Munich & Berlin - what to see/do/avoid?
Discussion
We've booked 3 nights in Munich then taking the train to Berlin for 4 nights - end of this month.
Didn't do much research prior to going, just wanted to get away for a week, looked at where we could fly direct from Edinburgh to, don't find much interest in sun holidays, and have never been to Germany.
What should we definitely see, do, and avoid?
Happy to walk for miles, use trains/buses etc where necessary, but don't really like doing things or visiting places that are pointless just because everyone else does it (looking at you Times Square, NYC...), so what would you recommend? Couldn't find any recent threads.
Didn't do much research prior to going, just wanted to get away for a week, looked at where we could fly direct from Edinburgh to, don't find much interest in sun holidays, and have never been to Germany.
What should we definitely see, do, and avoid?
Happy to walk for miles, use trains/buses etc where necessary, but don't really like doing things or visiting places that are pointless just because everyone else does it (looking at you Times Square, NYC...), so what would you recommend? Couldn't find any recent threads.
Went to Munich for 2 nights summer 2022
Definitely Nymphenburg Palace, catch a tram from city centre main railway station (Haupbahnhof)
The market square Marienplatz in the old town (Altstadt)
Plenty of places to eat with good german beer.
There is apparently a BMW museum if you are into that sort of thing. As a Mercedes owner I didn't go there!
Never been to Berlin, looks interesting.
On your train to Berlin it appears to go via Nuremburg, we spent a couple of hours wandering around there found it interesting, but do your research
Definitely Nymphenburg Palace, catch a tram from city centre main railway station (Haupbahnhof)
The market square Marienplatz in the old town (Altstadt)
Plenty of places to eat with good german beer.
There is apparently a BMW museum if you are into that sort of thing. As a Mercedes owner I didn't go there!
Never been to Berlin, looks interesting.
On your train to Berlin it appears to go via Nuremburg, we spent a couple of hours wandering around there found it interesting, but do your research
I've only been to Berlin and the couple of things that stand out were the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe as well as going up the dome of the Reichstag.
The Zoo was very good although we were there 10 years ago so animals and exhibits will likely have changed.
I hadn't even realised we were at the Brandenburg Gate as seemed much smaller than it looked on news reports I'd watched over the years. I'm aware of how Karl Pilkington that sounds.
I don't recall it being overly touristy but we were there in winter. Museum Island was probably the busiest bit but was nice just to walk about - we didn't go in to any of them.
We'd do the same as you, see what city Ryanair or easyJet were flying. I'd recommend Brussels and Lisbon for any future forays if you've not been.
The Zoo was very good although we were there 10 years ago so animals and exhibits will likely have changed.
I hadn't even realised we were at the Brandenburg Gate as seemed much smaller than it looked on news reports I'd watched over the years. I'm aware of how Karl Pilkington that sounds.
I don't recall it being overly touristy but we were there in winter. Museum Island was probably the busiest bit but was nice just to walk about - we didn't go in to any of them.
We'd do the same as you, see what city Ryanair or easyJet were flying. I'd recommend Brussels and Lisbon for any future forays if you've not been.
I would spend more time in and around Munich, personally.
We were last there in May 2023 and went down to Andechs, walking up to the monastery from Hersching, which is a lovely walk.
The Olympic park and village, the BMW museum (and maybe a factory tour if you can arrange it) are all worth a look.
Just walking around the city and through the Englischer Garten can eat up a whole day easily.
Nymphenberg palace, as already mentioned, is well worth a visit too.
You could even get a train down to Garmisch Partenkirchen or to Salzburg for a day.
Visit a beer hall (many consider the Hofbrauhaus too touristy, but it does have a great atmosphere and you'll share a table with people you've never met before - I had a great night with a group of Italians in the city for a sports equipment show years ago).
There are some great restaurants in Schwabing, although have a Schnitzel somewhere, proper Bavarian food.
Wrap up warm, though, end of January could be cold (maybe even snow, if you're lucky).
I'm less familiar with Berlin, only having spent a couple of days there, years ago - The canals were full of dead rats, most of the Berlin Wall was long gone in 1995, but the zoo was quite good, if you like that sort of thing.
