24 hours in Munich
 

Since the other person's thread worked out so well I thought I might give it a try.

My 2 sons (9 & 12) have about 24 hours in Munich (arriving at 12N on a Sunday) and I have a few questions which I hope someone here can answer.

1) How difficult is it to get to the city center from the airport? Is it better to stay near the airport if I have a flight the next morning? We can either book an airport hotel or one downtown.

2) What can we do for a few hours in the afternoon on a Sunday? We have been to Denmark and their favorite thing there was the castles.

3) restaurants? Remember these are 2 American kids.


thanks in advance

Not to be the "UGLY AMERICAN" here, but be aware that while there is a very easy train from the airport into the city , with big signs in the airport pointing the way to the train, the kiosks used to buy the tickets on the platform are NOT IN ENGLISH--nor do they have those little Brittish flag emblem to translate, so it might help if they have a a smattering of german knowledge. (I, along with a number of other foreign travellers-- not all english/American, were pretty shocked that the instructions were only listed in german on any of the ticket machines in the airport terminal, especially given that MUC is such a big tourist destination.) This was the only major city where I found this to be an issue. Other than that minor hiccop, it is a very easy trip into the main train station, and the city itself is very easy to navigate

Trains to and from the airport are frequent (usually 6 per hour during the day, no trains between 2am-4am) and take around 45 Minutes.
If your sons enjoyed castles there are several opportunities: Nymphenburg Palace is a cute baroque royal residence, nearby Blutenburg Castle is a gothic affair, the Residenz is fine if they don't mind it being a museum, and in the suburb of Oberschleissheim there are 3 baroque palaces to visit. The English Garden might be of interest (especially in summer), as is the Hofgarten and to some extent the Olympiapark (kids usually like to get on the Olympiaturm, a high observation tower).
As for restaurants: Most will be able to serve you a decent Schnitzel dish which should work quite well for kids (in fact you will get special kid's dishes at almost every restaurant...). If all fails there are quite a number of American-style fast food chains around...

If time permitts, you may want to think about purchasing a "bayern ticket" for 27 euro. This gives unlimited access to all the regional trains in germany for a day for up to 5 people. Time permitting, and if the train schedules work out, you may want to see Ludwig's Schloss Neuschwanstein, the most famous castle in germany. Its what walt disney based his castle upon. Its Two hours South of Munich.

I specifically hit the little British Flag button on the machine inside T1 at MUC, and it worked once I had the machine responding. In other words, press a button, THEN press the UK flag. Worked fine.

JP

You might get the unique feeling you just entered a theme park west of Toyko there... ;)

They should have the new ticket machines all over the place by now (at least they were supposed to) which are multilingual throughout.

During a rainy day visit the Deutsche Museum. The German version of the Smithsonian. Great place for your boys.

Transport into the city is easy by train. Takes about 45-50 minutes. A taxi is very expansive because of the distance and you might get stuck on the autobahn especially during rush-hour.

Restaurants are no problem. 99% of the restaurants are completely smoke free. Just pick a Bavarian restaurant downtown like Augustiner, Paulaner. Just stay away from the Hofbräuhaus. This is in my eyes just a bad tourist trap.

There is also a BMW museum as well as Schloß Oberschleißheim (Wikipedia) just next to Munich (can be reached by the S-Bahn). Next to the castle is - AFAIK - a part of the Deutsche Museum.

There is also a very detailed page of the Tourist Office Munich.

Munich is a great place for a weekend day; you should get a decent rate in the city center. The gardens area is neat, not sure if you'd like Dachau or not, walking around is awesome; ie. Marienplatz. To me, a great city.

Beware....most places are closed on Sundays. So basically, you can walk around the city, go to the Englischtier Garten (largest park in Europe I believe, it has a couple of great beir gartens that even the kids might enjoy, plus authentic German food and drink of course. Most the people form the city will be there weather permitting.
Try to take Mike's bike tour. Kids will love it and you get a great overview of the city.
Have fun, I love visiting Munich, I just hate that almost everything is closed on Sundays.

hav a look ,
http://gogermany.about.com/od/greatd...munichtodo.htm

enjoy

The aviation part, to be precise - planes, etc., at an old historic airfield.


According to their website, it appear that at least the Deutsche Museum is open on Sundays (at least I hope so, as that is when I am planning to visit it next month :D).

The kids will like the BMW museum and it is right next to the Olympic Park. You can easily spend a couple hours there. It is easily accessed by the subway. You'll walk around Marinplatz and the day will be gone. Most retail stores are closed on Sunday so it is a good strolling day. You should definitly stay either near the hofbahnhof(train station) or Marinplatz for easy access to the airport. The S! or S8 are the trains to take from the airport to these areas. It is a easy city to get around.

Actually, after looking in my Frommers guide, it would appear that most museums in Munich are open on Sunday. Could someone more familiar with Munich confirm this?

Keep in mind that the BMW Mmuseum is currently closed for remodeling. Their website indicates that it will reopen in June (after our visit, d@nm!).

Museums are open Sundays. Just the BMW Museum is currently closed because of remodeling.