As a launching point for an adventure on Germany’s romantic road (Romantische Straße), travel to the historic heart of Bavaria. Visiting in the early summer (May/June) without the crowds of autumn’s Oktoberfest celebration felt like an excellent time to get a taste of the city like a local, while enjoying the early summer’s cooler weather and a crisp beer at one of the city’s many beer gardens.
Where to Stay:
Elevated clean, quiet, and modern hostel that would be the perfect location for a trip during Oktoberfest, as it’s right on the edge of the main Oktoberfest park. We opted to stay here in the summer as well and enjoyed that it was outside of the bustle of the city center. We felt safe walking to and from the center of town during the day and evening, averaging about a 20 minute walk. Traveling with a group? They have multiple private rooms that sleep 4-8 friends or family, which makes for an extra fun sleepover.
If looking to stay closer to the center of town, with a short walkability to the main sites, this comfortable boutique hotel could be a great fit, especially if looking for an in-house fitness center and wine restaurant.
What to Do:
Arrival Day: Memorial Site Dachau Concentration Camp
There could not be a more important, poignant, or somber way to begin a visit to Munich than by taking the time to visit, reflect, and remember the atrocities carried out at the outskirts of town during the reign of Nazi Germany. We opted to rent a car and drive directly to the memorial site, with ample free parking on-site, as opposed to joining a guided tour which would have involved a train/bus transport. Entrance is free to all Holocaust memorial sites in Germany, including for the audio guide, and we opted to self-guide our tour around the grounds and the museum. We spent around 4 hours here on our arrival day. A must visit to honor the lives lost and remember the darkest parts of human history that we must never repeat. Open from 9-5 every day of the year, aside from Christmas Eve.
” I am grateful that I survived to be able to tell people what Nazi Germany did, not only to my family, but to the world. We must make sure that it never happens again. This is the message which I want the world to remember: never again” – Dachau survivor, Max Steinmetz.
Arrival Afternoon / Early PM: Walk around Historic Old Town + Hofbräu House
In the afternoon / early evening of arrival day, map to the city center and walk around the historic old town. Cobblestone streets, shopping, the iconic ‘Rathaus’ city hall as the anchor of town, and endless options for restaurants and grabbing a pint. Visit the iconic Hofbrau house for a pint of one of the classic Oktoberfest beers, enjoy a live polka band, and buy a pretzel or gingerbread from one of the beer maiden’s picnic baskets for 5 Euro. Hofbräu house also serves classic German fare. You cannot book reservations for the classic beer hall in advance, but community seating via picnic tables makes it easy to snag a table and make friends with your neighbors.
For dinner, check out Weinhaus Neuner, a Bavarian & Austrian fine dining restaurant in the setting of a 15th century townhouse. Book ahead on OpenTable.
Day 2: City Exploring + Beer Gardens + Markets
No better way to see this expansive city than by a low-impact bike tour, especially when hosted by Fat Tire. Their tour guides are passionate, informative, approachable, and someone you feel you could have a beer with – and you will, at the beer garden for lunch! There is minimal riding time on any of the busy roads, with the majority of the time spent biking through beautiful green parks, along the rivers, or the sidewalks near main sites. Fat Tire offers different iterations of tours around Munich, such as those focused around drinking and food, but we enjoyed the classic daytime City Bike Tour, which stopped at all the major sites, squares, and parks. One of the highlights was stopping in a traditional German beer garden for an extended lunch of classic Bavarian currywurst, frites, and pints of beer and seeing the river wave surfers at Eisbach. After the tour, our guide recommended another classic beer garden where we went to relax and spend the rest of the afternoon (see next recommendation!).
Located a short-walk from the endpoint of Fat Tire Bike tours, head to Augustiner-Keller for what was our most iconic, memorable experience of visiting Bavaria – a classic outdoor beer garden founded in the 1800s. The servers were much nicer + more accommodating here than at Hofbrau Haus, and the food was exceptional. We asked our server to take us on a Bavarian culinary journey and he hand selected multiple courses for us, paired with drinks and stories along our visit. Before we knew it, we had made new lifelong friends with our server, the Australian couple next to us, and had spent 6 hours at the garden!
Victuals Market (Viktualienmarkt)
Our Fat Tire bike tour guide recommended a stop by this market, for grab and go snacks + treats for a picnic dinner. Sprawling 200-year-old market with over 100 stalls to get lost in, and wind down the day with the city’s locals. Unfortunately, we were having so much fun at the Augustiner-Keller beer garden that we missed our window to hit this market, but will be on our list when we come back!
Next up, rent a car from the Munich airport and head to Fussen for the first town on the Romantic Road (Romantische Straße) for an idyllic drive through the Bavarian country side.
Traveling KT 