Germany is a beer drinker’s paradise.  It’s a huge country with tons to see.  Because we only had a few days to spend, we decided to only visit one city, and we chose Munich.  Geographically it made sense for our trip as the other two stops were Salzburg and Prague, but also I had heard great things and wanted to see for myself.  It was the first stop of my bucket list vacation to Prague, and I was thrilled to be traveling with my bff Ryan, and his mom, Robin.  We had the best time and despite only being there for a few days, feel like we saw and did a lot.

Accommodation

We stayed at Hotel Pension Margit, which was a 10 minute walk from the main train station and a 15 minute walk to the old city.  It’s just off the main street leading to the city center, so it makes it easy to find your way to and from.  The hotel itself was no frills, but nice and clean.  We had a triple room, so 3 twin beds, and were able to all fit with our luggage without any issues.  The only complaint we had about this place was the tiny shower.  It was functional but water always got everywhere and it was a challenge to move around in the limited space.  But we made it work and it was not a deal breaker.

The hotel offered a typical European breakfast each morning, hard boiled eggs, rolls, ham, cheese, cereal, coffee and tea.  It was a little boring by day 3, but it got the job done and saved us from paying for one meal daily.  Overall it was a great hotel for the money and I’d recommend it, particularly if you are traveling via train because it’s so close and convenient.

Getting Around

Munich is a very walkable city.  If you are staying in the city center you can pretty much get anywhere within 15-20 minutes.  However, there is also an above and underground public transportation system if you don’t want to or are unable to manage that much walking.  We also took the double decker bus tour around the city, which was a great way to get some information about the places we were visiting and see the sights.  There are 3 separate routes, to explore the many different areas of the city.  It’s also a nice way to enjoy being outside, weather permitting.

For our day trip to Neuschwanstein Castle, we used Radius Tours.  They have a variety of tours to see places outside of Munich, and even outside of Germany.  The tours were well organized and the tour guides were knowledgable and friendly.  It’s a great way to see other parts of the country, while based in Munich.

Food and Drinks

Bratwurstherzl
This was recommended to us by a local in a store we stopped in.  It took us a while and lots of wandering to actually find it, but I’m glad we did.  It had great outdoor seating and a traditional Bavarian menu for our first meal in Germany.  As most Bavarian food goes, it was super heavy but it hit the spot for our first night.

Bavaria
We decided to stop in Bavaria after dinner one night for some apple strudel, because….when in Germany.  It was right down the street from our hotel, and having passed it multiple times walking to and from, we thought the food looked good and vibe looked fun.  The apple strudel itself was excellent and, obviously, the Bavarian theme was on point.

Park-Café
Park-Cafe is the beer garden in the Botanical Gardens in Munich.  We stopped here for drinks, but the food also looked great. The outside bar only had beer, but if you go inside they have a full bar with non beer options.  It’s a great stop for mid-day drinks.

Chinesischer Turm
Chinesischer Turm is the Chinese beer garden located in the English Gardens.  It’s massive and has tons of food and drink options, and traditional, live, German music.  Treat yourself to a traditional Bavarian pretzel, individual size or ginormous.  Or try the roasted chicken and fries or the pork knuckle.  It’s a great spot for people watching and spending a day in the sunshine.

Opatija
Opatija was recommended in my Rick Steve’s guide book, so we decided to check it out.  It is Bavarian, but also had other options so we figured it would be a good stop.  I decided to stick with Bavarian cuisine and I’m so glad I did.  I got the turkey schnitzel, which was massive and SO good.

Ottantanova Vi Vadi 
Ottantanova Vi Vadi was our last meal in Munich. We were done with the heavy Bavarian food by this point and thought Italian sounded good, and this place delivered. My pasta was delicious and Ryan and Robin’s pizza was also great.  Good wine, cheap food and outdoor seating was the perfect end to our time in Germany.

Lupper Bar
We stopped here for drinks one afternoon after seeing it the day before.  It’s conveniently located right off the Viktualienmarkt.  They had indoor and outdoor seating and yummy regular and rose prosecco on tap.

Fun story – we thought this place was called Prosecco Bar because that’s what the signs on the outside said.  However, the actual Prosecco Bar in Munich is a gay club that doesn’t open until night time.  When following the map to try to find “Prosecco Bar” the next day, we made our way almost the entire way to the club, before realizing, A-it wasn’t open at 5pm and B-it wasn’t the place we were meaning to go.  Don’t get me wrong, I LOVE a gay bar, but we were looking for a more chill, mid-afternoon wine bar at that moment.  Thankfully, Ryan’s sense of direction kicked in and he was able to find the way to Lupper Bar, the intended afternoon destination.  But…if we had more time, Prosecco Bar seems like someplace we would have visited and had a great time.

Hofbräuhaus
The beer garden of biergartens.  The heart of Oktoberfest.  It’s huge and has a great variety of food and beer as well as live, German music.  I drank a legit beer (albeit a shandy) in a stein glass, which was something I absolutely wanted to do in Germany.  It’s a must visit on any trip to Munich.

General Tips

1 – Germany uses the Euro. We found many places don’t take cards so having cash was essential. As usual, I took money out of the ATM at the airport, to avoid paying the fees at the exchange places. I found everything to be very reasonably priced, even with the Euro being stronger than the Dollar.

2 – It was much warmer than we had anticipated and we did not pack many warm weather clothes. I’d suggest packing layers to ensure you have options for all kinds of weather if you are going in any of the warmer weather months.  Even mid-April felt like summer, which was definitely unexpected.

3 – Germany’s drinking water is some of the best in Europe we read, as it comes directly from the alps. We refilled our bottled water in our hotel bathroom daily to save money from buying a new bottle daily.  Save your money and drink from the tap.

4 –  Another water tip.  If you are at a restaurant, you need to ask for “tap water” or you’ll end up paying for bottled water.  The waiters want you to pay for it so the bill is higher, obviously, so make sure to specify.  Also, you can drink from bottles you’ve brought in from outside, however do NOT put your bottle of water from somewhere else on the table.  We were told (nicely) by a sweet and maybe a little drunk bartender, that it’s considered rude.  Thankfully the lesson was learned early in the trip so that we didn’t continue to make the same mistake.

We had a great time in Germany.  It was unexpectedly delightful, with the perfect weather, beautiful sights and endless amounts of beer.  Going for Oktoberfest would be an experience, but spring in Munich was perfection.  Auf Wiedersehen, Germany!