More questions from JennyJoline!

We will be in Munich arriving early Saturday, August 28, & heading out of town on Monday, August 30. I am looking for suggestions for Munich - what should we do and where should we eat. We have a hotel the Sofitel Munich Bayerpost. Otherwise no plans there yet.

Thanks!

One of our favorite memories of Munich was a bike ride. We rented bikes from Munich Walks (bikes too!), toured the city and then rode around the park (Englischer Garten) where we stopped for beer before heading back to our starting point.

We have visited Munich twice and both times we have eaten at Austiner Keller, the location outside the old city, which has a large outdoor area full of folks eating, drinking, and having a good time. Fun.

Finding good food is easy in Munich. Everyone has their own favorites. We liked Paulaner im Tal, Augustiner am Dom and Donisl all fairly near the town center.

Munich has so many sights from art museums to royal residences that it is hard to say what you see. Check out tourism on their homepage:

http://www.muenchen.de/home/60093/Homepage.html

Regards, Gary

My son enjoyed the Segway tour on our last trip to Munich.

Munich has fabulous museums if you are into art, such as the Alte Pinakothek (old masters) and the Glyptothek (sculpture museum that in my opinion rivals the Bargello in Florence).

There are also wonderful churches like the Frauenkirche, Heiliggeistkirche, Peterskirche (has 306-step tower with fantastic views of Munich), eerie Asamkirche, and Michaelskirche (the largest baroque building north of the alps and with crypt housing the tomb of King Ludwig II).

You could also visit the Wittelsbach homes, the Residenz and Nymphenburg Palace.

I really enjoyed the Hofbräuhaus. I had dinner, but you could just have beer.

For interesting gourmet foods you can visit Alois Dallmayr, an amazing "delicatessen."

You can also stroll around Marienplatz and the outdoor Viktualienmarkt

Definitely go to the Englisher Garten and eat at the biergarten with the Chinese Pagoda. The food was probably the same as every beer garden but the atmosphere is great and enjoy your walk through the park. Don't miss the surfing at the outside edge of the park. The Viktualien (sp?) Markt is cool to walk through.

If you go to the Residenz don't skip the Schatzkammer. If you go to Nymphenburg don't skip Amalienburg, it is the "hunting" lodge.

We enjoyed the Alte Pinakothek, as well.

My husband's favorite breakfast was on the Marienplatz (it looks like Woerner's in the picture), it was the Munchener Fruhstuck, it was wiesswurst, pretzel, and weissbier.

Try the Ratskellar right in the Marienplatz. They have a website where you can read all about the history, see the menu, and make a reservation. (The salmon and duck are delicious.)

Bookmarking. Thanks!

Oooh, I'm excited about all the suggestions! I'm not much of a beer drinker at all, but am willing to try almost anything - once, anyway! Of course there are great German wines too....those I like! You're giving me a lot to work with here - thanks so much!

Another question...I have basically no German. Will that be too much of a problem in Munich? Each time I've called on the phone - for hotels, etc. - I start w/ "Guten tag" & I then ask if the person on the other end of the line speaks English. So far they all have & have been truly helpful & delightful.

"Another question...I have basically no German. Will that be too much of a problem in Munich?"

Not at all - the locals don't even speak German there, so are used to accommodate what they call "Preissn" (originally referring to people from Prussia, but they are a bit insular, so they don't differentiate: everything outside Bavaria is Prussia).

The Deutsches Museum is very interesting and also the BMW Museum.

I see in your original post that you are arriving on a Saturday. I don't know if you plan to do any shopping but many stores close at mid-day on Saturday and all day on Sunday. An exception would be the souvenir stores around the Hofbrau. If you are looking for beer steins they do have large collections.
The last time we were there on a Sunday we did an interesting tour on Sunday morning. It was through Munich Walks and it was called The Third Reich Tour. The tour met at the clock tower around 10 a.m., lasted a couple of hours and cost 12 Euro. The guide was an American who had lived there many years. It was very interesting and Sunday morning was a great time for a leisurely walk. You don't even need to pre-book. If it fits your plans then you can just show up and pay. They have a website, just google Munich Walks.

The opening hours of the stores are a bit better these days.
In the Old Town/ pedestrian zone and the main shopping streets of the districts, you can expect department stores and almost any other shop to be open 9-8 or 10-8 Monday through Saturday. Sundays still is dead.

What hsv is trying to say is that Munich is full of friendly Bavarians who will be happy to speak English with you. ;-)

But seriously, you are doing things exactly right. Start out in German and ask if they speak English. I doubt you will encounter anyone on your trip who will treat you rudely if you do that, particularly in hotels in restaurants, and the vast majority will indeed speak some English. The average "German on the street" might be a little shy about their English, but where you are going it shouldn't be a problem.