I seem to recall we went out of the city to a palace there, but I can't recall what it was called.
I'm told it has great nightlife, though, if that's of appeal.
M
We were last there in May 2023 and went down to Andechs, walking up to the monastery from Hersching, which is a lovely walk.
The Olympic park and village, the BMW museum (and maybe a factory tour if you can arrange it) are all worth a look.
Just walking around the city and through the Englischer Garten can eat up a whole day easily.
Nymphenberg palace, as already mentioned, is well worth a visit too.
You could even get a train down to Garmisch Partenkirchen or to Salzburg for a day.
Visit a beer hall (many consider the Hofbrauhaus too touristy, but it does have a great atmosphere and you'll share a table with people you've never met before - I had a great night with a group of Italians in the city for a sports equipment show years ago).
There are some great restaurants in Schwabing, although have a Schnitzel somewhere, proper Bavarian food.
Wrap up warm, though, end of January could be cold (maybe even snow, if you're lucky).
I'm less familiar with Berlin, only having spent a couple of days there, years ago - The canals were full of dead rats, most of the Berlin Wall was long gone in 1995, but the zoo was quite good, if you like that sort of thing.
I seem to recall we went out of the city to a palace there, but I can't recall what it was called.
I'm told it has great nightlife, though, if that's of appeal.
M
Guyr said:
Ex Munich resident here - museum as above is my number 1. It’s amazing. Also Dachau - not far.I enjoyed classic remise in Berlin.
https://remise.de/berlin/short-facts/englisch
The Classic Remise Berlin, a center for vintage cars, was opened in 2003 in a historic tram depot, originally built in imperial times, construction starting in 1899. Some architectural changes to the building were made in the 1920s. There were limited damages in the war, the places where firebombs damaged the building can still be seen on the ceiling. After the tram system was given up in then West-Berlin in the 1960s the depot did not serve any purpose and was in decay until the present owners bought it in 2002 and started to reconstruct it into a classic car center.
Now there are garages, services and dealers for classic cars, shops for spare parts, clothing, model cars, accessories and restaurants in this landmark building.
https://remise.de/berlin/short-facts/englisch
The Classic Remise Berlin, a center for vintage cars, was opened in 2003 in a historic tram depot, originally built in imperial times, construction starting in 1899. Some architectural changes to the building were made in the 1920s. There were limited damages in the war, the places where firebombs damaged the building can still be seen on the ceiling. After the tram system was given up in then West-Berlin in the 1960s the depot did not serve any purpose and was in decay until the present owners bought it in 2002 and started to reconstruct it into a classic car center.
Now there are garages, services and dealers for classic cars, shops for spare parts, clothing, model cars, accessories and restaurants in this landmark building.
We went to Berlin a few years ago and thought it was very interesting. From memory:
- WW2 related walking tour
- Cold War related cycling tour
- train ride to Potsdam and hired bikes to tour round the lakes
- TV tower
- DDR Museum
- zoo
- Soviet War Memorial in Treptower Park.
Worth a look: https://www.visitberlin.de/en
One thing we were surprised at was that many smaller cafes/shops/bars were cash only.
Took us by surprise. This was a few years ago so maybe they've caught up with contactless now.
Enjoy the trip.
- WW2 related walking tour
- Cold War related cycling tour
- train ride to Potsdam and hired bikes to tour round the lakes
- TV tower
- DDR Museum
- zoo
- Soviet War Memorial in Treptower Park.
Worth a look: https://www.visitberlin.de/en
One thing we were surprised at was that many smaller cafes/shops/bars were cash only.
Took us by surprise. This was a few years ago so maybe they've caught up with contactless now.
Enjoy the trip.
Edited by RicksAlfas on Wednesday 15th January 14:58
Agreed re Munich for the Hofbrauhaus, Marienplatz and the BMW Museum. The latter is not as big as the Mercedes museum in Stuttgart but worth a look - aim to get there by bus or tram (or Uber) as it's a bit of a way out of the centre.
Berlin has some wonderfully big statementy buildings - take a walk down Unter den Linden to the Brandenburg gate, then there's the park to explore.
