Morning:
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Munich is fanatically proud of its Bavarian traditions: its rowdy beer halls and Trachten shops (emporia selling leather shorts, dirndls and bosom-cupping wench shirts – my husband is always trying to get me into one).
I adore it for its layers of history, its museums, its musicality, its difficult past, its zesty climate. But of one thing there is no doubt: if Paris makes demands of the heart, then Munich makes demands of the stomach.
So, orthorexic Londoners, be warned. If your eye falls on the option called vegetarian', this does not mean that your dish is vegetarian. It simply advertises a vegetable component. In Germany, salads are assemblies of ham and mayonnaise, not trendy tossed leaves. So the vegetarian option is actually meat, and Salat is actually meat. So you are left choosing between various parts of the pig – to be specific, sausages, from Bratwurst to Wollwurst to Weisswurst and so on. In Munich breakfast isn't muesli, it's a bowl of boiled white sausages in broth with a side of a chewy, salt-studded pretzel and a long, cool litre of white beer.
So unless it's the asparagus season, you will be eating sausages for breakfast, lunch and dinner in the snuggeries of beer cellars and – trust me –you'll like it. I like the monumental Hofbräuhaus where the smallest unit of beer for sale is one litre and there are tables called Stammtischen reserved for regulars who bring their own vast pewter steins, which they keep locked away on cast-iron shelves.
My favourite place to eat is the Nürnberger Bratwurst Glöckl am Dom, in the centre just by the Frauenkirche, the twin-towered onion-domed Gothic cathedral to our Lady, where they serve the griddled, finger-sized chipolatas you eat by the score. But enough of food! There's just so much to do.
In Munich, there is a wide and restful beauty: colonnades in shades of burnt sienna march down long avenues as in De Chirico paintings; men play boules in cloistered city squares; and vistas end in obelisks or Classical temples, jostled by Baroque and Romanesque churches. I always make sure to stroll round the English Garden, a sprawling park laid out in our artless native style, taking in the dudes on the Eisbach, a river where urban surfing has taken off in a big way.
Then, you must pop into the shimmering Café Goldene Bar for a beer and a salami sandwich and marvel at the frescoes at the back end of the Haus der Kunst, built by Hitler in 1937 and now a funky modern art gallery (check out the swastikas on the ceiling). Lope along the Ludwigstrasse, the grandest of the city's boulevards, built to order for mad King Ludwig, and amble about the studenty bohemia of the Schwabing district, with its myriad bars and clubs.
You must also see the Königsplatz in the heart of the museum quarter, where the Nazis held rallies during the Third Reich, and the Glockenspiel in the Marienplatz, a mad cuckoo clock with bells and figurines that do a symbolic dance with chiming accompaniments.
After a few days, I'd pop into the main train station, the Hauptbahnhof, to get out to see either the Dachau Memorial Site or head to the mountains, to Garmisch-Partenkirchen, just a couple of hours from Munich, for a Heidi hit of Bircher muesli, cowbells and lush meadows.
On my most recent visit I toured all the sites erected for the 1936 Winter Olympics – the ice stadium and the main stadium both still in use – and stayed at the delightful family-run Staudacherhof hotel, which has its own spa and smart restaurant. I bussed it to Oberammergau in under an hour, to view rehearsals and prep-arations for Europe's once-in-a-decade cultural event, the Passion Play, happening from May to October next year (all the males in the village start growing their hair in March the year before the event for Biblical verisimilitude). While in Oberammergau, I was enchanted by the 18th-century Luftmalerei (fresco-painted houses).
There's one called the Hansel and Gretel house, with scenes from Grimm's Fairy Tales decorating the façade, and Biblical scenes of trompe l'oeil that will have you rubbing your eyes. And if you are into carved wooden cribs or felt hats with pheasant feathers jauntily sticking out of the brim, Oberammergau, and indeed all of Bavaria, with its castles and mountains, its cafés, wintersports and music, is the place for you, just as it is for me.
Reader views (12)
I think the writer must have ordered a Wurstsalat, which is definitely not considered to be a salad in Germany.
Side salads, on the other hand, which come with a meal when veg is not included, are the norm across southern Germany.
- Brian, Hamburg, Germany
Dear Dave W - Spain is not full of chavs - if you look around, you will find plenty of places where they would not dream of going, with good hotels, good food and good wine. But if you have the same interests as they have, you will go to the places where they flock.
- Jonathan Montmorency, cooden, uk
I dropped by there once on holiday and enjoyed the beer hall, which was atmospheric and the people were friendly. Didn't see much of the place but I am far from impressed by the recommendation to "check out the swastikas on the ceiling"...its just not far enough in the past for that kind of facile acceptance as a tourist attraction.
- Diplomat, Battersea
It is a beautiful city with an amazing backdrop. The English Gardens and the Schwabing area in the summer are an absolute delight and the art galleries are all superb. Yes, the local people can be very haughty, but they are famed for this throughout Germany rather like the Parisians are in France.
- Alex, London
Its certainly NOT dirty or crowded! Where on earth did you people go??? Yes, its expensive (ish) and I guess the people are more direct than most brits would be used to, but atleast they dont drop their pants the minute they've had a bit to drink or throw up at every corner on a friday night.
- A Ben, Munich
As a vegetarian anglophile I had my reservations about moving here, but I could go on and on about the amazing food that stretches far beyond sausages. the muesli (yum)the dumplings and spaetzli -to die for. And the prices - as an ex londoner, I wonder why we pay SO much more for everything in England! The wine, the parks, the beer gardens, and more cafes than I have been able to check out in the last few years!
The language is a pain, but most people speak English. those that prefer Sachsenhausen will not like it here and thats the way I like it!
- A Ben, Munich
How anyone can criticise Munich with a straight face, coming from the UK is quite beyond me. Munich, and most of Germany in general stands for much that the UK lost. To equate cleanliness and efficiency with being boring is like calling a Swiss watch boring because it keeps time well and is made from the best materials. Sure, it's expensive for rent, food and drink. Quality always costs; were it cheap I'd be worried and anyway it keeps the hordes away. To sum up, I agree with every word of the article, there is no finer place on the planet than Munchen in Bayern and we'd be wise to learn a few lessons from them rather than disregard their achievements.
- Steven, London
Having spent many years living in Munich I can confirm some of the previous comments. Munich is dirty, overcrowded, and vastly overrated. It's inhabitated by rude locals serving you awful beer and terrible food. If you're going to visit a Germany city, go to Berlin or Hamburg. There is no reason to visit Bavaria.
- Alex, London
I wouldn't particularly choose Munich as a holiday destination, but Bavaria and Germany in general are excellent places. The food and beer are great, the people are nice, the place is clean and the countryside is really beautiful. Germans care for their country whereas Britain is dirty and overcrowded. On many autobahns you can drive as fast as you like - and their accident rate is lower than ours - so who's telling lies in the UK government regarding the Speed Camera Stasi?
We go there frequently and do you know the best bit? No British chavs there. Let them continue to go to Spain and we'll go to civilisation: Germany.
- Dave W, Walthamstow
Been there just a tourist rip off
- Richard Edmunds, Rayleigh Essex
Munich a Heaven?
Com on!
Munich its a boring,a lot of raining town with a much of grim peoples.
- K.Böhm, Germany
munich is an over rated, over priced dump,..with one beer-hall,
I've lived there,..rip-off rents, rip off beer, & food prices,..unfriendly locals, icold, sterile, humourless
best place is the Old part of the City of Frankfurt ,..Sachsenhausen
or the old part of Dusseldorf,..or better parts of Hessen
- A Brown, london
