Travel . Lifestyle . Dining

Search

Germany - 3 day Munich itinerary + Day Trip to Neuschwanstein Castle


things to do in munich

After our amazing trip to Salzburg, we continued our journey back to Munich, Germany. Munich aka München is the capital and city of Bavaria, the second most populous German Federal State and the third largest city in Germany.

Munich also plays a huge role during WW2. Almost 80% of Munich’s building is destroyed and everything had to be rebuilt. Munich is also the place where Adolf Hilter and his supporter gathered. The place where he rises and fall. On top of spending 2 full days in Munich, we took a day trip to Neuschwanstein Castle.


Summary
Day1: Victuals Market- Cafe Frischhut- Marienplatz - Munich Residenz- Treasury of Munich Residence  – Lunch at Hofbräuhaus München – Explore Old Town - Dinner at VI VADI Cucina Italiana
Day 2: Deutsches Museum – English Garden - Mustafa's Gemüse Kebap – NS-Dokumentationszentrum Munchen - Dinner at Augustinian Brew
Day 3: Day Trip to Neuschwanstein Castle
Day 4: Munich – Paris

Victuals Market
Munich tinerary
munich itinerary
munich itinerary
First order of business in Munich is to visit Victuals Market, a food market in the centre of Munich. From locally produced to street food, you can find everything you need to prepare a sumptuous meal. However, I noticed that there are not many locals in this market. I’m guessing that this is more for the tourist than local. Nonetheless, it is still a nice place to start your day.

Cafe Frischhut
munich itinerary, where to eat in munich
munich itinerary , where to eat in munich
Instead of having our breakfast at the market, we visited Cafe Frischhut for Schmalznudel that is a few streets away. The café is an old school café and I love the simple yet cosy design. They have newspaper hanged just like the old school style.

Schmalznudel is a traditional German Pastry that is made of dough and tops off with sugar. We had one each and it was not enough. We went back the next day. Coffee is mediocre but we love the atmosphere and setting of the café.

When we were there, the owner was seen chatting with their customer. Although I don’t understand German, I could feel that that they maintain a really good relationship with their old and loyal customer.

Note: Takeaway is cheaper than having it in the restaurant.

Address: Prälat-Zistl-Straße 8, 80331 München, Germany
Opening hours: 8am - 6pm, Daily except for Sunday

Marienplatz
munich itinerary
munich itinerary
Then, we visited Marienplatz also known as Mary’s square. It has been Munich’s main city since 1158. This place is used by the city as offices as well as the city council. We were just in time for the first bell at 11am where the Rathaus-Glockenspiel chimes and renact the stories from the 16th century.

Tip: There is a clock show at 11am, at 12 pm every day.

Munich Residenz
munich itinerary
munich itinerary
The Residenz is the former royal palace of the Wittelsbach monarch of Bavaria. The palace is also the largest city palace in Germany. Sadly, the room is not in its original state because it was destroyed during WW2. Nonetheless, spending almost 2hours in the Residenz did open our eyes to the royal homes.

There are three parts of the Residenz and a total of 130 rooms. Each room is beautifully decorated and is very grand. During the early days, the palace isn’t built with so many rooms. It was then reconstructed to smaller rooms so that everyone had their private room.

Treasury of Munich Residence
munich itinerary
Next to the Residenz, was the Treasury of Munich Residence. There were 10 parts of the room and each room houses the unique and beautiful jewellery from the Whittelbach’s dynasty. There were royal crowns, crystal, ivory piece and etc. The collection is indeed very impressive.

Address: Residenzstraße 1, 80333 München, Germany
Opening Hour: 9 am - 6 pm, Daily 
10 am - 5 pm, Daily 
Combined Tickets - Residence Museum + Treasury 11 euros regular · 9 euros reduced
Individual Tickets - 7 euro regular, 6 euro reduced 

More information on the Museum here

Hofbräuhaus München
munich itinerary
munich itinerary
munich itinerary
munich itinerary
Feeling hungry after our visit to the Residenz and Treasury, we head over to Hofbräuhaus for a late lunch. I was very excited about the pork knuckle since I tried it in Berlin in 2016. Unfortunately, the pork knuckle was a disappointment.

