The first thing that draws the imagination at the mention of the Bavarian capital are royal palaces, Baroque buildings, museums, theaters and galleries. At the same time, in contrast, there is a lot of beer that should be washed down with pretzels and currywurst sausages. And also walks through the largest park on the continent, the Alps are half an hour away and life in the style of Millionendorf (translated as “village with a million inhabitants”). This is such an antipode of the metropolis, where everything is close and cozy, bakers and baristas recognize guests, everyone greets, and for cycling and hiking trips — grace.
How can you experience the Bavarian joys in a couple of days? I bravely packed a backpack, throwing in only a couple of the most necessary things, and trusted my close friends, who acted as omniscient guides. I tell you — of course, with the approval of my guides!
Content
- How to get there
- Where to stay
- Architecture, parks and beer gardens
- Museums and theaters
- Shopping
- Coffee shops
- Pastry shops
- Restaurants
- Bonus for introverts: the Sendling area and the Alps
How to get there
You will need a Schengen visa to enter Germany.
A flight from Moscow via Istanbul will cost from 20,000 to 40,000 rubles on average. More often it is a combination of Pobeda flights and Turkish Airlines, Pegasus and others.
You will need a Schengen visa to enter Germany. Photo: H_Ko/Shutterstock.com
How to get from Russia to Europe
We told you more about Schengen and ways to get to European cities from Russia in this article.
Where to stay
Ibis Muenchen City Nord.
Gambino Hotel Werksviertel.
Architecture, parks and beer gardens
Munich was the capital of independent Bavaria until 1871. In the city you will find the palatial heritage of the feudal Wittelbach family, Baroque churches, manicured parks with fountains and Rococo gates. To go wherever you look and explore the typical architectural landscape of the city, woven from Neo—Greek, Classicism, Baroque, Gothic and Rococo styles is the very thing.
Marienplatz
Go out to the central square of Bavaria Marienplatz. The shock effect is instantaneous: the first thing you see is the New Town Hall, a concentrated example of mystical Gothic with elongated spires, stained glass windows and dragons. The facade rises to 100 meters, I want to consider every corner of it. Turn around and you will see the Old Town Hall of 1310. A few steps away is the Gothic Frauenkirche Cathedral with two bell towers 99 meters high. They say the devil walked inside. His supposed footprint can be seen in all the details (look for a boot print on one of the slabs).
On the square, the first thing you see is the New Town Hall, a concentrated example of mystical Gothic with elongated spires, stained glass windows and dragons. Photo: f11photo/Shutterstock.com
St. Cajetan’s Church
Get ready for a pulse boost at the Theatinerkirche, or St. Cajetan’s Church. This perfection in the style of the late Italian Baroque and Rococo was a court church and belonged to the order of the monks of the theater. Behind the heavy door there is a blinding white, which creates the effect of an expanded space. The columns are wrapped with flowers, next to the figures of saints there are cherubs with pipes and ribbons, seashells, hundreds, thousands of Baroque curls. There are even more patterns hidden under the 71-meter dome, voluminous and connected in mosaic stucco.
Hofgarten Court Park
Right across the square you will see the Hofgarten Court Park. It houses the German Theater Museum with the largest collection of theatrical photos in the world, the “Temple of Diana” (in fact, it is a charming gazebo in fashionable Italian Baroque) and the current Bavarian State Chancellery, similar to a steampunk greenhouse. There is also a fountain. Everything is the work of the hands and imagination of the founder of Munich classicism, Leo von Klenze. Nearby is the Max-Josef Square framed by the National Theatre. The main theater building in Germany in a symbiosis of Greek antiquity and Rococo was built by the same von Klenze.
The Hofgarten Court Park houses the German Theater Museum with the largest collection of theatrical photos in the world, the Temple of Diana. Photo: Flyingmovies/Shutterstock.com
English Garden
They also surf in the largest park on the continent. Moreover, in two locations and on two neighboring rivers, where an artificial wave was created. It is better for beginners not to go to the spot at the very beginning of the park. On the Izar River (within the park), you can find an easier option.
Beer Garden
I have not been to the Birgarten (a garden with beer, brezels and various open—air food) – I did not understand the city. One of the best (according to locals and tourists) It is located in the English Garden, near the Chinese Pagoda. Traditional Bavarian music is played on the balconies — loudly, with trumpets and frankly wild fun. It is here that dark beer with a slight caramel flavor is poured, although the usual light beer is also offered.
