of the trees and grass were covered in snow from previous days- I guess it does not get warm enough to melt the snow. The city did not have any snow only in the outlying areas.
December 26th- We caught a train to visit Neuschwanstein castle. We purchased a Bayern Ticket partner ticket for 27 euro the night before- when you make your choice in the ticket machine it asks for the date you will be traveling- this was another family ticket that covers up to 5 people. I made reservations before we left home as it was recommended by the castles as the Christmas season is busy. The tours were 9 euro for each castle or 17 for both- adults only with the kids being free. They do charge a small booking fee for the service… but well worth it to know that you will be able to tour the castles. About 1/4 of the way our train stopped and an announcement was made about a personal injury on the track ahead of us and that we would be delayed about 20 minutes. Later they instructed us to get off the train and wait for a bus to pick us up that would take us to the next train station. We waited about 30 minutes on the side of the road for a bus that never showed up. They then instructed us to re-board the train- we waited about 45 minutes longer. Finally, another passenger helped with the translation to let us know that the personal injury on the track was a person who committed suicide by jumping in front of a train between stations. They had to wait for the police and other personnel to arrive and clean up and take care of the body and scene. We arrived in Fussen about 2 hours late... this caused us to miss our 1st castle tour but thankfully were able to tour Neuschwanstein Castle- which was beautiful... we took the horse drawn carriage ride which was 5 euro each for the ride up and 2,50 each down- well worth the cost as the walk up was steep, wet and cold- it must be at least a 45 minute walk. The castle tour was really nice- it is an amazing castle and amazing to think about how they created such a masterpiece in the 1800's. There was even running water and a toilet with running water for Ludwig. We could not take pictures inside of the castle, but purchased a book of the castle. We did not get to spend time in the town like we had planned as after our tour we ate dinner at a cute little place and caught our 7:05 train back to Munich. If I had to do it over again, I would have spent at least 1 night there... it was such a beautiful little town.
December 27th
We visited the Deutsches Museum Transportation. They offered a 10 euro family pass. This was a great museum. Our 11 year old son does not care for museums and whined on the train ride over. He "Loved" this museum and did not want to leave... He and my husband were both amazed by each part. We saw so many neat modes of transportation- bicycles, 3 wheel cars, buses, subway trains, trams from the 1930's, old steam trains, stage coaches... the list goes on and on. We left from there and went to the Nymphenburg Palace. The lake in front of the palace was frozen and there were lots of people ice skating and men playing games on the ice. Once again we were amazed by seeing people on a frozen lake. Very cool! The palace was beautiful... we really enjoyed the Marstallmuseum with the beautiful carriages that carried kings and queens. They each had so many details. That evening we went back to Marienplatz where our kids learned to ice skate. They did really well. The rink had cute little polar bears that they used to push around in order to learn the basics of ice skating... they caught on really quickly and gave up the polar bears to skate on their own. This was the highlight of my kid’s trip...
December 28th- our flight home at 10AM... We sadly left Munich while making plans for our next European being made on the flight home... hopefully we will return to Europe in early June... our plans are for Prague next.
My family has toured most of the major European cities over the past 3-4 years. I think that it offers wonderful lessons for both the adults and children. We were in Rome shortly before the Pope passed away. My son was in the 2nd grade and they watched a lot of the Pope's funeral. He was so excited to share with his classmates about the Vatican and what he recognized. Our trips have also helped to make both of my kids history class lessons come to life. Instead of just reading about a part of history they can visualize the places they have seen on our trips.
There were 2 places that we planned on visiting during our trip- Salzburg and the salt mines... but we decided to leave a day early. I guess we will have to cover those on another trip.
We were treated very well by the German people. They were welcoming, helpful and kind. Munich and each city we visited were so clean and nice. The weather was also great during our stay- the highs were only in the mid 30 degrees F and lows into the high teens low 20’s F. We brought warm clothes- gloves, pull over neck wraps- (this was the most helpful as I do not care for scarves. We purchased them at Outdoor world for about 8 dollars each). We also brought lots of disposable hand warmers- they helped to keep our hands warm.
I received so many helpful tips from Fodor’s. Thanks to each of you! I also hope that my trip report helps someone else out with their travel plans.
Happy New Year!
Dec 29th, 2007, 04:57 PM
#2
Join Date: Jul 2003
Posts: 1,566
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Thanks for your trip report Flying Mom, we are in the process of planning our own winter Christmas as we come from a warm climate too.
Only yesterday we decided to try and include Munich in our plans, it was great to read your report. We are planning on Salzburg, Vienna and Prague too if we can and are unsure about Budapest at this stage in favour of Munich.
