Munich – My first tryst with Europe

I always wanted to travel to European region for I had seen so many beautiful pictures of this place and wanted to see it for myself if it really was so beautiful. I got lucky in 2016 when this dream came true for me, I had to travel to Munich for work purpose. Having an urge to travel and with help of an excellent onsite team I made sure that I experience as much as possible. I had a never ending list of places I wished to see, however I just had 2 weekends and obviously I couldn’t cover all of it. However I decided that I better see & experience places that are nearby or in Munich itself rather than traveling around. There are lot of beautiful places that you can travel from Munich like Berlin, Switzerland, Prague, Budapest, Austria and so on…but…there is always a next time ;).

On this trip I mostly travelled with my Boss (in his car) and that’s the reason I couldn’t really explore the local travel options much. However with this blog I wish to inform you about the must visit places in and around Munich and the pictures will help you prioritize your trip accordingly. I travelled in June-July which is summer in EU and hence was blessed with long days. It was really a very different experience to see Sun in the sky till 10 pm, I was amazed.

I had our team dinner on very second day and Paul was kind enough to take us to Allianz Arena post dinner so that we could see the world famous stadium glowing red in dark. I am not a football fan however I know this place is one of the dream stadiums for the fans. The arena was beautiful and I secretly wished I get to step in the stadium to see its beauty in full glory.

I was staying in Dornach in Munich and would often walk down 2 km to reach Riem Arcaden which is a shopping arcade in Riem region. The walk was beautiful and plus Riem arcaden had good dinner options 😉

I was fortunate enough to visit our company’s warehouse in Straubing which is around 140 km away from Munich. Straubing is a beautiful countryside and this was my first happy experience with European countryside.

On first Saturday I decided to experience few of the landmarks of Munich. I started with Marienplatz which is the city center. I took a train(S Bahn) from Riem to Marienplatz station. Marienplatz is lined with stores and restaurants throughout. This is one of the best places if you intend to buy souvenirs. Once here, you can’t miss to see the very dominating city hall (Neues Rathaus). It was a wonderful experience to climb up the tower at St. Peter’s church which has an observation deck at the top. One must climb approx 300 steps on narrow wooden stair to reach this observation deck. It had an entrance fee of approximately 4 Euros, I highly recommend this.

Later I walked to the Viktualienmarkt (victuals market / a farmers’ market) which is the very famous open market in Munich. It’s a couple of minutes walk from the Marienplatz. Viktualienmarkt is a vibrant splash in the city. This place has everything, right from fresh fruits/vegetables/herbs/flowers to delicious cheeses from all over Europe. It was crowded with tourists walking around, exploring the place and the locals hanging out over drink and light munch. This is also a good option for unique souvenirs.

After exploring the local market I decided to walk down to the lung of the city, the very famous English Garden. It was around 4 km away and I chose to walk so that I could have a closer look at the streets. The best way to experience the city would ideally be a bicycle tour. I am going to do that next time I visit Munich. While on my way to English garden, I stopped over at Munich Residenz and Hofgarten. This city was so beautiful and green all over that I could have easily walked whole day here.

The Englischer Garten (English Garden) is one of the largest urban parks of the world. It has an area of 3.7 km2. English garden is the lung of the city with dense green cover and water stream flowing through it, it’s hard to realize that you are still in the middle of the city.

There was something that surprised me even more while in the English garden. Munich has no sea but that doesn’t really anchor the spirit of the surfers there, There was a place in English garden referred to as Eisbach which has a surfing place. Surfers lined up on either side of the bank and jumped in with their boards surfing for a minute or so before they were brought down by the wave or voluntarily took a dip. This was one such moment that got imprinted in my head and I stood in awe gazing at these athletes perform.

I was almost tired and decided to retreat for the day. For Sunday was going to be something special.

On Sunday, My boss was going to take me to visit lake Chiemsee which is around 100 km away from Munich. The drive was beautiful, lined by green blankets on both the side of the roads.

Chiemsee  is a freshwater lake in Bavaria and is often referred to as Bavarian sea. There are three main islands on the lake: Herreninsel (gentlemen’s island), Frauenchiemsee (ladies’ island) & Krautinsel. Herreninsel has a palace built by King Ludwig II in 1878 called Herrenchiemsee.

We went first to the biggest island – Herreninsel.

Later we decided to go to the other island – Frauenchiemsee.

This was undoubtedly one of the best day in Munich all thanks to Thomas. If it wouldn’t have been him, I would have missed this beautiful place.

One of the two weekends was over and I had already done quite some sightseeing for a business trip ;). I still had another weekend before I returned but guess what, we decided to have an outdoor team bonding event to the highest peak of Germany – The Zugspitze (2,962 m /9,718 ft above sea level). The Zugspitze belongs to the Wetterstein range of the Northern Limestone Alps. It lies south of the town of Garmisch-Partenkirchen, and the border between Germany and Austria runs over its western summit. On the foothills lie the very beautiful lake Eibsee.

On the way back from Zugspitze we decided to pass via the famous Neuschwanstein castle (New Swanstone Castle). It was around 50 km from Zugspitze and was a good idea since otherwise visiting the Neuschwanstein would consume whole day. It is a nineteenth-century Romanesque Revival palace on a rugged hill above the village of Hohenschwangau near Füssen in southwest Bavaria, Germany. It was built by Ludwig II.

Due to time constraint we couldn’t really go inside the castle, we just passed by having a good look at the castle and nearby alps.

On second weekend Christopher took me around the remaining places of Munich like BMW museum, BMW world, Olympic tower and guess where… Inside tour to Allianz arena. Wishes do come true ;).

On my very last day which was a Sunday, I decided to travel to fewer places so that I have enough time to prepare for my return trip. Marcus took us around less touristy but important landmarks in Munich like A beer garden, Theresienwiese (which serves an official ground for Oktoberfest. The tents for the fest were already in progress) & The Siegestor on the Leopoldstrasse. Marcus also made sure that I strike out my last one from the wishlist, having a steak in some good restaurant. We went to Kapitales vom rind which is regarded as one of the best steak restaurants in Munich.

Epilogue

Munich is undoubtedly one beautiful city which packs in modern culture with its beautiful history. It has beautiful architecture, the typical European architecture. It preserves its environment and greenery and that what makes it popular with tourists around the world. Despite of this being a work trip, I enjoyed it to the core. I can’t thank enough the team there, they have been an excellent host. Looking forward to another stroke of luck 😉

Resource:

city map