Munich, or Munchen to the locals, is by far one of the greatest cities I have ever visited. Despite being a large city it feels safe and calm, the people tend to be friendly and there is a huge diversity apparent in a surprisingly compact city centre.
But firstly lets cover the well known generalities of Munich, the beer. The beer prices in Munich are government controlled, and have been ever since a famine it suffered centuries ago, in which the populace as a whole survived by drinking beer and ingesting little else. This proud heritage has created the chilled out and drinking orientated culture that myself (A regularly inebriated Yorkshireman) gladly embraced.
Munich was one of the central cities involved in World War 2, it was the birthplace of the movement Hitler instigated and where his private army was first formed. It is not surprising that this was one of the areas where white dominance first raised it’s head, as it is to the far south east of Germany and contains a prominent black and Muslim populace who began to migrate to the city as it grew in size and culture.
And Munich is a very cultural city, it contains plenty to see, a vast number of religious and monumental structures and plenty of wide, aesthetically pleasing streets and fountains, created when the city was re-mapped after the heavy bombing it received in the World War. It is for this very same reason that I bring to your attention a great landmark which was created during this time.
The English Gardens, so called because of the plants and trees planted around the estate, are the largest inner city gardens in the world. The Gardens themselves contain four beer gardens, a nudist section which isn’t marked out as such but decided by the first person to strip off and ay down, a lake, which unfortunately is populated by geese who have no qualms in shitting on every square inch of exposed grass (to the delight of sandal wearers such as myself)
I have to admit though despite the geese and the much larger proportion of aging fat naked men laying about the place (The hot naked women unfortunately much sparser on the ground) I do love the English Gardens. You can take a good long walk around the outskirts, popping in towards the centre if refreshment is ever needed. The scenery really is beautiful and there are even some artificially created rapids where surfers will congregate and attempt to remain upright on good days.
While the temperature was unfortunately not really high enough at the time, the English Gardens in Munich do offer incredibly clean streams which many residents swim in during hotter days.
The second thing that rea4lly needs pointing out in Munich is the beer halls and gardens scattered around the city. The Hofbräuhaus is the main beer hall in Munich. It was commandeered by Hitler at the beginning of the Nazi movement as one of his platforms for speeches and is one of the central tourist attractions in Munich.
The Hofbräuhaus serves fantastic food, great beer and keeps it’s prices surprisingly low. A good sized meal from the Hofbräuhaus can infact be cheaper than smaller meals bought in the surrounding restaurants. While you are eating you will be entertained by a traditional Bavarian band, complete with lederhosen.
There are several more beer gardens and beer halls scattered around Munich, I would also however recommend searching out some basement bars around the city, there are plenty around and they contain a great food selection, cheaper beer and a real Bavarian atmosphere. It’s important to note here however that in the few I visited several did not have fluent English speakers, so you may want to brush up on your German a little before visiting these places for food. (Beer can sufficiently requested by holding you hand out in a half clasped position and indicating tipping movements towards your mouth while holding up the number of beers required in your other hand.)
Munich itself is a rather well laid out city, it can be a little overwhelming to first time visitors however, so I would suggest that any people who are visiting Munich for the first time take one of the numerous walking tours which traverse the city, its most important buildings and the English gardens. These are generally advertised as free, however they do ‘suggest’ a tip should be donated at the end of each tour as they are not paid for their services.
For those of you travelling via hostels I would readily recommend the Wombat Hostel, its not cheap, at up to 25 euros per person during peak times near hotel prices. But the atmosphere, the chill out zone and the bar (oh the bar) make this hostel a great choice, check out the happy hour with pitchers for 5 euro, each containing 3 litres of beer!
If you stay here visit the pizza shop just on the corner (Take right out of the hostel and look on the left as you reach the end of the street). This place gives huge portions at cheap price, with friendly service, sometimes too friendly, the counter girl definitely went in for a fumble at one point, she was pretty hot but my head was much too fuzzy to think about anything other than hot coffee and stodgy food at this point.
All in all I would easily recommend Munich as one of the top travelling destinations in the UK. It’s lively, friendly atmosphere, cheap drinks and fantastic foods. The architecture is stunning and the streets are wide, there are plenty of signs to keep you on track and people will generally be able to understand English if you are lost!
My only advice is that if you are going there to party limit your stay, me and my flat mate where at the wombat hostel for 5 nights, at the end of which he was coughing up blood and I was having balance problems, be prepared for huge amounts of alcohol!
There is a begging problem and pickpockets are known to be about, so keep your wits about you. The streets are crowded so it is all to easy for someone to walk up behind you and pull out your wallet!