Happy New Year to you too and may it bring more travels!
Only yesterday we decided to try and include Munich in our plans, it was great to read your report. We are planning on Salzburg, Vienna and Prague too if we can and are unsure about Budapest at this stage in favour of Munich.
Happy New Year to you too and may it bring more travels!
Dec 31st, 2007, 05:40 AM
#4
Original Poster
Join Date: May 2005
Posts: 132
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Thanks for reading Maudie and Aisle Seat..... Maudie I hope that your trip goes well.... Prauge and the rest of our city choices sound wonderful. Have a great trip!... Aisle Seat- thanks for the help you provided me during our planning stages of our trip.. it was wonderful.
Happy New Year!
Happy New Year!
Feb 15th, 2008, 01:22 PM
#6
Join Date: Jul 2003
Posts: 1,566
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
I just had to Google "disposable hand warmers" - never heard of such a thing but living in Australia we don't need them!
The things ones learns on Fodors is amazing.
Thanks for your kind comments, Flying_Mom.
The things ones learns on Fodors is amazing.
Thanks for your kind comments, Flying_Mom.
Feb 20th, 2008, 08:03 PM
#7
Original Poster
Join Date: May 2005
Posts: 132
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Yes, We brought the hand warmers with us in our carry on bags. They work great and are a wonderful thing to have on a cold day.They sell them at discount stores like Wal Mart in the sporting or hunting department or at a Sporting Goods place where they will be a little more pricey... My mom, daughter and I just returned tonight from a quick trip to New York City to see a play and do some shopping. The hand warmers did a great job of keeping us warm during the 20 degree F weather this week.
So glad to be able to help out.... Happy travels to you all!
So glad to be able to help out.... Happy travels to you all!
Feb 22nd, 2008, 07:10 PM
#9
Original Poster
Join Date: May 2005
Posts: 132
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Pittpurple,
I hope that your family has a wonderful Christmas vacation. Munich was a great city to spend a family Christmas but then again most any city in Europe would be wonderful!!
I hope that your family has a wonderful Christmas vacation. Munich was a great city to spend a family Christmas but then again most any city in Europe would be wonderful!!
Feb 25th, 2008, 09:32 PM
#10
Join Date: Feb 2007
Posts: 2,875
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
flyin Mom - what was your favorite city at Christmas time in Europe and why?... I am still trying to finalize where we will be on Christmas. We are definately in Paris for 5 night from the 12-28-1-2, 08
Feb 28th, 2008, 04:36 PM
#12
Original Poster
Join Date: May 2005
Posts: 132
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Dawnnoelm,
Thanks for reading my trip report.... We have really enjoyed all of our Eurpoean trips... but I guess our most favorite city that had the truest feel of Christmas was Munich. The Christmas market, nativity scenes and snow was really neat to experience. Fussen (town with Mad King Ludwigs castle) was a fairy tale village covered in snow. Be prepared for an empty city from 2PM Christmas Eve until Dec 26th. We did not find many things open during that time so prepare yourself with snacks and things to do.
Which ever city you choose your family will enjoy yourselves. Remember to bring a few gifts to exchange on Christmas morning to bring the season and enjoy familiar family traditions.
Have a great trip!!!
Thanks for reading my trip report.... We have really enjoyed all of our Eurpoean trips... but I guess our most favorite city that had the truest feel of Christmas was Munich. The Christmas market, nativity scenes and snow was really neat to experience. Fussen (town with Mad King Ludwigs castle) was a fairy tale village covered in snow. Be prepared for an empty city from 2PM Christmas Eve until Dec 26th. We did not find many things open during that time so prepare yourself with snacks and things to do.
Which ever city you choose your family will enjoy yourselves. Remember to bring a few gifts to exchange on Christmas morning to bring the season and enjoy familiar family traditions.
Have a great trip!!!
Feb 29th, 2008, 09:16 AM
#14
Join Date: Feb 2007
Posts: 2,875
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Thank you Flying-Mom - I appreciate the feedback. I thought I had finalized our plans with staying the entire time in Paris but our apartment is not ready till the 26 so I am back to the drawing board!
Mar 4th, 2008, 06:23 AM
#15
Original Poster
Join Date: May 2005
Posts: 132
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
dawnnoelm,
It is so easy to travel around Europe. Train travel and even air travel is really inexpensive and allows you to visit more than 1 country if your vacation time allows.
Enjoy your trip!!
It is so easy to travel around Europe. Train travel and even air travel is really inexpensive and allows you to visit more than 1 country if your vacation time allows.
Enjoy your trip!!