The cut of the meat was terrible and only a small piece of crispy skin was served. Next was suckling pig. We were served with thick fatty meat and the gravy that came with it was very salty. Seriously?

No doubt the service was good but the quality of food is bad. Probably worse than the ones I had in Singapore. Was it our luck or the standard has always been like that? Feeling disappointed with the Pork knuckle, we left hoping to find a better pork knuckle the next day.


Explore Munich Old Town
munich itinerary
Afterwards, we visited Munich Old Town. There were many international brands in the Old Town. From luxury brand to high street fashion, there is something for everyone. Even though it was spring, the weather was cold. We had to grab a few thick jackets for the rest of the trip.

VI VADI Cucina Italiana
munich itinerary
munich itinerary
Feeling disappointed with the pork knuckle, we decide to have Italian food for dinner. The restaurant is located in the hotel and was recommended to us by the reception. Plus, looking at the high review on google, we decide to give it a try. To be honest, it’s not the best pizza we had but it was good! Margherita Pizza going for 7.90 euro and Mushroom Risotto for 13.90 euro. It was worth it.

Found the online menu here.

Address: Marsstraße 6-10, 80335 München, Germany
Opening Hours: 1130 am - 11pm , Daily except Sunday 


Day 2 : Deutsches Museum – English Garden - Mustafa's Gemüse Kebap – NS-Dokumentationszentrum Munchen - Dinner at Augustinian Brew

Deutsches Museum
munich itinerary
After grabbing the Schmalznudel from Cafe Frischhut, we visited the biggest science museum in Europe - Deutsches Museum. The museum is home of many artefacts. From ship to the submarine, it is very impressive. I like the exhibit on mining but there is limited information in English. Sadly, most of the text is in German and there isn’t any audio guide for rent. We didn’t spend a long time in the museum because it’s mainly in German and we are not the science kind of people. Nonetheless, this place is definitely for the science geek or children!

Address: Museumsinsel 1, 80538 München, Germany
Opening Hours: 9am – 5pm

Englischer Garten aka English Garden
munich itinerary
munich itinerary
Englischer Garten
Located near the museum is the English garden. The garden is the largest garden in the world. From Japanese Tea House to the beer garden, it is huge! You can even find a surf spot and it’s free! We pop by to see if anyone was surfing and was lucky to see some!

Lunch at Gemüse Kebap
After the long morning, we stop by Gemüse Kebap for Doners & Kebap! Many reviews said that they serve the best in Munich so we had to give it a try. Before we got ours, we were already very excited because it looks so yummy! After queuing for 20 minutes, it’s finally our turn. The Doner is HUGE with filling and sauce overflowing. It’s so good! Delicious but tricky to eat! If you want something less messy, order the Kebap! It’s equally good and easy to eat! Love it!

Address:  21-24 Stachus, 80335 München, Germany
Opening Hour: 11pm – 10pm (Monday – Thursday) , 11am – 2am ( Friday – Sunday)

NS-Dokumentationszentrum Munchen
Afterwards, we visited NS-Dokumentationszentrum Munchen because it’s one of the museums that closes late. The three-level museum is very informative, especially with an audio guide. It focuses a lot on the history and timeline of the Nazi Regime as well as the key player. There were stories shared by different individuals, pictures and videos. You need at least 3 hours to complete the museum.

Address: Max-Mannheimer-Platz 1, 80333 München, Germany
Opening Hour:10am – 7pm, Daily
Single ticket: 5 Euro (for a single visit)/ Free entrance till September 2019

Augustiner-Keller
After the disappointing meal at Hofbräuhaus, we decide to visit Augustinian hoping for a better meal. The beer garden is huge and very pack when we arrived. Thankfully we got our seats! Beer was great! We ordered a little of everything to try and thankfully it was good! The pork knuckle is crispy and the meat was very flavourful. Suckling pig was not too fatty and the meat was tender. Overall, we had a great time there!

