Munich tourism tips

Pictured below to the left is the glockenspiel at the alte rathaus in Marienplatz, downtown Munich, in Germany. The picture on the right captures the sort of classy street busking you'll find in the Marienplatz during your Munich holiday.

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Munich is the capital of the Free State of Bavaria in Germany, has a population of approximately 1.3 million people, and is considered one of the most attractive cities in Europe.

The average temperature in Munich during January is -2.1 degrees and in July it's a comfortable 17.5 degrees.

The city has cobbled streets, stunning architecture and imposing squares. The streets will be lined with different events in 2008 when Munich celebrates its 850th anniversary.

It's well worth getting a bird's eye view of Munich by climbing 360 steps to the top of St Peter's Church tower, which boasts views all the way to the Alps on a fine day. St Peter's Church was built in 1180 on the foundations of another church and has a Gothic facade with a Baroque interior.

Munich is home to the Hofbrauhaus, the world' most famous beer hall, and the city lives up to its reputation for big steins of beer and plenty of brass bands.

Among the "must-see" holiday features of Munich is the central Marienplatz, just a few blocks from the central train station (Hauptbahnhof). Marienplatz is a square at the heart of the old Munich and is encircled by stunning architecture dating back several centuries. The old and new town halls are just metres apart in the Marienplatz, which has plenty of restaurants and eateries serving traditional Bavarian meals. Crowds gather in the Marienplatz every day at 11am, noon and 5pm to watch colourful mechanical figures dance atop the Rathaus Glockenspiel (town hall belltower).

Within walking distance of the Marienplatz is the Cathedral Church of Our Beloved Mary, a Gothic architectural landmark where many tourists are drawn to see the so-called "devil's footprint" on the floor just inside the church's massive front doors.

Other holiday attractions include the Allianz Arena, a huge stadium opened in 2005 which is blanketed by foil cushions that glow in the dark, the hanging gardens of Funf Hofe in Teatinerstrasse (a few hundred metres from Marienplatz).

If you're a traveller enjoying a budget holiday, you can pick up some cheap food at the Viktualienmarkt - Munich's open air market with more than 140 stalls that sell meat, sausages, fruit, vegetables, wine, tea, cheese and fresh breads.

A great place to enjoy your food is in the Hofgarten, a magnificent garden built for the Bavarian royal family in 1613. The Hofgarten was badly damaged in World War II but was carefully rebuilt in 1948.

Your travel to this city should include a visit to the Munich Residenz, a collection of renaissance, rococo, baroque and neo-classical buildings that were the seat of government and the home of the royals from 1508 to 1918. Nowadays it's a collection of impressive museums.

The cheapest mixed dormitory hostel bed you can hope to book in 2005 will be priced around US$20 per night. In most hostels, a private ensuite with up to six beds will cost about US$6 more.

A cheap hotel room in central Munich can be found for as little as US$25.

Munich (known as Munchen in German) was founded by Henry the Lion on June 14, 1158, and its first fortification was built in 1175.

Munich was referred to as a city for the first time in 1214 and by 1504, when it became the capital of the Duchy of Bavaria, had just 13,500 inhabitants.

In 1806, it became the capital of the Bavarian kingdom. King Ludwig I ruled between 1825 and 1848, when Munich blossomed into an art capital of world acclaim.

Between 1864 and 1886, King Ludwig II was the ruler. Music, arts and crafts flourished during this era with several of Richard Wagner's musical dramas premiering in Munich.

Electricity was introduced to Munich in 1882 and by 1901 the population had grown to 500,000.

An attempted assassination of Hitler in the Burgerbraukeller in 1939 was unsuccessful and on April 30 1945, Munich was occupied by the Americans.

Almost 70% of Munich's buildings were destroyed in World War II but the architecture has been painstakingly rebuilt.

