Berlin and Munich Suggestions

Munich's Old town has many restaurants with traditional German food. I don't care for the german food in the U.S. but german food in Munich is fabulous. We had lunch at The Ratskeller in Old Town which is on lower level, so terrific if its hot outside. There's several traditional restaurants in Old Town with outside seating great in evening or if its cooler. We also took a rikshaw ride through the English garden - the largest garden in the world- which was wonderful - many Rikshaw drivers use an electric or electric-assisted bike. But again, I would calibrate your activity to the weather - if its hot you could tour historical buildings in Old Town or select a museum, just check if its air conditioned!
Kind regards,
Karen

Hello again. Stayed 3 nights in Munich in 2025. Our trip report might be useful reference (part 8): https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/trip-reports/trip-report-austria-bavaria-aug-sep-2025

In Munich, we liked their German meatballs and potato salad. In Berlin try the street food Doner Kabab (sorry dont know how to get the umlet over the o on my iPad). Also Berlin is known for their currywurst (a bit too much ketchup for me :-).) Oh, and the goulash with potato dumpling was wonderful but that was in Erfurt.

Nick,
Schnitzel comes from the German verb, schneiden, to cut or the noun der Schnitt, a cut. It's essentially a thin cut of meat, which is lightly floured and cooked in butter (Wiener Schnitzel) or breaded and fried. It's the topping, really, which differentiates the various types of Schnitzel. There is Jaeger (hunter style) Schnitzel, topped with a brown mushroom gravy or, my favorite, Ziguener (gypsy style), in a slightly piquant, tomato based sauce with bell peppers and onions. Today, Ziguener is consider pejorative and sometimes replaced with "Hungarian" style.

Schnitzel, which is from the part of the pig (top or bottom round) that in our country is mostly made into hams, is one of the least expensive cuts of meat in the grocery stores and is often one of the least expensive dishes on the menu. There are lots of other styles of Schnitzel, such as Zwiebel (onion) or Hausfrau art (fried egg). I've never found a Schnitzel I didn't like.

In Germany, you can kind of interchange pork for beef in the menus. Pork is the mainstay, you'll often pay a premium for beef.

There is also Curry Wurst, wieners, usually with French fries, sprinkled with curry, or Mahltasche, big ravioli, often served topped with bacon and onion.

Olympiapark München looks gorgeous

We each find different reasons to travel and to find what is most interesting to us in a city. Munich is around 800 years old. It is full of historical buildings and neighborhoods that provide insight into the German people of the past and today. The Olympiapark is indeed very scenic, yet it represents an incredibly short moment of time in the history of Munich.

Regarding food, schnitzel is definitely worth having. In my opinion, spend the extra few Euros to have veal, rather than pork. Also, schnitzel is really Austrian, rather than German. If I may suggest a restaurant, try https://augustiner-klosterwirt.de and have their Edelstoff beer.