First (Family) Trip to Munich -- Any Tips?

We stayed at the Citadines in May, liked it a lot, and we took the Lufthansa Airport bus from Franz Josef Strauss airport (just follow signs from baggage claim area for bus transport to center). It takes about 45 minutes to an hour depending on traffic. You are dropped off at the north side of Munich Hauptbahnhof, which is about 4-5 streetcar stops from Citadines on line 16 or line 17. We took a taxi from Hauptbahnhof to Citadines because of luggage. The taxi cost us about 10 euros. Bus from airport to train station was about 25 euros for two people. Overall, much cheaper than a taxi all the way from the airport, although if you have a lot of luggage and are exhausted you could do that too, maybe 75-80 euros of you go that route.

We liked Salzburg and the castles. We also took a day trip to Nuremberg on a fast one hour train (pricy since we bought on day of travel, for four of you might be advantageous to buy at least couple days in advance). Cheaper and slower trains to Nuremberg are available too. Tuesday is market day in Nuremberg's main square, that was a nice extra. Rick Steves guide will give you orientation to the town and best places to visit (churches and castle, mainly). We were not impressed with the German history museum, which the Rick Steves guide rated highly.

One destination we would have liked to have visited, but did not because of rainy May weather, was the Koenigsee near Berchtesgaden. It looks beautiful, but for sure you'd want good weather, so probably best left to a last minute decision. The train trip to Berchtesgaden from Munich is not expensive, but it's all local trains, so rather slow, about 2.5 hours one way.

Be prepared for very warm/hot buses and trains, one thing we missed during our trip was air conditioning on public transit (they do have AC of course, but much weaker than what we're used to in US).

We liked the Augustiner Keller beer garden near Citadines, it's huge, good family place.

Enjoy your trip.

What is the best way to get from the Franz Josef Strauß Airport to the Citadines?

Take the S-Bahn. It runs more often than the LH bus. And unlike the bus ticket, the airport&city day ticket includes the tram ride from the station to your hotel and provides free transport (S-Bahn, U-Bahn, tram, bus) in the city for the rest of the day - big difference if you have to buy tickets for a family.

I'd second sla019's recommendation to buy a Airport-City-Day-Ticket and use the S-bahn. Depending on how much luggage you have you don't have to go to the Hauptbahnhof and take a tram, instead you can take the S1 from the airport to Donnersbergerbrücke and it's a 10 min walk from there.

Drop off your bags early and if the weather is nice use your day ticket to explore the city.

Also, consider downloading and using the local transport apps, see this thread:https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/germany/best-transportation-app-for-munich

Two things I would recommend while you are in Munich:

• Rent bikes and take your own tour of the city and parks. One popular route is to start in the city center, head north through the English Gardens (stopping at a biergarten or two, I like mini-Hofbräu), head west through the Olympia Park and on to Schloss Nymphenburg (follow the canal), last head back to town along Nymphenburger Str and through Königsplatz to drop off you bike.
• Spend a day at one of the many fine lakes in the foothills of the Alps just south of the city. Tegernsee is what I always suggest for a day trip for a good lake/alps/villages combo close to Munich. The lake has several small villages surrounding it which are joined by bus, a foot/cycle path and ferries across the lake. It can be accessed from Munich using the BOB train (they have a combo BOB-MVV ticket and one of the stops is Donnersbergerbrücke). Since it is a touristy area there is a lot of good infrastructure for visitors. There is a great Brewery/Restaurant right on the lake, Bräustüberl Tegernsee. If the weather is nice you can take the cable car up Wallberg and hike to a hut in the mountains for nice lunch.

DJ

I enjoyed Nymphenburg, super easy to get to via public transportation. I also liked the Residenz and areas around it. Just know that its massive. The treasury is very big and interesting to walk thru. You all will probably enjoy the Hofbrauhaus. I usually just share a beer and pretzle and eat somewhere else. We enjoyed another beer hall for meals, Augustiner Keller. There is one on the Marienplatz and another really fun one with a beer garden with outdoor activities close to the train station. I would leave very early in the morning for your daytrip to Salzburg. There is a lot to enjoy there. Don't miss the beautiful baroque cathedral, the views from up at the fort, and beautiful St. Peter's cemetery, the inspiration for the Sound of Music Cemetery.