The XXth Olympic Games were staged in Munich in 1972 and just two years later the city hosted soccer's World Cup. It's well worth catching the U3 line from the U-Bahn station below the Marienplatz to Olympiazentrum, the last stop at Olympic Park where most of the events were staged during the 1972 Olympics.

Munich is perhaps most famous among tourists for its annual Oktoberfest - known by the locals as the "Wiesn". This is the biggest public festival in the world, has been celebrated since 1833 and runs from mid September to early October.

The 16 day Oktoberfest is each year attended by about 6 million tourists who drink around 6 million litres of beer and consume more than 200,000 pairs of pork sausages, 500,000 chicken pieces and 38 tonnes of fish - mostly in the "beer tents" put up by the traditional Munich breweries. The Oktoberfest is staged in Theresienwiese, a 31ha park hold 14 tents with seating for about 100,000 people. The beer tents open at 10am on weekdays and 9am on weekends, closing at 11.30pm - althpugh the fairground remains open until midnight. If you don't have a table reservation, arrive before midday as the queues are so long you probably won't get into any of the tents.

The home of BMW and Siemens, Munich is also an international business and manufacturing center of Europe, a leader in automotive and electrical engineering and electronics, a media and publishing capital, a headquarters for many global information technology and pharmaceutical companies, and a major player in German television and film production.

Often compared with Paris or San Fransisco, Munich is renowned for its architectural splendor and old-world charm. This city is well worth a detour during your travel in Europe.

Munich is rich in history and royal heritage, with a touch of fantasy in its Italianate architecture and its zest for the good life. Munich has 29 beer gardens and the people maintain a small city friendliness.

If you're planning to visit Munich as part of your travel in Europe, you're in for a cultural bonanza.

The city hosts more than 100 theatres and museums, four symphony orchestras and three opera companies.

Munich has a flat landscape and cycling is an excellent way to explore its numerous landmarks, although the city also has a very efficient underground train system.

Munich has about 700 fountains and public gardens while the stunning lakes of Bavaria are all within an easy day trip of the city.

An attractive city in the Franconia region of northern Bavaria is Nuremburg, famous for its wooden toys, gingerbread (lebkuchen), massive Christmas market and delicious bratwurst sausages. Nuremburg was also the birthplace of nazism and many of its historic buildings have been rebuilt since the city was flattened by allied bombers at the end of World War II. Landmarks include the Nuremburg Palace of Justice (where courtroom 600 hosted the 315 day War Crimes Tribunal trial of war criminals), the reconstructed Old Town and the 11th century Kaiserburg (Imperial Castle) which for 500 years up to the 15th century was home to Germany's kings and emperors.

The lush Alpine area of Berchtesgadenerland is a spectacular landscape of streams, valleys and woods enclosed by six mountain ranges near the border with Austria. Highlights of the district include Koenigsee Lake, St Bartholomae dating back to 1134, the natural ice dome of Eiskapelle, the old salt mines and Hitler's mountain retreat of Eagle's Nest.

Walchensee Lake has crystal clear waters in a spectacular alpine landscape and has perfect breezes for sailboarding. Eibsee Lake is high in the mountains and within a huge crater studded with seven small islands, the backdrop being Zugspitze, Germany's highest mountain. You can hike to the lake or take the Zugspitzbahn train that departs from nearby Germisch-Partenkirchen and continues up to the Schneeferner Glacier. Holiday tourists can take a cable car to the peak of the Zugspitze with views into four countries.

The tiny Bavarian village of Oberammergau has since 1632 been been producing The Passion Play to celebrate the life of Jesus. Legend has it that the townsfolk back then made a pact with God to honour Jesus every 10 years if they were spared further deaths from the Black Plague sweeping Europe at the time. There were no more deaths and the villagers have kept their word, with more than 2,000 residents becoming actors, singers, musicians and technicians to stage the six to seven hour play every year ending in zero. Oberammergau's population is about 5400. The Passion Play will next be performed 100 times between May and October 2010.

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