I was in Munich for a few days recently and thought I'd share some observations I made. Maybe it is helpful to someone here.

Hotel:

Derag Max Emanuel www.deraghotels.de/en/ME.htm
I chose it for location and price. I booked through a German travel agency (DERTOUR) and got a 56 € rate per night for a single room, breakfast included. Also, the special deal was to stay 4 nights and pay only 3. It is located in the district Haidhausen, a very nice neighbourhood with plenty of cafes, restaurants, shops etc.; a 4 minutes walk to S-Bahn stop Rosenheimer Platz and only two stops from Marienplatz (or a 15 minutes walk to Marienplatz). Very quiet location. The room was surprisingly large (23 m2) with balcony and a kitchenette (yay!). I saw some stains on the carpet, otherwise it was very clean. Breakfast buffet was excellent. I would stay there again.

Restaurants:

Tambosi (Odeonsplatz) - Italian food mostly. You can choose between sitting inside, outside on a terrace with view of Odeonsplatz or outside under trees in the Hofgarten. We decided for the latter. Augustiner beer was fabulous lamb was fantastic, ditto the spaghetti. Creme caramel was awful <shudder> I'd always go back. Great for people watching; also, it's a green oasis in the bustling city.

Il Cigno (Bordeauxplatz in Haidhausen) - a typical neighbourhood Italian restaurant. Recommended in the "Stadtbuch München". I sat outside (tables on the sidewalk). Had Quadroni filled with tomato, mozzarella, ruccola, served with basil pesto. Pretty good. Main course was grilled loup de mer with broccoli, carrots etc. - fantastic. A bottle San Pellegrino and a glass of Nero d'Avola (red wine). The bill came to 32.40 €. The service was slow and inattentive. I had planned to have dessert, too, but since the waiter was so slow I decided against it. Besides, the glass of red wine was by far not filled up to the 0.2 l mark. Also, when I got the fish I ordered a glass of white wine but it never arrived until I was done with the fish.

Spatenhaus an der Oper - vis-a-vis the Nationaltheater, a good place for people watching Had Rostbratwurst with Sauerkraut and a Weizen beer there - very good, price was ok for the location and quality - 20.60 €.

Sights:

It wasn't my first visit to Munich, thus I could see some less popular places. Enjoyed strolling through Haidhausen; from Rosenheimer Platz via Weißenburger Platz to Bordeauxplatz, to Johannisplatz and Wiener Platz - the centre of the district with an abundance of restaurants, cafes and bars and one of my favourite beer gardens in Munich: Hofbräukeller. Also liked the churches in Haidhausen (St. Nikolai, St. Johannis). A true gem is "Müller'sches Volksbad", an Art Nouveau public indoor pool/sauna etc. right by the Isar river. Unfortunately closed for cleaning the week I was there. Everyone seems to visit the Deutsches Museum, but nobody ever goes to Müller'sches Volksbad though they're only a stone throw apart.

I visited Neue Pinakothek which I thought is amazing. Attended two operas - LOHENGRIN (a huge disappointment, production awful and musically also slightly disappointing - why the hype about Jonas Kaufmann?) and NORMA (superb, Gruberova and Scandiuzzi spectacular, production very good). It was quite an experience to see how much people dressed up for opera - granted, it was Musikfestspiele (Festival) season, sort of warm-up for Bayreuth.

I also visited Schloss Schleissheim - beautiful gardens, magnificent palace. Easily to get to by S-Bahn, only a 10-minutes walk from the station to the Palace. I highly recommend this one, prefer it over Schloss Nymphenburg and definitely over Neuschwanstein.

Oh, and not to forget - did an excursion to the Alps - Garmisch-Partenkirchen (only 1.30 h by regional train) with a hike. Didn't take into consideration that the weather forecast predicted thunderstorms. And yes, got soaking wet like never before in my life. LOL

That's it for now. It's even longer than I intended. Feel free to ask questions.

Ingo,

You forgot the horseflies and the mosquetoes . . .!

s

Did you wade through the Hofbrauhaus on this trip?

S, nope, didn't *forget* them. Can still feel the bites. Ouch. Just didn't want to scare travellers ;-)

schuler, not this time. And to be honest, I don't think it would rank in the top 5 of my favourite beer halls.

Good report! Thanks for sharing!

Good trip report, Ingo, I hope to be able to use some of your experiences in August.

"Had Rostbratwurst with Sauerkraut and a Weizen beer there - very good, price was ok for the location and quality - 20.60€."

Remind me not to go to this restaurant! 20€ for brats and kraut and a beer? You have got to be kidding if you think this is ok at all. Prices like this are a complete rip-off.

It was for two beers. LOL The meal was in fact eight small Bratwursts with Sauerkraut + two Weizen beers. The beers were 4.50 € each. Do the math yourself. It was not a street vendor; it was the terrace of a fine restaurant right vis-a-vis the Nationaltheater.

Thanks Ingo, very informative!

Lavandula

Ingo - good report as usual. The Spatenhaus is a favorite of mine. Too bad about Lohengrin. I don't understand most of this modern Wagner.

Thanks Ingo,looked up Schloss Schleissheim. Did you walk the grounds and gardens also?