Munich in May
 

I will be traveling to Europe for the first time spending 3 days in Munich in May. Any suggestions on good places to eat and where to visit? I appreciate all your help.:)

What a wonderful time to go to Munich. You will no doubt be able to enjoy the many outdoor cafes due to the nice weather. Not too hot, not too cold.

I'm going to defer to the experts on the restaurant ideas. I like the Augustinerhaus (brauhaus) personally, but you can get any type of food you like in Munich. Try a Doener Kebap if you've never been to Europe. It is the Turkish answer to fast food, and there are Doener stands everywhere. Any of the cafes around Marienplatz are nice.

To visit, in Munich, the Deutches Museum is good for a rainy day (Isartor stop on the U-bahn). It is enormous, and is a technical museum similar to the Franklin Institute in Philadelphia. You can get English language guides there. A short train ride to Dachau is a sobering experience, but certainly a worthy spot. There are several art and heritage museums in Munich, but I think the Alte Pinakothek is probably the most popular.

Further afield, you can take a train or car to the town of Bad Tolz. There is a very pretty town plaza there, and a pretty riverwalk (it is a little distance from the train station, though). Garmisch is the picture perfect little Bavarian town, although very touristy.

Three days will keep you busy. And Munich in May is a great time. Some more details on preferences and budget would help. Feel free to PM me.

So much to do in Munich:
- visit the Englischer Garten (Munich's version of NY's Central Park); stop in at one of several Biergartens for lunch or some libation;
- Museums, museums, museums,
- A walk along the Isar;
- Sightseeing - Marienplatz, The Residenz, Pedestrian zone (Kaufinger Str., Neuhauser Str., Sendlinger Str., Schwabing)
- Tierpark Hellabrunn - Munich's zoo is awesome
- Outdoor fairs are held 3x a year. The Maidult takes place from 4/28/07 - 5/6/07 at Mariahilfplatz.
- Many towns/cities (Garmisch, Salzburg, Nuernberg) are short train rides outside of Munich.
Visit the Tourist Information office located in the Neues Rathaus (New townhall) at the Marienplatz.
Enjoy! Have a beer for me.

I'd seriously consider taking a day trip to Neuschwanstein and Linderhof, two of the castles (well technically Linderhof is a "hunting lodge") of King Ludwig. The trips cost about $60 and are an all day affair in a bus with a guide etc. I would do it on your own if you could but the tour group option is not all that bad. Especially Neuschwanstein is very pretty and a site to see. Total trip time is about 8-9 hours and there are a variety of tour operators that run them.

Check out Mike's Bike Tours. Its a inner city bike tour of the city............priced fair and very entertaining.

Its a great and easy way to get a overview of the city.

May is one of the best possible month in Munich. Hit one of the beergardens to cool down after a long day in such a great city and enjoy a lovely beer...

They are all beautiful...

I envy you... Have fun ^

On one day you can visit a lot of "Biergarten" (beer gardens).

The beer garden at the Chinesischer Turm (Chinese Tower/Pagoda) in the Englisher Garten is a particularly nice one to visit, I've found. There's also one in the Viktualien Markt right in the heart of the old city that can be especially nice for people watching.

In the city you can also visit Schloss Nymphenburg - a pretty & easily accessible palace and be sure to wander the grounds, as there are some neat hidden treasures (eg.the bath house that has an amazing tub - room-size, if I recall correctly). Schloss Schleissheim is another palace that is very near Munich, but in the suburbs a bit -- it is easily accessible via S-Bahn. These palaces are convenient, but Ludwig's castles that someone else mentioned really are the fairly obligatory ones. I would also add Herrenchiemsee to the earlier list - and it is off in the same direction from Munich as Neuschwanstein and Linderhof.

Have fun! Munich is one of my favorite cities and, as others have said, May is a great month.

Eat bretzeln and bread, no place else than Bavaria where you'll find better baked goods. Try some "Weisswürste" and a "Obatzen" and of course the bavarian beer, in Munich you'll mainly find "Helles" and "Weissbier".

And on flying back from MUC you should visit the LH SEN lounge and eat the "Leberkäs" there.

You have to go to the Hofbrauhaus(sp?). It is very touristy, but worth it. The food isn't bad either. Most of the eateries in the marienplatz are at least decent. Also, I don't know about your proclivity towards alcohol, but I believe that weissbiers are some of the best beers in the world. You can't swing a cat in Munich without finding a place that has numerous kinds of weissbier.

I would also recommend against going to Neuschwanstein, with only 3 days in Munich. The castle tour itself is a waste of time, as it is only about 20 minutes long, which isn't necessarily the government's fault, as the castle is only 1/3 finished. However, if you feel compelled to visit the castle, I would recommend walking up the road to the castle, instead of taking the back way up the mountain. Also, if you do visit, make sure you walk up to the scenic bridge overlooking the castle. The view is unbelievable and it is impossible not to take a good picture of the castle from here. This, in fact, is the best part about visiting Neuschwanstein. The views are amazing. I don't know if it would be enough to spend an entire day on though, as you'll be spending about 6 hours on the train and several hours on-site. It is all of a daytrip.

I found Dachau very moving. It may not be the most profound concentration camp experience in Europe, but the fact that it is very well preserved makes the trip very memorable. It is a half-day trip from Munich and I would recommend Radius tours. Our guide was very knowledgeable and they take care of transportation.

Hope this helps.