With the pound plummeting against the euro, Guy Dittrich reveals how to get the most out of the German city.
Hotels
Anna Hotel
The modern interior of this hotel – one of four under the local Geisel Privathotels brand – will please the style-conscious traveller, while the central location between the main train station, where the airport bus terminates, and the U-Bahn lines and tram routes of Stachus will appeal to the pragmatic. The ground-floor sushi restaurant is one of the best in town and is ideal for entertaining clients at a reasonable price. Of the 73 bedrooms, ask for one on the quieter side of the hotel overlooking a pedestrianised street. Breakfast is included, as is wifi access and the minibar. It’s also free to use the fitness facilities in the adjacent sister hotel, the Konigshof.
Schutzenstrasse 1; tel +49 8959 9940; annahotel.de
Rooms from €130
Innside Premium Hotels Parkstadt Schwabing
The Munchen Parkstadt Schwabing is an all-glass affair adjacent to the Highlight Towers, which dominate the new business park to the north of the city. A short stroll from the airport bus stop, the hotel is also near the green lung of the city, the English Garden. The glass theme continues inside the property, and the 160 guest rooms are flooded with light. There is a bar and restaurant, and three meeting rooms. Rates include breakfast, drinks from the minibar, movies, wired internet access, and use of the wellness facilities. Travellers booking more than 28 days in advance receive a €10 discount.
Mies-van-der-Rohe-Strasse 10; tel +49 8935 4080; innside.de
Rooms from €99
Sheraton Munich Westpark Hotel
The hotel is nearing the end of a complete refurbishment, and all 256 rooms have Sheraton Sweet Sleeper beds, so you can be assured of a good night’s rest. Conveniently located near the Theresienwiese, where Oktoberfest is held, the hotel is also close to the city’s western business district. Book a room on the tenth-floor Club level and get a free breakfast in the lounge, which has great views over Munich and free snacks and drinks all day. All guests benefit from the Link@Sheraton facility in the lobby. A number of computers are set up in a stylish area, ready to go, with free internet access. (Wifi/wired internet costs €17 for 24 hours in the bedrooms, although guests in Executive rooms get 12 hours free.)
Garmischerstrasse 2; tel +49 895 1960; sheraton.com/westpark
Rooms from €79
Cosmopolitan Hotel
Another Geisel Privathotels property, the Cosmopolitan is looking suitably fresh after a soft refurbishment of the public areas last year. The nearest U-Bahn station is a few minutes’ walk from the hotel, providing access to the airport, 45 minutes away, and the Munich Trade Fair Centre, 30 minutes away. Business facilities are limited but the 71 rooms have good-sized desks and furniture from Ligne Roset, and wireless internet access is free. Most rooms have bathtubs, and the Junior suites have balconies overlooking the courtyard. Included in the room rate is an extensive buffet breakfast, notable for its outstanding fresh fruit selection.
Hohenzollernstrasse 5; tel +49 8938 3810; cosmopolitanhotel.de
Rooms from €90
Hotel La Maison
Part of the gentrification of the area around Wedekindplatz, La Maison is the hotel of choice for those visiting the neighbourhood’s creative businesses. The property’s eclectic design – mouldings and bold wallpaper – extends to the canopied booths in the small restaurant next to the lounge bar. Business facilities are limited but wifi is free of charge and there are secluded areas in the lobby suitable for discreet meetings. Regular visitors can take advantage of the hotel’s free “leave and go” service, which allows you to store personal items and clothing to save you bringing them every visit.
Occamstrasse 24; tel +49 89 3303 5550; hotel-la-maison.de
Rooms from €145
Restaurants
Brenner Grill pasta bar
The beauty of Brenner lies not only in its uber-cool interiors and terrific location, just off the city’s main luxury shopping street of Maximilianstrasse, but the flexibility of its dining options. Guests can opt for coffee and brunch, a bowl of pasta or the à la carte selection of meat and fish fillets, sizzling on open fires. The grill is open Monday to Friday from midday to 2.30pm and then from 5.30pm to midnight, and on Saturdays and Sundays between midday and midnight. The pasta restaurant and bar have longer opening hours.
Maximilianstrasse 15 (in courtyard); tel +49 894 522 880; brennergrill.de
Two-course set lunch €10.50. Starters from €5.50, mains from €8.50.
Il Mulino
This favourite local Schwabing haunt, a warren of rooms across different levels, has had a recent chic facelift that has not deterred the loyal clientele. The menu is reliable and the staff are friendly, a relative rarity in Germany. Choose from a variety of Italian specialities including a delicious selection of antipasti – grilled vegetables, tomato and mozzarella, beef carpaccio and salami – moving on to homemade ravioli with sage butter. The summer terrace is always popular, so make sure you book ahead. The restaurant is open daily from 11.30am to midnight.
Gorresstrasse 1; tel +49 895 233 335; ristorante-ilmulino.de
Four-course set menu €29.50
Wirtshaus in der Au
This establishment is a modern take on the bierkeller (beer hall) and the young, enthusiastic waiting staff seem proud to be wearing their traditional costumes of lederhosen or dirndls. The best of hearty Bavarian fare is served here, along with steins of helles, the pale-coloured lager for which the city is famed. Don’t be misled by the low prices – the portions are huge, if a little on the rustic side. Try local specialities such as obatzda to start – cream cheese with paprika, accompanied by radishes and pretzels – followed by roast pork or duck with dumplings, apple and red cabbage. Open Monday to Friday 5pm-1am, Saturday and Sunday 10am-1am.
