Two eccentric ladies in Munich
November 16, 2018 10:14 PM Subscribe
So my mom and I will be spending next week in Munich. What do we want to do? I've browsed helpful earlier questions, but there are some specifics of our interests below the fold.
My mother and I, who live on opposite sides of the world, are having one of our periodic meet-in-the-middle vacations, this time in Munich. What do we want to do there? We like to spend the morning walking around at random and then separate for the afternoon (she goes to museums, I go to English-language bookstores) and meet up again in the evening, meanwhile eating at frequent intervals. Please give me your recommendations for the following.
--Interesting neighborhoods to walk around in. Any definition of "interesting" goes. Especially if with nice architecture, including ordinary background buildings as well as famous ones.
--Places to eat. Breakfast, lunch, dinner, or snacks, including sweets. We eat most things and are happy with anything from a Michelin star to a food cart as long as it's tasty.
--English bookstores! (Have googled, but just in case.)
--Day trips by train outside the city, to other urban-type places (we are regrettably city-oriented).
--Places that might have afternoon or evening concerts (classical or jazz) we could go to on the spur of the moment.
For the record, neither of us is fluent in German but we can both get by with basic conversation, buy a meal or a ticket, etc.
Danke sehr!
My mother and I, who live on opposite sides of the world, are having one of our periodic meet-in-the-middle vacations, this time in Munich. What do we want to do there? We like to spend the morning walking around at random and then separate for the afternoon (she goes to museums, I go to English-language bookstores) and meet up again in the evening, meanwhile eating at frequent intervals. Please give me your recommendations for the following.
--Interesting neighborhoods to walk around in. Any definition of "interesting" goes. Especially if with nice architecture, including ordinary background buildings as well as famous ones.
--Places to eat. Breakfast, lunch, dinner, or snacks, including sweets. We eat most things and are happy with anything from a Michelin star to a food cart as long as it's tasty.
--English bookstores! (Have googled, but just in case.)
--Day trips by train outside the city, to other urban-type places (we are regrettably city-oriented).
--Places that might have afternoon or evening concerts (classical or jazz) we could go to on the spur of the moment.
For the record, neither of us is fluent in German but we can both get by with basic conversation, buy a meal or a ticket, etc.
Danke sehr!
Lunch or a snack at the top of the oberpollinger is really great during a mooch down the main shopping drag near karlsplatz staccus.
Christmas markets start soon.
posted by catspajammies at 5:03 AM on November 17, 2018
Christmas markets start soon.
posted by catspajammies at 5:03 AM on November 17, 2018
If you are talking to someone under 50, they generally speak english. Everyone we've encountered in munich has been friendly, although they can be terse. English gardens are beautiful, Einstein-strasse is a fun neighborhood near the universities. for day trips, we loved our trip to Andechs, it can be a hike up to the top (where there is a monastery, and a beer garden) or you can take a bus. the transit is second to none. there is the overground and the underground, tons of stations, and clear signage. Christmas markets are coming which are a blast, try the mulled wine! the beer gardens generally prefer cash. before noon, be sure to have a weisswurst and pretzel, pairs well with a cappuccino.
posted by evilmonk at 10:11 AM on November 17, 2018
posted by evilmonk at 10:11 AM on November 17, 2018
Oh and I think tollwood is great, but I’ve never been...
posted by catspajammies at 10:16 AM on November 17, 2018
posted by catspajammies at 10:16 AM on November 17, 2018
If you get tired of Munich there are any number of cities an easy train ride away.
Although I generally recommend Andechs I have only ever been in the summer or early autumn and it is now officially winter. So the beer garden is unlikely to be open, the indoor restaurant will be. There is also a monastery museum. Some people like to visit churches and some don’t. There are some truly beautiful ones in Munich and really all over Bavaria - the Catholic Church displaying its wealth. Worth noting, that Munich derives its name from the word monks.
Another thing that would be very easy to do is tour a brewery. Even if you don’t normally like to do these things they are great for this time of year and deeply embedded in the local culture to this day.
posted by koahiatamadl at 12:43 PM on November 17, 2018
Although I generally recommend Andechs I have only ever been in the summer or early autumn and it is now officially winter. So the beer garden is unlikely to be open, the indoor restaurant will be. There is also a monastery museum. Some people like to visit churches and some don’t. There are some truly beautiful ones in Munich and really all over Bavaria - the Catholic Church displaying its wealth. Worth noting, that Munich derives its name from the word monks.
Another thing that would be very easy to do is tour a brewery. Even if you don’t normally like to do these things they are great for this time of year and deeply embedded in the local culture to this day.
posted by koahiatamadl at 12:43 PM on November 17, 2018
--English bookstores! (Have googled, but just in case.)
The Hugendubel bookshop in Karlsplatz had plenty of English books when I was an exchange student in 2000, so I suppose they'll have even more nowadays. The area around the Ludwig Maximilian University should have English books, too (but I went to the TUM so that wasn't my district).
--Day trips by train outside the city, to other urban-type places (we are regrettably city-oriented).
Nuremberg and Salzburg are easy train trips from Munich.
posted by sukeban at 12:46 PM on November 17, 2018
The Hugendubel bookshop in Karlsplatz had plenty of English books when I was an exchange student in 2000, so I suppose they'll have even more nowadays. The area around the Ludwig Maximilian University should have English books, too (but I went to the TUM so that wasn't my district).
--Day trips by train outside the city, to other urban-type places (we are regrettably city-oriented).
Nuremberg and Salzburg are easy train trips from Munich.
posted by sukeban at 12:46 PM on November 17, 2018
Andechs, definitely!
posted by travertina at 4:06 PM on November 17, 2018
posted by travertina at 4:06 PM on November 17, 2018
Response by poster: Thanks, all! We mostly walked around the city in the end, especially enjoying Thierschstrasse and...damn, I've forgotten its name, the little street just east of Ludwigstrasse. Lots of sausages, Zwiebelrostbraten, schnitzel, chocolate tart, Apfelstrudel and other delights. Mist on the river. Nice town.
posted by huimangm at 4:02 AM on November 29, 2018
posted by huimangm at 4:02 AM on November 29, 2018
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Or you can stand on the bridge over the Isar nearby and watch mad Germans surfing.
There’s loads of museums and galleries within walking distance (the Münchener Kunstverein should be worth a look), and the Residenz is full of gleefully bonkers Baroque lunacy.
The magazine store soda. might satisfy your bookshop needs, and for something uniquely Bavarian, try the Gäststatte Großmarkthalle, a beer hall at an old meat market, which basically exists to feed the workers at the market - they close around 4pm. The sausage is literally made on the premises!
There’s a really great Greek family restaurant somewhere in Munich, too. I wasn’t in much of a state to remember it’s location. And a salad bar which is actually a bar for drinking in.
Yeah. Munich can get a bit blurry. Sorry.
posted by prismatic7 at 4:48 AM on November 17, 2018 [1 favorite]