Munich is absolutely huge as there is no way you can get much done in 24 hours, but we certainly did our best to cram in as much as we possibly could. We started with another quick breakfast at the highly recommended Man vs. Machine, and although small, the coffee really was of excellent quality. This, along with an apricot croissant and a cheeky market bratwurst, gave us enough energy to climb to the top of St Peters Church for views of the city. As it was a clear day, we were really lucky with how far we could see. However, if you have claustrophobia, then I wouldn’t recommend coming up here. The stairs leading to the viewing platform are incredibly narrow, and the viewing platform itself is even worse. I understand this tower wasn’t initially built for that purpose, but they take your money, don’t control how many people go up there and you spend most of your time squashed and unable to move around. We took a few photos and then came back down as it was impossible to get all the way around.. which is a massive shame. We did, however, manage to time it right, and we’re able to watch the Rathaus-Glockenspiel.
When you think of Munich, you think of beer halls. So we chose the most touristy of them all and went to Hofbräuhaus – which claims to be the world’s most famous tavern! The decor inside was amazing, but it was absolutely packed. We managed to find a seat, and to be fair to them, they asked us straight away what we wanted, and the beer arrived in no time. They also had a band playing, which really added to the atmosphere. As long as you don’t mind sharing a table with multiple other people, then you should absolutely go. They say it’s like going to London and not going to Buckingham Palace 🤷🏼♀️
Another must do in Munich is watch the river surfing. The Eisbach Wave is a small, 2-kilometre-long, man-made river, where loads of surfers in wetsuits tackle the waves. You can also enjoy a walk around the park, and I’m told there are plenty of pop up beer tents here in the summer. A short ride away from here on the U-Bahn brings you to the Olympic Park – constructed in 1972 for the summer Olympics. We decided to pop into BMW Welt to use their facilities before entering the park, and it actually turned out to be a very interesting place. If we had more time it’s somewhere we would definitely spend longer. The Olympic Park was covered in thick fog, it was getting dark and cold and super busy as people started arriving for a concert that was being held there that evening, so after a quick mooch round we decided to head back to the centre for more food 🐽
This evening was the big game between Germany and Spain, so we got to the pub early to guarantee entry. Even over an hour early, we were squashed right by the incredibly pissy toilets, so by half time, we decided to give up and leave and head back to Hofbräuhaus, which was now much quieter.
The following day, we were flying back to the UK, so we spent the morning getting another big breakfast and a final Glühwein before the journey back to their airport. As per usual, the trains were having major works on the lines, and that meant major delays on the trains back to the airport. We found an airport bus and decided to use that instead. We got to the airport too early for check-in, so we went for a coffee to kill some time. After around 40 mins, we decided to join the large growing queue, and it was at this point we realised the bag, with the passports in, was still on the bus…… to cut a long story short, the bag ended up at the bus depot, we found a taxi driver who was willing to drive fast (115mph to be exact!) and we managed to get checked in with 5 mins before check in closed. Obviously the man in front of us in security took each coin out of his pocket individually, and obviously passport control at the gate we needed wasn’t working so we had to run a mile to the other one… but we managed to board the plane and get home on our original flight, rather than paying nearly £400pp for the next one back to Manchester.
The Travelling Ginger 