Traveling Expats

Servus, from Munich! Due to its clean, efficient and wide reaching public transportation network, all of the delights that Munich has to offer are within easy reach immediately upon arrival at the main train station. We travelled to Munich using a combination of the 49 Euro Deutschland ticket (49 Euro a month for regional trains, busses and local transportation) and Inter City Express (ICE) trains. We’ve use public transportation in many cities and Munich probably has the best of any city we’ve travelled to. If you would like more information about the 49 Euro Deutschland ticket please read our blog post here.

Upon arrival at the main train station in Munich, we took the convenient S-Bahn to our hotel which was located less than 2 minutes from the S-Bahn Hirschgarten station. We stayed at the Holiday Inn Express Munich City West using 16,250 IHG points per night. It’s normally 20,250 per night but with IHG properties if you stay 3 nights, the 4th night is FREE! When we checked out, we expected to pay some sort of city tax, but we ended up paying nothing for our stay. We would highly recommend staying here if you’re visiting Munich.

We opened a Chase IHG credit card in January and spent $3,000 in 3 months in order to earn 160,000 IHG reward points. We spent 65,000 points for this trip so we still have 95,000 points left for future travels. Traveling for five days without the concern of covering hotel expenses is truly remarkable. Another notable benefit of this accommodation was the complimentary breakfast, which was expansive, convenient, and delicious. We have encountered numerous underwhelming breakfast experiences at IHG properties in the United States. Conversely, the IHG properties we have visited in Europe have consistently offered impressive breakfast buffets. Another advantageous aspect of IHG properties is the extensive selection of locations available globally.

The hotel was nice and modern and as mentioned previously with free breakfast included. The breakfast buffet had a large selection with rolls, pretzels, croissants, pastries, along with an assortment of cold cuts, cheeses, yogurt as well as hard boiled eggs and pancakes. The super automatic coffee maker was a delight for delicious cappuccino, latte, hot chocolate and espresso.

Our room was clean, modern and quiet with plenty of natural light. The blackout curtains did an excellent job of keeping the room dark in order to allow us to sleep in a bit. Housekeeping was efficient and did a great job. Overall, we were pleasantly surprised by this hotel for being a Holiday Inn Express. We would definitely stay here again if we visit Munich in the future.

Day 1:

The weather in Munich during the month of February, like most places in Europe, can be cool and unpredictable. However, we were rewarded with a beautiful late winter afternoon and evening on our first day. Wanting to take advantage of the excellent photo conditions, we went straight to St. Peter’s Church, known to locals as Alter Peter or Old Peter and climbed the tower for the best views in the city (5 Euro per person, 306 steps, very well worth the cost and effort).

After coming down from Alter Peter we enjoyed an evening of strolling the Marienplatz (Mary’s Square) and the lanes and alleys of the city center. We had a delicious dinner at Augustiner am Dom of Hax’n (pork knuckle), meatballs, boiled potatoes, creamed spinach and Augustiner beer – our favorite beer in the world!

Day 2:

On day two, we awoke to another beautiful day. We had a fantastic breakfast at our hotel and then we hopped on the S-Bahn and went back to the city center. We took an amazing “Free Walking Tour” with Heart of Munich Walking Tours. Whenever we visit a new city one of the first things we do is take a “Free Walking Tour” which are normally around 2.5 hours long and are often given by local university students who are trying to earn some extra money. They are called “Free Tours”, but participants are expected to give a tip at the end of the tour based upon what they feel the tour was worth. Some of these “Free Tours” are good and some are great. This one in Munich given by Patrick from Heart of Munich Walking Tours was one of the best we have ever taken. Thanks Patrick! If you are visiting Munich, we highly recommend looking up Heart of Munich Tours. During the tour we learned about the history of Munich.

After our tour was over, we spent more time exploring the city and had a relaxing late lunch, soaking up the sun in the Biergarten of the Viktualienmarkt.

