Recently I recognized that I never wrote a blogpost about Munich, which surprised me a lot since I would describe Munich as a city where I spend a lot of time. With my dad working  an average of three days per week there, going to Munich on days-off is always an opportunity. Furthermore, in my opinion the capital of Bavaria is always a good idea. Cute shopes and cafés, but also great spots to just chill and enjoy the sun. During the summer months you will spot a lot of students sitting for example in the “Englischer Garten” having a picknick or laying in the sun, tanning and enjoying their semester break. But on the other hand, I also love Munich, since there are so many aspects to the city, the students and the vibes they are bringing into the city and next to the bycicle of their grandma, you will usually find a parking Porsche or a car at this stage of value. I just love those different characters, co-exisiting within the same streets and for sure Munich will always have a special place in my heart. For this reason I have to share some tips and insiders with you that I collected over the past years. I hope there is something for everybody!

X PLACES TO BE

If you are looking for some inspiration on what you have to see when being in Munich here are my “hotspots”:

x The Jewish Museum
Even if you are not interested in visiting the exhibition the Jewish museum is always worth a visit. The building is incredible and an architectual masterpiece in my opinion. Furthermore the museum shop has a great selection of books. Not those mainstream books, but rather really nice chosen books that are unusual to find in bookstores. But if you have no empathy for architecture or books, then the cute museum café might be the reason for you to visit. I also love the are in front of the museum, as you can see on the picture above, it is very clean and light and I love the look.

x The English Garden
For me (and probably for a lot of others) this is the Hyde Park or central park of Munich. Endless possibilities to go for a run, walk or a picnic (together with the students of course) and if it is to hot it is always a good idea to have a cool “Paulaner” beer at the “Wasserturm”, whilst watching the ducks enjoying the pont. Since a lot of people call Munich their home, it is a really nice place to forget the speed and noise of the metropole.

x The Paulaner Biergarten
In my opinion the place to be for a cool beer during summer after work. Since the traditional “Biergarten” is located on a little hill, so you have a great view over the city. The traditional Paulaner beer is brewed in Munich so you can connect a great, relaxing view with a local, traditional product. Another tip is to try the “Obazda”, which is a cheese dip and in my opinion to die for, together with a freshly baked, warm pretzel and you never want to leave. Normally it is also allowed to bring your own food to the beergarden and if it is not written differently, a beergarden normally includes self-service, so do not wait for the waitress to long.

X FOOD, DRINKS AND DESSERTS

As I already told you, Munich offers some great foodspots and cafés. Here are my personal faves!

X Bite Delite
If you are a fan of healthy food this is going to be your home. The shop itself looks like freshly downloaded from Pinterest, or imported from London. The whole store is based on the take-away concept, so if you enter the store there is a wall with all healthy kinds of food you can ever imagine, from healthy salads and wraps, to porridge with mango ad raw energy balls. Furthermore you can order a marvellous selection of different kinds of lattes and smoothies and of course smoothie bowls (aka the best acai in town!). Since discovering the bite delite I never missed at least a latte when visiting Munich! Sooo good!

X Wagners Juicery
Speaking of healthy food, Wagners is also recommendable. They are quite similar to Bite Delite, but they have a bigger selection to choose from when it comes to smoothies.

X Sichtbar
Directly next to the Wagners Juicery. I was never actually in there myself, but passed it and I´ve heard some really great things about it. Including the recommendation to try the New York Cheesecake.

X Stadtcafé
Directly located opposite of the Jewish Museum, the Stadtcafé is a family favourite since years and years. They have a great selection of lunches and sandwiches and in the summer you also have the possibilities to sit in the garden in the back of the café. Furthermore they offer a great selection of cakes if you like the more homemade kind of cakes like a traditional apple pie or some cheesecake. But when visiting please make sure to at least try the Pita with eggplant, hummus and carrots, just for that my family would drive the four hours drive to Munich.

X Zen Panasia Cuisine
Best sushi ever! Even my dad loves to go there, although he usually refuses to eat sushi within Europe, because there is such a difference in quality and taste compared to Asia, but this restaurant is always brought up when discussing where to eat and normally everybody is okay with that. In my opinion it is incredible what you get for the price you pay and the interior is also worth a view. They have some sushi combos that you will never find anywhere else, for example with fried onions or mustard. It is a true explosion of taste and they have the coolest way to present sushi. Definitely a family favourite.

X Hans im Glück
Love their burgers and drink really, but my love for their sweet potato fries is endless. In my opinion they have the best vegetarian options when it comes to burgers that you can ever get. They created a menue where you do not have the feeling that they created a vegetarian option just for the sake of something to offer vegetarian, but rather because the combination sounds really good and they taste amazing. I also love the interior, since they put up a lot of birches through the restaurant and therefore you get the illusion of eating in the forest. So cute!

X SHOPPING, SHOPPING & SHOPPING

Munich offers some great spots to treat yourself. Especially Schwabing, the French quarter and the Glockenbachviertel invite you to have stroll through the streets and offer some great shops to splurge in. Just as a general recommendation, coming to specific shops the following ones are my favourites:

X H&M Home
Although it is not only Munich based, it is one of the few shops that I can actually get to, so I love having a stroll through. I love H&M Home and I love shopping online, but sometimes it is good to have the actual products in your hand. And I mean this might not be a recommendation for those of you who visit Munich for a day, but for the locals, the H&M Home has a little flower shop in the basement, which offers a great selection of flowers ata really good price range.

 X Hugendubel
My favourite bookstore when it comes to cookbooks and books that deal with topics of the economy. They have a great variation of cookbooks that you normally do not really find in store. I love to just have flick through them and in most cases, one or two make their way into my bag. The last time my mum and I left the shop with five new crime books. Some of the Hugendubels even have a little café in them, then you can just sit there, make your way through some books and have a chai latte. There are only a few things that can top that in Autumn!

WHERE TO STAY!

I have to admit that the amount of hotels I tried in Munich is limited, since we usually stick to the same one or just spend the day in Munich without staying over.

X Holiday Inn Munich City Centre
The usual choice! The Holiday Inn is located only 15 minutes from the inner city, 5 minutes from the French quarter, 8 minutes from the Paulaner Garden and 10 minutes by feet from Haidhausen, which is a very nice district when going out for dinner. So the location is perfect. Furthermore it is also located on a hill and if you stay in the toprooms you have a stunning view over the city. You can read a detailed description and review here

X Motel One 
An all-time favourite of mine, regardless of the city!

 

I think all in all those are my favourites! If I discover some new favourite places I will update you of course!