In any birgarten, try giant brezel, Bavarian cheese spread with butter (obacda), sausages (currywurst is served with mustard and ketchup), sauerkraut sauerkraut, mackerel on coals or radler — a mix of foam and citrus soda. I recommend coming in the acute stage of hunger.
I have not been to the Birgarten (a garden with beer, brezels and various open—air food) – I did not understand the city. Photo: Pani Garmyder/Shutterstock.com
What else to do
- Take a steam bath in the Muller baths, built in the Art Nouveau style of the last century.
- Walk to the starting point of the way to Italy from Munich in the 1300s – the Sendling Gate. An 18-meter fountain beats near the southern exit from the historical center.
- Relax in the Old Botanical Garden near the Palace of Justice (District Court), admiring the fabulous neo-Baroque. There is a birgarten here too.
- Get into the huge Munich-Nymphenburg Botanical Garden with an area of 22 hectares. Here is the Nymphenburg Palace, another example of the German Baroque.
National character: what Germany can teach
Meticulously read contracts, value personal time, take care of nature and actively relax — these are just some of the features of the German national character, which we described in the Islet blog.
Museums and theaters
Bavarian National Museum
Everyone should visit the Bavarian National Museum (an adult ticket costs 7 €). Since the beginning of the XV century, the collection has been collected by several generations of Wittelsbachs — representatives of the German feudal family who were in love with art, who ruled Bavaria since the XII century.
Visitors will see a concentrated treasure trove of art: porcelain sets, pendulum clocks of unprecedented beauty and size, knight’s armor, wedding dresses of queens and Gothic halls – with woodenwalls, altars and sculptures. One example: a huge full—length composition of a dining table with labyrinths in the image of Versailles, with frau and herr in beautiful clothes, carriages and fountains is just a dessert bowl for court receptions. And I have not seen such a Gothic collection anywhere in Europe. It’s not about volume, but about subtlety and tenderness, which are not always inherent in sculptures and paintings of that era.
Everyone should visit the Bavarian National Museum. Photo: Yuri Dmitrienko/Shutterstock.com
Old pinakothek
The next point is the Old Pinakothek (entrance ticket for an adult costs 9 €). It is one of the world’s largest galleries of European art, opened by the will of the Wittelsbachs in 1836. It contains more than 700 paintings created from the XIV to the XVIII centuries: Rubens, Raphael, Titian, Brueghel, Van Dyck, Rembrandt and others. If you are interested in the recent past, choose a Pinakothek of modernity with a collection created after the 1990s. The new pinakothek with Van Gogh and Goya is closed until 2029.
Bavarian State Opera
Take a look at the Bavarian State Opera — it is located at the National Theatre. Outside there are antique columns, inside there is a riot of rococo. The auditorium is upholstered in red velvet and decorated with gold stucco. There is a luxurious crystal chandelier under the dome. The modern stage gathers viewers for the world premieres of musicals, legendary theatrical, ballet, and opera productions. If opera is not your thing, choose the program you like. The mission to get to the premiere day in and day out is sometimes feasible — I was lucky. But be careful with the choice of seats: they will warn you at the checkout, but when booking online it is not indicated which of them are standing. I sincerely do not recommend it: It hurts in every way. Although for the sake of a tour of the hall — wunderbar (which means fine). Such a place costs only 10 €.
Take a look at the Bavarian State Opera — it is located at the National Theatre. Photo: kyrien/Shutterstock.com
The BMW Museum
For car enthusiasts, futurists and those interested in the history of cars is the BMW Museum next door to the company headquarters. The building is built in the form of a gas tank lid with the BMW logo, which can only be seen from the sky (or a drone, without a license, they will be allowed to fly a quadcopter no heavier than 2 kg). The locals, however, call the gas tank a soup bowl. The center of the museum’s attraction was a kinetic BMW model made of balloons floating in an effort to take the shape of a car. The exhibition can be accessed via a suspension bridge or the BMW WELT headquarters. Its 22 engine-shaped floors are officially considered an architectural monument of Munich.
Shopping
Many boutiques, multi-brand and designer shops are located on the central Marienplatz square, you do not need to go far. Choose according to your taste. If you want to hurry up, go to the multi-storey Galeria shopping center. Food, household items, clothes of different styles, beauty for the interior — there is everything.