Lilienstrasse 51; tel +49 894 481 400; wirtshausinderau.de
Dinner: à la carte starters from €4, mains from €9.50
Kranz
It’s easy to miss the entrance of this little restaurant as it doubles as the box office for the adjoining repertory theatre. Diners spill on to the pavement in summer, and the interiors are brought to life by a copper-covered bar counter and stylised hanging light bulbs. The menu changes daily, the ingredients are sourced from
eco-friendly producers, nothing is deep-frozen and no microwaves are used. The emphasis is on pure, tasty cooking with a bias towards simply prepared meat and fish dishes, enlivened with coriander or mint yoghurt, lemongrass and ginger, dill and pine kernels. Expect plenty of fresh vegetables and salads, too. Kranz is open Monday to Friday from 11am to 1am, and on Saturdays and Sundays from 10am to 1am.
Hans-Sachs-Strasse 12; tel +49 892 1668 250; daskranz.de
Lunch: pasta of the day with salad or soup plus a fruit juice spritzer, €10. Dinner: à la carte starters from €7, mains from €11.
Passaparola
Tucked away on a quiet side street just north of the university quarter is Passaparola, essentially a pizza and pasta joint. The restaurant’s simple, clear interiors with lighting by German designer Ingo Maurer complements the selection of food, all of which is freshly prepared. The oven is manned by Mimmo, the Sicilian pizzaiolo, and seating is restricted to half a dozen tables, so booking is a necessity. Open Monday to Friday from midday to 3.30pm, and then 6pm-10pm. Sundays from 6pm-10pm. Closed on Saturdays.
Kaiserstrasse 47; tel +49 893 8889 590; passaparola-muenchen.de
Starters from €3.80, mains from €6.
Getting Around on the Cheap
- Munich’s public transport system is second to none. The extensive underground and tram network is clean, safe, efficient and economical. A “stripe ticket” allows ten trips and costs €11, and a day ticket for the city centre is €5. Tourist cards with discounted entry to numerous museums are also available. mvv-muenchen.de
- The city is one of the most bike-friendly in the world, with extensive cycle paths and real respect from other road users. The “Call a Bike” scheme is run by Deutsche Bahn, and has pick-up and drop-off points throughout the city. Maximum charge €9 for 24 hours. callabike-interaktiv.de
- The most cost-effective route from the airport is by the Lufthansa airport bus, available to users of all airlines. It departs the airport every 20 minutes between 6.20am and 9.40pm. Buses stop to the north of the city centre and at the main train station, and cost €17 return. (A taxi is €50-60 one way.) airportbus-muenchen.de
Ten things to do for free
1. Take a run or stroll in the English Garden, along the banks of the River Isar, where, if you are lucky, there is a fairly high flirt factor.
2. Watch the city’s surfers ride the waves of a fast-flowing tributary of the River Isar next to the Haus der Kunst (House of Art) on Prinzregentenstrasse. They don wetsuits come rain or shine and bring generators to light the nights.
3. Watch the marionettes twirl as the glockenspiel in the tower of the Neues Rathaus (New Town Hall) at Marienplatz chimes at 11am and midday (plus 5pm in the summer). Don’t miss the rooster at the end.
4. Churches such as Frauenkirche, (Frauenplatz 12) with its mighty twin towers, one of Munich’s most recognisable landmarks, and the splendid, rococo Asamkirche (Sendlingerstrasse 62) are free to enter, although a small donation might be appropriate.
5. Take a walk beneath the sweeping glass roofs of Behnisch and Otto’s iconic Olympic Stadium complex to the north of the city, and check out the Munich Olympic Walk of Stars, where the handprints of more than 70 famous people – including Liza Minelli, the Dalai Lama and Tom Jones – have been immortalised.
6. The Olympiaberg, the hill that dominates the Olympiapark, provides a great viewing platform for rock concerts at the Olympic Stadium, which take place throughout the year. Take a seat on the grassy bank, lie back and enjoy the sounds. From the same vantage point, you won’t be able to miss the glow of the Allianz Arena, Munich’s new football stadium to the north.
7. The blocky eighties architecture of the Gasteig cultural centre (gasteig.de), sitting above the right bank of the River Isar, is home to free classical concerts every weekday at 1.15pm in the Kleiner Konzertsaal. There are often small exhibitions, also with free entry.
8. City Museum (Stadt Museum, stadtmuseum-online.de) is free on Sundays, while many other cultural attractions, including the Pinakothek der Moderne and Neue Pinakothek galleries (pinakothek.de), charge only €1.
9. Munich has a long tradition of fairs and markets on the square around Mariahilf Church, for which no admission is charged. Next on the calendar are Jakobidult, from July 25 to August 2, and Kirchweihdult on October 17-25.
10. In winter, ice skating on the Kleinhesseloher See, a small lake in the English Garden, and on the Nymphenburger Canal at Schloss Nymphenburg, is magical.
