I'll be staying in Munich in August (staying in Schwabing) for a week with my Family. Anyone with suggestions on sightseeing / things to do? The things we alreadly plan to see include Konigstrasse, the Victualienmarkt, Hofbrauhaus, Schloss Nymphenburg, English Garden, Sommerfest at Olympiapark, and we've already been to the Residenz and Dachau. We're really interested in picturesque neighborhoods with narrow streets and unusual shops. Also, we don't know if there are any special things to do or see in the English Garden. Any suggestions?

Don't you think that your family that lives there would be your best source?

Sorry, I mean that my family and I will be staying in Munich for a week.

As regards Munich's sightseeing attractions, a couple sites immediately come to mind: the Alte Pinakathek, located just northwest of Marienplatz, houses one of the largest art galleries in Europe, featuring paintings from the 14th to 18th centuries. It's a superb museum, and it stands to be all the more impressive as it recently opened a new museum dedicated to transportation. I hope to see it this summer, and you can learn more at www.alte-pinakothek.de.

Another must-see while in Munich is the Deutsches Museum (www.deutsches-museum.de). Located along the River Isar, you needn't be a technology buff to enjoy this vast, sprawling place, as it covers virtually every aspect of technology. Some exhibits are so large they have to be housed in a hangar, and it's not uncommon for tourists to spend the better part of a day at the museum.

Best of luck.

smetz,

A quick correction concerning Munich's new transportation museum. It is not affiliated with the Alte Pinakothek, but rather the Deutsches Museum. This new annex is located across town from that museum, and you can learn more about Munich, including late happenings, at www.muenchen.de/Tourismus

DavidD:

Thanks so much for the info.

One place I suggest you put last on your visitation list is the modern art and sculpture gallery. I think it is called Pinakothek der Moderne, or some such title. Perhaps I don't understand, but some how a 1930's radio never struck me as a piece of art. However perhaps my favorite piece of modern sculpture is still there. It is a work that consists of chrome car bumpers, fenders, hub caps,and other metal car parts twisted and welded together. It bears the appropriate title of Horse Pucky, in American. I kid you not. Perhaps some art lovers feel a rush of ecstasy when they see it; I gave out an appropriate horse laugh that was more of a snort.

I highly recommend a short train ride out to the Ammersee and a visit to Andechs Monastery for some really good beer and food. It has been some time since I have been there but I imagine others can elaborate. Have a great time! Carol

to bob brown:

Thanks - the Altes Pinothek sounds like it's more up my alley. At the risk of showing my ignorance, my reaction to modern sculpture is pretty similar to yours. The last time I was at the Baltimore Museum of Art (I live in Baltimore), I noticed the dumpsters were right next to the sculpture garden, and found them to be about as enlightening as the sculptures!

If you like cars the BMW museum and factory tour are a blast. Only certain tours are in English so you have to sign up well in advance.

You could spend days in the Duetsche Museum with lots of interactive displays. I seem to recall the museum was largely in German. When I was there I knew a fair amount of German but I still couldn't understand a lot of it. Maybe it is more friendly to English speakers by now.

For smetz. My wife just reminded me of some photos in that modern museum of displaced persons and refugees that were taken during the immediate post WW II era. I thought they were horrid. If the idea was to impress on one the horrors of the aftermath of war, I am forced to say they are successful. Perhaps somehow those pictures have artistic value to someone.

As a young man I visited refugee camps in West Berlin and I have a few photogaphs of my own of similar type. I saw then the expressions on the faces of people who had nothing, except they were not under Communist rule and had some hope of employment in the West. Those pictures at the new art museum were from that era, and they captured the misery very well -- too well perhaps for comfort. I didn't really need to see that again, but the old memories of that post war camp were revived and the message again hammered home.