Day 3:

On day three, we paid a visit to the Nymphenburg Palace, which was the summer residence of the ruling Wittelsbach family. The palace, which is in Italian-style Baroque, was a gift from the Bavarian ruler to his wife after she gave him a male heir in 1662. The palace has a very nice garden complex which is no doubt nicer in the summer months than it is in February. The Great Hall, which was the site of the Wittelsbach family festivals, is one of the grandest and best-preserved Rococo rooms in Bavaria and it is truly a sight to behold. The palace is divided between North and South wings and each room has descriptive placards in both German and English that, in my opinion, give all of the information you really need to know about the rooms.

After the Nymphenburg Palace we went back to the city center and stopped at the Hofbräuhaus for some traditional Bavarian “Gemütlichkeit” which roughly translates to coziness, I think(?). The Hofbräuhaus is probably the most famous beer hall in the world and is a must when visiting Munich. It’s extremely touristy, expensive, the food isn’t great and the service isn’t the best, but the beer is good and it’s fun – especially when the band is playing traditional Bavarian folk music. It’s a very historical place (for good and bad reasons) and virtually everyone (famous and non-famous) visits here when in Munich. You don’t have to eat here, but you should come in for a drink or two – either beer or one of the various non-alcoholic drinks they serve.

That evening we enjoyed the best meal that we had while in Munich at the Zum Stiftl, which is hidden away a bit off of the Marienplatz. We had traditional Bavarian dishes – bratwurst, pork roast, sauerkraut, potato dumplings, roasted onions, shaved horseradish, and beer gravy – we had eaten most of these dishes at other places during our trip and they were all good, but the Zum Stiftl took it up a notch or two. It was really lecker! (delicious).

Day 4:

On day four we went to the English Garden and watched the surfers – yes that’s correct, surfers – on the Eisbachwelle. The Eisbach “river” is man-made and emerges from underground just a few steps away from the Haus der Kunst (art gallery). A stone step at the outlet generates a standing wave about half a meter tall that people started surfing about 40 years ago. Watching surfers in the middle of a city of over a million people that is hundreds of miles away from the ocean is quite a site, even on a cold February day.

Returning to the City Center we went to one of the smallest, but most richly decorated churches that we’ve visited in Europe. The Asamkirche (Asam church) is only 30 feet wide, but is dripping with Baroqueness. Unfortunately the outside was completely covered with scaffolding when we visited, so we couldn’t appreciate the exterior which I understand is quite a sight. The interior was worth the visit. This church was built in 1740 in a row of houses. It was a private chapel where the Asam brothers, as the story goes, could show off and avoid leaving home in the winter weather in order to attend church.

For an afternoon treat we went to Cafe Frischhut for some Schmalznudel. This place is a Munich institution, where locals and tourists alike scout for tables. In Munich restaurants and cafes many of the seating areas are communal, so you will often share your table with people you don’t know. We shared our table with some locals and got to practice our German, which they assured us is very good, but, perhaps, they were just being nice. It was a great time, and some delicious treats.

After clouds all day, the sky finally cleared for a spectacular sunset over the city.

Day 5:

On day five, sadly we had to leave. Before we caught the train home, there was time to go up the elevator to the viewing platform of the Neues Rathaus (New Town Hall) on Marienplatz which cost €6.50 per person. There is a ticket window at the elevator, but when we went it was closed (I’m guessing it’s open in the summer) and we had to purchase tickets at the Munich Information office on the ground floor. It was a spectacularly clear morning and we were able to see all the way to the Alps, which are about 60 miles / 100 KMs away.

After coming down from the tower, we went across Mariensplatz to the Rischart Cafe for some delicious Kaiserschmarm, which is a popular dessert in Munich consisting of pieces of pancakes cooked French toast style, topped with powdered sugar and served with warm apple sauce. It doesn’t sound that great but oh my gosh, I’m getting so hungry just thinking about it. Trust us, it’s tastes much better than it sounds and it’s a must try when in Munich.

Pro Tip: go upstairs and request to sit with a view of the main square. The atmosphere upstairs is much nicer than downstairs even if you don’t get to sit with a view of the main square.

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Happy Travels!

Betty and Lee