Address:  Arnulfstraße 52, 80335 München, Germany
Opening hour: 11:30 am – 12mn, Daily

Day 3: Day Trip to Neuschwanstein Castle
Neuschwanstein Castle
Neuschwanstein Castle
Neuschwanstein Castle
On our third day in Munich, we took a day trip to Neuschwanstein Castle. We were a little hesitant for the day trip because the journey there is 3 hours per way and we didn’t book our castle tour ticket in advance. & the only way to tour the inside of the castle is with their official tour. In the end, we still went ahead because the castle is a little hard for a peasant like us to resist. After all, this is the castle that inspires Disney on the castle that Sleeping Beauty lives in.

Fortunately, when we arrive in the afternoon, there are still tickets for sale! Instead of visiting all 3 attractions, we visited 2 - Neuschwanstein Castle & Museum.

Highly recommend anyone visiting the castle to visit the museum first! The museum is very informative and you can understand the background and history of the royal family before visiting. Even if you are not visiting the museum, do head over to the lake! It’s beautiful there!

Then, we head over to Neuschwanstein Castle. Even though the tour is 20 minutes, it was amazing! Although some part of the castle is still under restoration, we still get to see the original setting of the rooms in the palace.
In the late afternoon, we left and catch the bus back to Munich City. When we arrived, it was close to 9pm. We have Currywurst for dinner and head back to rest.

Other places to visit in Munich

Dachau Concentration Camp Memorial Site
Dachau Concentration Camp Memorial Site
image source: Wikimedia
Dachau Concentration Camp is the first concentration camp that was created during WW2. A trip to the camp will allow one to learn more about the history and the things prisoners had to go through. With an interactive exhibition and biographies, I believe it will be a very informative one. 

We were deciding between the concentration camp memorial site or a day trip to Neuschwanstein Castle. We ended up visiting the second one. Dachau Concentration Camp Memorial Site will be on our list if we were to visit Munich next time!

Nymphenburg Palace
Nymphenburg Palace
Image source: Wikimedia
Nymphenburg Palace came up to our list when we were researching our trip to Neuschwanstein Castle. Some even suggesting that the palace is better and more worth it than the trip to Neuschwanstein Castle (only 20-minute tour)

We were very curious about what this palace offers so we dig a little and found out that it was used as a summer residence the heir, Max Emanuel. With a main museum and stable, the palace is huge. One could probably spend at least half of your day there Unfortunately, time isn’t on our side and we had to give it a miss.

Olympia Park
Olympia Park
Image source: Wikimedia
Olympiapark is the home to summer Olympics in 1972. The park is huge and there is even a huge observation deck that oversees the panoramic view of the city. Also, facilities in the Olympia park is open to the public and one can book the hall for personal training

You can find out more information on Munich Olympia Park here 

BMW Museum
BMW Museum
Image Source: Wikimedia
Anyone who is a huge fan of BMW will not miss this museum while in Munich. This museum was built in 1973 with the Summer Olympics. The museum showcases the product and history of BMW vehicles. Plus, there is even a factory tour to show you how the automobile is built. Definitely, a must go for any car enthusiast.

Address: Am Olympiapark 2, 80809 München, Germany
Opening Hour: 10am – 6pm, Daily except for Monday

Ticket prices:  
Individual: 13.00 EUR / discounted* 10.00 EUR
Group: 190.00 EUR / discounted* 150.00 EUR
Family: 29.00 EUR (for parents with their own children)
Cooperation partner: 11.00 EUR

You can find out more information on BMW museum here
Although we didn't spend a lot of time in Munich,  H & I didn't regret coming here. We may not have tried the best pork knuckle but we did learn a lot more on history. Plus, there are so many places that we didn't visit. After our visit to Salzburg & Munich, we continued our trip to Paris! It seems like 2 weeks in Europe isn't enough! 

Hope this helps! Any question? Feel free to ask at the comment below! Like this post? Feel free to share it with your family and friends!

2 comments

  1. Saw your link for trip report on TripAdvisor. Thank you for your write up and we will bypass Haufbrau for the Pork Knuckle. One of my reasons to go to Munich was to sample the beer and food.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. You are welcome! We love the beer at Haufbrau but the Pork Knuckle was a disappointment! Maybe we are out of luck! :( Oh do not forget to try Gemüse Kebap for Doners & Kebap and Schmalznudel at Cafe Frischhut! These 2 are our fav when we visited Munich!

      Delete

Note: only a member of this blog may post a comment.