Heading the other way from UdL towards Alexanderplatz is the "Museum Island" which you might find interesting. Also in that direction is the DDR Museum as mentioned, which I liked, they don't hold back from how much the city was kept behind the times. Near Museum Island/DDR you can take a river trip, which again I thought pretty good.
Berlin has some wonderfully big statementy buildings - take a walk down Unter den Linden to the Brandenburg gate, then there's the park to explore.
Heading the other way from UdL towards Alexanderplatz is the "Museum Island" which you might find interesting. Also in that direction is the DDR Museum as mentioned, which I liked, they don't hold back from how much the city was kept behind the times. Near Museum Island/DDR you can take a river trip, which again I thought pretty good.
Thanks for all of the recommendations - a few things there to look into this evening.
It's just my wife and I, but I wouldn't necessarily say it's a romantic trip - a beer hall will appeal to both of us more than a michelin-starred restaurant.
The train and accommodation are already booked between Munich and Berlin so we can't change the dates or stop off on route. Having scratched the surface of looking at what Germany has to offer, we already know that we are likely to go back and do a couple of separate trips to areas like the Black Forest, so won't venture too far away from the 2 cities we are visiting to make sure we don't overlook anything there.
It's just my wife and I, but I wouldn't necessarily say it's a romantic trip - a beer hall will appeal to both of us more than a michelin-starred restaurant.
The train and accommodation are already booked between Munich and Berlin so we can't change the dates or stop off on route. Having scratched the surface of looking at what Germany has to offer, we already know that we are likely to go back and do a couple of separate trips to areas like the Black Forest, so won't venture too far away from the 2 cities we are visiting to make sure we don't overlook anything there.
marcosgt said:
I would spend more time in and around Munich, personally.
We were last there in May 2023 and went down to Andechs, walking up to the monastery from Hersching, which is a lovely walk.
Visit a beer hall (many consider the Hofbrauhaus too touristy, but it does have a great atmosphere and you'll share a table with people you've never met before - I had a great night with a group of Italians in the city for a sports equipment show years ago).
M
I used to live there, Andechs is my favourite place but in January I would avoid.We were last there in May 2023 and went down to Andechs, walking up to the monastery from Hersching, which is a lovely walk.
Visit a beer hall (many consider the Hofbrauhaus too touristy, but it does have a great atmosphere and you'll share a table with people you've never met before - I had a great night with a group of Italians in the city for a sports equipment show years ago).
M
My favourite beer kellers are both Augustiners, but at this time of year go to Augustiner Bräustuben https://www.braeustuben.de/en/premises/#bierhalle and book at table in the bierhalle for an evening.
Top tip is also to visit the Englischer Garten, the Chinese Tower might be open if you have good weather and it's always worth a quick look at the surfing.
Berlin is such a cool city - I was there before Christmas. As well as the recommendations above, try to visit Rotes Rathaus - the red house. It’s the Berlin town hall, but visitors are allowed in when the local authority isn’t meeting. Fabulous building. The city is great for food, music, clubs etc.
It's arsch-cold here right now so bring a hat.
BMW Welt and Museum are next to each other and just behind The Welt is the Olympic Village. This isn't pretty, but interesting in a self-contained village sort of way.
If you go to Nymphenburg Schloss, you could also pop into The Botanical Gardens, if you like plants.
You could also walk down the canal and hire some ice skate, because the canal will be frozen enough to skate on. Because it's cold.
There won't be any beer gardens open in The English Garden because it's cold as f
k right now..
If you walk in a spiral from Marienplatz you will hit a lot of the landmarks - Odeonsplatz, The Residenz Opera House and State Buildings, The Viktualienmarkt- open air market where you can also stand outside and eat food, if you like the cold, or next to the Viktualienmarkt is Eataly, a more modern food hall/pizzaria.
There is a separate Deutsches Museum Transport Museum Annexe, which is more scalable than the main museum.
Hofbräuhaus if you need to say you been there, otherwise plenty of Hofbräukellers - the one in Wienerplatz is OK.
BMW Welt and Museum are next to each other and just behind The Welt is the Olympic Village. This isn't pretty, but interesting in a self-contained village sort of way.
If you go to Nymphenburg Schloss, you could also pop into The Botanical Gardens, if you like plants.
