Having changed planes in Munich several times, but never having seen the city, I decided to spend my recent birthday there. There are direct flights from Manchester taking about 2 hours, and the airport there is well connected to the city by the S1 and S8 trains.
If you buy and download the transport pass, available online, and validate it on landing, you can include the ride from and to the airport. The pass includes the S-Bahn, U-Bahn, trams, and buses, and there’s an option to upgrade it to the city pass where museums are included too.
A bit of early research indicated that November 1st, All Saints’ Day, is observed in Germany and thus things were even quieter than usual on the Sunday. That didn’t hugely affect things as the bars and restaurants did open, although sitting outside on the terraces wasn’t an option as it was just too cold. It was the reason I didn’t upgrade to the city pass as it wouldn’t have been worth it.
Ahead of travel I searched for bars and discovered that there is literally something for everyone but preferring the lighter side of life I found Kr@ftwerk, Edelheiss, and Nil bars looked promising and they are all within easy walking distance of each other.
The Transport Museum is well worth a visit as are the English Gardens, where there are several nudist areas, but modesty (coupled with the temperature) ruled out stripping off. In summer, if you’re feeling brave, it’s possible to go rafting on the Isar. I might try that next time. There are some very high-end shops in the Old Town. Manufactum is well worth a visit, as is Dallmayr next door. If you like traditional Bavarian food offerings, try Haxenbauer, where the speciality is Schweinhaxe:
But back to the bars…
Start at Kr@ftwerk (Thalkirchner Str. 4). Use exit E at Sendlinger Tor U-Bahn station. They don’t have a website, but it’s a very short walk. Drinks are extremely generous, and if you have a robust constitution, they serve Long Island Iced Tea by the Maß:
Food is just as generous and I had turkey Schnitzel. Enormous:
They also pour a very good G&T.
Next off was Edelheiss at Pestalozzistraße 6. Again, no website, but it’s a 2-minute walk, if that, from Kr@ftwerk. A nice, friendly crowd and buzzing without being deafened. They also pour a mean G&T.
Finally Nil Bar at Hans-Sachs-Straße 2, another short walk. A great place where there’s a huge central bar you can sit at. It was quite a mature crowd when I was there, but I was told the volume increases later on.
The Saturday (Halloween) being my birthday, I confess that after a few G&Ts I wasn’t steady enough to make it back to the hotel by public transport, but Uber came to the rescue and deposited me safely.
All in all, I had a great time, and I’ll certainly return.
Paul Schofield for Canal Street Media.
For help planning such a trip speak to our travel guru GARY MANNERS