For the first time on the trip, we were going somewhere I’d already been before. And I couldn’t be more excited, because it was one of my favorite places I’d ever gone. Munich! I’d been looking forward to getting back for years.

I had a little trepidation about it, though. What if I didn’t like it as much now? What if, after seeing so much more of the world, I now realize Munich is just ehh? I prepared myself to perhaps see it in a different light.

We took a bus out of Zurich, and it was cheap and couldn’t have been easier. The scenery, naturally, was beautiful, through northern Switzerland and a tiny corner of Austria, before coming into Bavaria and cruising into the center of Munich. A short subway ride later, we were at our apartment for the next couple days, perfectly located in Schwabing-West.

We wasted no time before diving into all that is great about Munich.

Beer and Bratwurst

When you think about Munich, two of the first things that come to mind–for good reason–are beer and bratwurst. Beer, especially, makes Munich, and all of Bavaria, famous. When I think of Munich, I think of Spaten’s wonderful doppelbock, Hacker-Pschorr’s Festbier–the best Oktoberfest beer there is–and the best beer in town, Augustiner.

Naturally, this was a pretty big focus of our trip to Munich.

Augustiner

The first beer hall we visited was, and remains, my favorite: Augustiner. Great beer, good food, good prices, and a low-key environment make this a wonderful spot for lunch, dinner, or just a drink. Or two. Or three.

Hofbräu

Hofbräu, the beer, can be found pretty widely. Certainly through Munich, but also throughout the world, really. And Hofbräu beer is quite good.

Then there is Hofbräu’s famous beer hall, the Hofbräuhaus. The Hofbräuhaus is… well, it’s an experience. I liked it a lot more years ago, maybe I’m just too old. It’s not a great spot for beer, not a great spot for food, it’s way too expensive and touristy. But with its huge gathering spaces, its raucous environment, loud music, and men and women dressed in traditional Bavarian dress… well, it’s an experience.

It’s the only spot in all of Europe where we were straight up asked to add a tip to our payment. Like I said, super touristy.

Spaten

The last famous beer spot we visited was the Spatenhaus an der Oper, home of the brewery Spaten.

Probably due to its prominent location, across the street from the opera house–hence the name–this restaurant is a little ritzier. Not a mere beer hall für das Publikum, this is where the well-heeled opera crowd goes to… drink beer and eat sausage. It seems like a clash of worlds.

This all also means it’s a bit more expensive. And, the doppelbock wasn’t available, so I had to stick with Spaten’s Dunkel. Which is a fine compensation prize.

But our favorite beer and brat experience wasn’t at any of these beer halls. It was at a beer garden, in one of our favorite places in Munich.

Englischer Garten

The Englischer Garten–Munich’s huge public park–is such a wonderful place. Clean, spacious, green, beautiful… it’s easy to lose hours upon hours there, walking the park and relaxing.

Our apartment was about a 20 minute walk from the park. So, on our first evening there, we walked to the park and headed for one of Munich’s famous beer gardens, the Beer Garden at the Chinese Tower.

Munich’s beer halls are great, but nothing can beat a summer night outside at the beer garden. We got a huge amount of bratwurst, sauerkraut, and spätzle, along with two huge Hofbräu beers, and enjoyed a wonderful evening in the park.

Surfing

There are a few weird things that go down in the English Garden, and on one of our long walks in the park, we went in search of them. The first is where the Eisbach–a man-made river–enters the park. There, it tends to create a steady, in-place wave, and years ago, people came and started surfing it.

When we went down there, there was a small handful of people surfing the river. It’s weird! They enter the river from the banks, and have to enter on their board, immediately on the wave. It’s like bull-riding–they get released, and then try to hang on for their 8 seconds. Plus, there is a sizable crowd of people watching. When you bust, you get flushed down the river, left to scramble to the banks and walk back down to try again.

Like I said, it’s weird! While we watched, there was a teenage girl who was absolutely crushing it, effortlessly riding the wave, and dusting all the boys who were taking their turns. Who run the world, indeed.

And The Other Weird Thing…

From the Eisbach, we went further into the park, in search of the other weird going on. You see, Germans are quite comfortable with the human form. And as such, they’re reaaaally comfortable with nudity.

Thus, you can sunbathe naked in Englischer Garten. Technically, there are a few spots where it’s okay, which are marked by signs. But I doubt anyone’s getting arrested if they did so outside those areas, they’d probably just be politely asked to move to the designated areas.

No one was out and about when we walked through. And, we didn’t make like the locals ourselves. We prefer to do our streaking in places that frown upon it, like Brazil, thank you very much.

Beautiful and Walkable

Obviously, we spent a lot of time walking in the English Garden. But we walked a ton in the rest of the city too. Munich, like much of Western Europe, is incredibly walkable–ample sidewalks, cars that pay attention to pedestrians… oh, how we take this for granted. As I write this from South-East Asia… oh, how we take this for granted.

Anyway, Erika and I love to walk, and Munich is perfect for it.

On our first full day, we did a long walk, spiraling out of Marienplatz to see all the key sites. Then, we headed down Maximilianstraße, over the Isar river, to the Maximilianeum, before turning and walking back to Marienplatz. It was a ton of walking, and we weren’t done.

Walking Tour

Back at Marienplatz, we had a walking tour to take, the Sandeman’s Third Reich tour. This was one we actually paid for, as opposed to the free, tip-based ones we usually do.

Years ago, I’d taken the Sandeman’s free walking tour in Munich, and it was great, so we went with them this time. It also began a streak of us taking a ton of Sandeman’s tours.

Our guide, Chris, was excellent. Full of information, and interesting pictures on the iPad he brought with him, he told the story of Hitler’s time in Munich, rising to the head of the Nazi party, and eventually all of Germany. A lot of this is touched on in Sandeman’s free walking tour, but the Third Reich tour is, obviously, a lot more focused on this subject. No stops at the Glockenspiel, is what I’m saying.

We were having a great time… then a thunderstorm rolled in. And poured, epically, chasing our tour group into cover. We waited it out a long time, and our guide decided to keep going once it had slowed. But it was still raining a good bit, and Erika and I didn’t have our umbrellas. So, next to a metro station, we sadly decided to ghost the rest of the tour, taking off down the stairs and back to our apartment. We’re sorry Chris!

Yoga

Munich is where we also finally tried to start getting serious about not being fat and out-of-shape. So, we started a daily yoga routine. Well, almost every day. Okay a couple times a week.

It’s come and gone. At first, we were very good! Then we’d get very bad. But then we’d get good again! As I write this, we’re currently transitioning back from very bad to good. So, go us!

What’s Next?

The years and the travel experiences that have gone by since I was last in Munich did indeed change my feeling on the city. But, it’s mainly made my love of the city deeper and more sure. Coming back, I saw that Munich is, indeed, special. It’s unique, and stands out as such from other cities in Western Europe and around the world.

It was sad to spend so few days there this time, but we’ll be back. In the meantime, this crazy European whirlwind rolls on, taking us to Berlin, capital of Germany and our last stop in that country. I hope you enjoyed our Munich travel story, keep an eye out for Berlin soon!