You could also walk down the canal and hire some ice skate, because the canal will be frozen enough to skate on. Because it's cold.
There won't be any beer gardens open in The English Garden because it's cold as f
k right now..If you walk in a spiral from Marienplatz you will hit a lot of the landmarks - Odeonsplatz, The Residenz Opera House and State Buildings, The Viktualienmarkt- open air market where you can also stand outside and eat food, if you like the cold, or next to the Viktualienmarkt is Eataly, a more modern food hall/pizzaria.
There is a separate Deutsches Museum Transport Museum Annexe, which is more scalable than the main museum.
Hofbräuhaus if you need to say you been there, otherwise plenty of Hofbräukellers - the one in Wienerplatz is OK.
Thanks again for the many replies, lots of the suggestions are easily walkable from our hotel and apartment in each city which is useful.
Just in reply to the above, we'd rather go to the best beerhouse rather than the one every instagrammer goes to or thinks they have to visit - that's more our way of seeing places. The same applies to other attractions which is why I tend not to just visit the 10 most visited places in a City on TripAdvisor as you can miss great places and waste time in tourist traps.
As for the cold, we're Scottish, so we are used to mainly cold rain being blown in our faces sideways - so if Munich and Berlin weather is similar then we'll fit in right at home. If it's better than that - wonderful
It looks like it's colder, but probably drier - perfect.
Just in reply to the above, we'd rather go to the best beerhouse rather than the one every instagrammer goes to or thinks they have to visit - that's more our way of seeing places. The same applies to other attractions which is why I tend not to just visit the 10 most visited places in a City on TripAdvisor as you can miss great places and waste time in tourist traps.
As for the cold, we're Scottish, so we are used to mainly cold rain being blown in our faces sideways - so if Munich and Berlin weather is similar then we'll fit in right at home. If it's better than that - wonderful
It looks like it's colder, but probably drier - perfect.A corporate day a few years ago led to me taking my wife to Munich for her 60th.
We did Restaurant 181 at the top of the Olympic tower. It rotates & has fantastic views over Munich.
We also did a Hofbrauhouse. Wife was edgy at first & the food was OK but the experience was fantastic.
Another thing we did which surprised me was an organised trip to Dachau. Its a train trip from Munich. Surprised as it was Mrs TR7V8's choice.
Very interesting and atmospheric.
Pictures are here:- https://pbase.com/tr7v8/munich_08
We did Restaurant 181 at the top of the Olympic tower. It rotates & has fantastic views over Munich.
We also did a Hofbrauhouse. Wife was edgy at first & the food was OK but the experience was fantastic.
Another thing we did which surprised me was an organised trip to Dachau. Its a train trip from Munich. Surprised as it was Mrs TR7V8's choice.
Very interesting and atmospheric.
Pictures are here:- https://pbase.com/tr7v8/munich_08
We love Berlin. Some highlights:
Museum Island, and a bit further away the Natural History Museum.
The Sony Centre for the Lego Discovery centre, some nice shops and bars, and the occasional live show.
The guided tour around the old airport Templehof is amazing.
Great night life around Hackesscher Markt and Gendarmenmarkt (excuse speelinge)
Fascinating museum about the rise and fall of the 3rd Reich, the Topography of Terror.
Checkpoint Charlie and its museum.
Treat yourself to proper posh food on top of the Reichtag (government town hall) with great views from the roof. Also close to the Brandenberg Gate.
Fancy cocktails in the exclusive Hotel Adlon Kempinski.
And, and, and…
Museum Island, and a bit further away the Natural History Museum.
The Sony Centre for the Lego Discovery centre, some nice shops and bars, and the occasional live show.
The guided tour around the old airport Templehof is amazing.
Great night life around Hackesscher Markt and Gendarmenmarkt (excuse speelinge)
Fascinating museum about the rise and fall of the 3rd Reich, the Topography of Terror.
Checkpoint Charlie and its museum.
Treat yourself to proper posh food on top of the Reichtag (government town hall) with great views from the roof. Also close to the Brandenberg Gate.
Fancy cocktails in the exclusive Hotel Adlon Kempinski.
And, and, and…
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