Last year, Beth and I travelled South East Asia and enjoyed 30 degree heat. This year, we chose to try a winter trip!
We arrived at Munich airport in the evening and after dumping our bags and grabbing a quick pint, we headed to Tollwood festival, an event our bar man said had ‘nothing to do with Christmas’. We decided to check it out given that we have plenty of time for Christmas activities, and we were we glad we did! It was a cute, colorful set up with plenty of things to investigate. The main food tent didn’t have any local food in sight, but instead hosted Thai, Indian, Vietnamese, Caribbean and Greek food. There was also several stalls with handicraft products which I could easily have bought tonnes of! We ventured through to a rather lively tent and to our delight it was ‘salsa night’, meaning 8 beat steps were alternated with 8 sips of beer.
On our first full day we took a walk to the English Garden, not because we wanted to see an English Garden, but because of the Eisbach wave we had read about. Throughout the year, surfers come and play on a single wave that is located on the river and it’s truly captivating to watch as they hold themselves up before wiping out.
Following our morning stroll we went to the Viktualmarkt (food market) and had our first bratwurst – German sausage, saurkraut, and of course ketchup for me. The area had a really good atmosphere for a cold December day, with most people sitting on shared benches and eating/drinking together.
Next was a walk up St. Peters tower, which gave us an amazing view of the city. From the top you could see as far as the olympic park, and take in some of the nearby architecture in one shot. We also spotted some more markets and this time of the Christmassy kind. 299 steps definitely warrants a celebratory drink in our opinion so we spent the afternoon keeping our hands warm with some gluhwein and wandered around the square.
To put the ‘break’ in City break we had a power nap before heading out in the evening. We decided to visit the Hofbrahaus, the mothership of all beer halls that covers 3 floors and is a real must when you’re in Munich. As we had experienced at lunch, the set up was very much shared tables and benches, which we didn’t mind! I was a bit shocked when my beer arrived and the glass was bigger than my head, and required two hands to pick up because it was so heavy. The staff seemed to carry between 5-10 in one hand with ease but I don’t know how they do it! We then ordered a traditional pork dish, but the real focus was on the pretzel that was amazing (and bigger than my head). We spent our whole evening at the Hofbrauhas, as a live band played and we got chatting to our table companions who had come from other parts of Germany and Portugal.
Our second day saw us visit the Olympic Park, a huge agea with a key tower seen from everywhere. We also visited the BMW welt, and whilst we’re not car aficionados it was still pretty cool to investigate the features of the cars. Whilst we were wandering, I received a message from a friend I made on my world trip last year, who also happened to be in Munich on the same day. Without any hesitation we knew we must meet! Indeed, after grabbing a crepe in the central markets and catching a bit of the choir at the Glockenspeil, we went to the East of the city to meet my buddy – how lovely to see each other again! We reminisced about our time together in Seattle and updated one another on everything since then, all in the ambience of another Christmas market. After we departed, Beth and I enjoyed some Thai food and headed to a latin club for the night!
Our third day was an excursion to another town north of Munich, called Nuremberg. Nuremberg is home to one of the most charming Christmas markets in Europe, hosting rows of stalls and home of the amazing Lebkuchen gingerbread – it’s definitely worth a visit! We couldn’t go to Nuremberg without seeing the Imperial castle, so spent a good hour absorbing the history before settling with a hot eggnog punch and watching the local brass band. We arrived back to Munich Hauptbahnhof in the evening so went straight to a highly recommended Italian restaurant, L’ Osteria for a big pizza and wine.
On our fourth and final day we spent the morning at the Nymphenberg Palace, a grand building with large surrounding gardens. The gardens were free to explore so we had a stroll around the main bit. When the weather is below freezing the lake ices over and visitors can ice-skate, which we thought we might be able to experience, but the lake was very much liquid! After some lunch by the palace we headed back to the centre of Munich for the last time. We got our last minute souvenirs (fridge magnets for me) and photos, took in the festive atmosphere and then travelled to the airport to fly back to the UK.
Overall: Munich was a fantastic city break, lots to do and lots to eat! I did notice it was tricky to find a spot to sit down as most of the food and drink stalls had ‘standing tables’ but this is likely a Christmas market specific issue all over the world. I would love to return to Munich at a different time of year next time, and take a trip to the castle that inspired Disney, Neuschwanstein.