A couple of meters away is one of the discount galleries of the Maxx chain, which contains collections of premium brands, sportswear and interior details with discounts of up to 70%. Note to athletes: Sporthaus Schuster will make ski boots based on the impression of the foot, and when choosing sneakers, they will do functional tests on the treadmill for free.
Important: Most large stores and hypermarkets are closed on Sundays.
Many boutiques, multi-brand and designer shops are located on the central Marienplatz square. Photo: Stockinasia/Shutterstock.com
Coffee shops
If you like the format of a coffee shop, look at Two and One. For food and shopping, go to Munich’s most famous market, the Viktualienmarkt. Hundreds of open-air stalls have been selling farm products and different vintage for two centuries. And don’t miss the Gans Woanders cafe in a gingerbread house (made of wood only) with a spiral staircase and a century-old piano overgrown with grass, hot cinnamon rolls, coffee, pizza and live music.
About coffee. Special options on the grain of their own roasting are cooked in the Suuapinga network (closer to the center — here and here), Stray, Man Versus Machine Coffee Roasters and Bean Batter.
Marais is a coffee shop, a pastry shop, a cafe of healthy and simply delicious food, and at the same time a retro store. Photo: Baron W & horstp/tripadvisor.ru
Pastry shops
For plump croissants of all stripes, pan-au-chocolat and rolls a la French, you can go to Claude & Julien. For original desserts and pastries, visit Alexa von Harder at Konditorei & Pâtisserie Inh. Alexa von Harder and Julius Brantner at Julius Brantner Brothandwerk (there is organic bread).
Restaurants
And now, according to the classics: the Bavarian cuisine restaurant opposite the Frauenkirche Andechser am Dom, where the Kratz family has been running since 1994; and the Wirtshaus in der Au, opened in 1901 (the building itself has existed since 1789), with dumplings, a beer garden and jazz (well, currywurst). Another restaurant according to the Biergarten typology is Andy’s Krablergarten, whose history has been going on since 1850. At that time, the institution was run by Johann Krabler, his name has been preserved in the name.
First-class steaks are fried in Rusticana. If you want pan—Asian cuisine, there are many such establishments in Munich. For example, handmade noodles are cooked in Chen’s Nudelbar inside the Galeria, around the hogo (Chinese dishes in the manner of a samovar-steamer for cooking various foods from pieces of meat to vegetables) they offer to gather in Chois, good ramen is made in TAKUMI.
Bavarian cuisine restaurant opposite Frauenkirche Andechser am Dom, where the Kratz family has been running since 1994. Photo: tripadvisor.ru
Bonus for introverts: the Sendling area and the Alps
For those who are afraid of noise and crowds of tourists, I suggest you go to the quiet area of Sendling. A huge Westpark was built and planted here for the International Horticulture Exhibition (IGA) in 1983. There are two cozy birgarten on the territory (I recommend the Hopfengarten beer hall), the Gans am Wasser specialty coffee shop, rose gardens and about a dozen flower beds, Japanese, Chinese and multi-national gardens. Well, the sweetest ducks of different breeds, hedgehogs, foxes and hares. There are also two authentic cafes in the area: the family Vietnamese Ha Phuong and the Chinese Yan You, where it is always noisy and delicious.
If you want to go to the Alps, then less than an hour on the road — and they are yours. Trains run from the Harras railway station (also from the central station) to Schlierse, the commune of the same name and the lake in peace at the foot of the mountains. Along the banks, along the clear water, there is a health trail, nearby there are typical Bavarian houses (often guest houses) and even a goat farm where you can buy fresh cheese. Find the schedule (as well as tickets) in the DB Navigator mobile app: go to the Bayern Ticket section and select the route points.
A huge Westpark was built and planted here for the International Horticulture Exhibition (IGA) in 1983. Photo: Daniel_Rockafox/Shutterstock.com
Everyone has their own recipe for a successful trip. For me, the main thing is to outline a conditional vishlist, and then trust the situation. It is likely that instead of three museums, you will bypass two pubs, or just give up on the fuss and go to the mountains for all days. Which is fine, because the best plan is his absence. This is the whole Munich!
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Cover photo: f11photo/Shutterstock.com