Your family of 4 might enjoy the BMW Museum and BMW World. I put these on our itinerary in 2015 for my husband - and I think I enjoyed them both as much or more than he did.

https://www.bmw-welt.com/en.html

I recently took my 14-y/o grandson to Rome and Munich. He's a Latin student and appreciated the history of Rome, but when he got to Munich he said, "I could live here!"

The self-guided walking tour of central Munich in Rick Steves' Germany guidebook is excellent. It can take anywhere from two hours to two days, depending on your levels of interest and curiosity. Audio version is available for download here.

The walking tour ends at Odeonsplatz. I would recommend continuing west from there on Briennerstraße about 1 km to the new Doku-Zentrum, built on the site of the Third-Reich-era Nazi party headquarters building. Next door is Hitler's office building (Führerbau), now repurposed as a high school for music and theater (no public access inside). The infamous Munich Accord of 1938 was signed by Hitler, Mussolini and Chamberlain in that building. Across the street is historic Königsplatz.

The city of Munich's website offers free downloadable maps and audioguides for self-guided thematic walks tracing the city's role in the rise and fall of National Socialism.

Other Munich spots the teens might enjoy ... BMW Welt and the BMW Museum; Olympic Tower right across the street from BMW, via a pedestrian overpass; Verkehrszentrum, the branch of Deutsches Museum dealing with all manner of surface transport; and Flugwerft Schleißheim, the Museum's branch for things with wings.

Greetings Everyone,

Many thanks for your kind responses and suggestions. I've added many of your suggestions to my little notebook.

@JandJ... thanks for putting me at ease at the Citadines. After reading your comments, I also went to YouTube and was able to see and learn a little bit more about the apartment/hotel. My hubby also wants to visit Nuremberg -- we'll see what happens. Thanks for the tip on the temps for buses/trains. I'll be purchasing some "necklace fans". ☺

@sla019... Thanks for the travel tip. I got a chance to look at YouTube to better understand how the S-Bahn and U-Bahn works. (Thanks goodness for YouTube, lol). This is now what we're planning to do.

@DJ... Thanks for the recommendations and reminding me about the transportation apps. Added it to my list of things to do. We're also hoping to visit the Alps.

@Jules M... A visit to the biergartens is a must -- at least for my hubby, lol. Also, thanks for the tip(s) on traveling to Salzburg.

@traylaparks... We're planning to visit the BMW Museum and BMW World on one of our off days. Thanks for the suggestion

@Jeff... Thanks for the suggestion on the self-guided tour. I think this will be one of our activities on an "off day". Also, thanks for the site suggestions for my teen.

We took our three teens (16, 17, 18) last summer and they loved Munich. We rented an AirBnB, so I can't speak to your hotel.

We are a family of car geeks and own a BMW, so we did BMW museum and world AND a factory tour. IT may be too late for you to schedule that, but if any of you have an interested in cars, it was really impressive!

We took a private Sound Of Music bicycle tour in Salzburg and despite the 2 boys protesting, they loved it! it was less movie and more Salzburg for their benefit and it was a wonderful way to see the city.

We spent a day in Oberammergau on the mountain (Kolbensattel) doing the alpine slide, rope course and hiking. One year later, they are still taking about that day as one of their favorites.

We also visited the Deutsches Museum (a relative used to work there) and our daughter thought it was okay, the boys loved it. I'd say take it or leave it. If you love museums, it's a must.

All three of them loved the Bavarian (or Austrian, let's not fight about it!) dish kaiserschmarrn, which is essentially a pancake that gets caramelized in a pan with golden raisins and topped with apple sauce. Our middle kid ate it every where he went!

They loved the subway - so easy to navigate- and we even gave them a few hours to explore the city center on their own while we enjoyed a few radlers and pretzels.

Definitely cycle through Englischer Garden and make sure to see the surfers on the Eisbach!

If you're beer fans, the monastery in Andechs is really fantastic - if you can, arrive early so you can enjoy a true Bavarian breakfast of weisswurst, sweet mustard, pretzel and beer.

Whatever you do, you'll love it!

One more thing about Citadines, they keep a collection of umbrellas (good sized ones) next to the front door. One less thing to pack.

@Christy... Thanks for your tips. The BMW museum is definitely something we plan to see on one of our "off" days. You have us curious about the kaiserschmarrn dish. I have it in my travel notebook to look for (and try!) ☺

@JandJ... how did you know I had umbrellas on my list, lol. Thanks for that tip. Will I/we look awkward using the umbrellas to shield the sun?

Thanks again to everyone for your generous input; it's appreciated very much.

We definitely saw some travellers using umbrellas for sun protection in Europe (not so much in Germany, but that's because we didn't have much sun there; did see umbrellas as sun protection in Italy).

Thanks JandJ. (smile)

My teens liked Munich a lot when we were there during our RS BOE 14 tour. It was my daughters 15 bday while we were there. It was a Sunday & many places are not open then. We let her pick what to do. She picked renting bikes.

While riding through the English gardens we came across teens jumping in the river There was a rope at one point the kids were swinging from it and then the current would carry them along. They had no swimsuits on but shorts & tshirts. We told them go jump in. They spent the next couple of hours having a blast with the other teens/ young adults. While we watched from the side. Finally tore them away to go to the beer garden where they got pretzels as big as their head and pork knuckles also as big as their head. It was a great day.

Nuremberg and Salzburg are not really good day trips from Munich, you'll spend too much time traveling. Schloss Nymphenberg is a day by itself. The castles tour, by which I expect you'll see Neuschwanstein, Hohenschawngau, Linderhof, and Oberamergau, is a lot to take in a day. Dachau is also a day, and it's extremely emotional; I usually need a couple stiff drinks after a visit. Not fun.

I like to just walk around the city; there’s always something going on. If you use the Marienplatz (MP) as the center location everything’s pretty easy to keep track of. Just south is the daily farmers market. I always get stuff there and carry it with me for lunch. I try to eat breakfast at the hotel, lunch at the market, and save the restaurant for the evening meal. Walking around Munich in the evening is really nice. You’ll always find musicians playing in the streets (Munich is famous for its musical education). Look around for Jazz cellars (they play all kinds of music). You won’t notice them during the day, but after 5-6 pm they start setting out the chairs and tables on the sidewalks.

If the weather’s good take a walk up along the river through the English Gardens. If it’s warm everyone will be sunbathing around the Greek temple. At the North end is the American University. It’s a really good place to picnic or just walk. Neuhauser Strasse is one of the major shopping areas but its walking traffic only. You’ll find a lot of the traditional beerhouses in this area also; Pauliner, Augustiner, Spaaten, etc. I think they’re pretty touristy, but usually good. Look around; there are lots of smaller places where the food is good and less expensive. You know to look at the posted menus before you enter? There’s a really good little beer hall just past the old city hall (at the east end of MP) across the street from McDonalds.

If you have the time I recommend going to the DeutschesMuseum which is on an island in the river about 10 minutes walk from the Marienplatz. Head southeast and you’ll find it. They have exhibits on everything, including a mining one that goes underground for ¾ mile. The focus is on how things are/were made, not just displays. Great collections of scientific instruments. Not a lot of military stuff, but some of the rarer WWII aircraft.

I could give you pages more on Nuremberg and Salzburg, but there's no room.

Have a good trip!

I don´t know if your question is still current, but for your off days I highly recommend a day trip to Augsburg. This city is only 55-60 minutes away by car from Munich and you can visit beautiful places. If your family is interested in culture a tour to the "Parktheater Göggingen" could be a recommendation for you. This is a really really beautiful theatre from 19th century which is unique throughout Europe. It´s so enchanting that many couples are holding their wedding celebration there.

You can take a look in this virtual tour if this is interesting for you:

https://www.parktheater.de/templates/33_360grad/tour.html

On normal days when there is no event in the evening you can walk freely through the theatre, without any entrance fees. :)

Also the Fuggerei as the very first social housing complex in the world is also worth a visit! It´s a really beautiful "city" within the city and as well as the Park Theatre a place where time seems to have stopped in a whimsical way.

Hallo Everyone...
Please pardon my late reply. You all have been very gracious with your suggestions and experiences.

@LA... The English Gardens is planned for one of our free days. Both kids really want to visit a beach. Also, there is no way we could visit Germany without visiting a biergarten, lol. Personally, I don't like beer, but I still want to visit one.

@KGC... Thanks for the tips on the day trips, especially Dachau. It's actually the last tour in our package but luckily we have a free day the next day to mentally unwind. I'm sure this will be the most memorable day for my family. Also, thanks for the tips about the street musicians I hope we come across a few during the evening times. You've given me so many places to look for that we have to plan a second trip. 🙂

@Svenja... Thanks for the Augsburg suggestion. Since we won't have a car this time, I will have to add that to our second visit to Germany.

Many thanks again to everyone for your kind suggestions. I really appreciate it and I have taken a lot into consideration.

Tschüss