Munich Travel Forum

I hate to sit in the Munich airport for 8 hours. Can anyone comment if it is ok, or evan a good idea to venture into the city, never been in the city before and would love to drink a beer there.

Any tips on transpo to/from airport and also the best place to hang for 3-4 hours?

I have bags that will be checked and I am a US citizen (not on travel visa).

Thanks!

the s-bahn takes forty minutes to the town center and runs every twenty or thirty minutes. allowing time for checkin and security on your return to the airport, you should still have time to get into the city and have a beer ( or three ).

I see no reason why you should not have a bit of an exploration of Munich (and a beer). But do allow plenty of time for your return (I would suggest you are back in the airport a couple of hours before your flight leaves) as you will have to pass through security. I am assuming your bags will be checked through? If not, allow even more time for checking-in.

This page will give you information about how to get to/from the airport:

http://www.munich-airport.de/en/consumer/anab/bahn/index.jsp

The S8 (around 30 minutes to the centre) would seem to be the simplest option in your case, but you could take a bus (about 40 minutes).

It may sound a little 'touristy', but the Hofbrauhaus off Marienplatz is a great place to spend a few hours and would certainly be my choice.
The food is good, the beer is excellent and the people-watching will keep you entertained.

So, look at it as having 4 hours in Munich (an hour to get to town, an hour to get lost on the way back, and two hours before your flight).

Best thing to do is to have a very good idea of what you'd like to see.

Munich is the best bike city I have seen (and I'm not crazy about bikes).

Renting a bike and going maybe to the English Garden would be great. There should be plenty of beer gardens.

We took a bike tour and loved it - but really advise to look thru the Munich pages in VT, and then take Google maps and have a very good idea of what you'd like to see.

The Marienplatz area is nice - but I did enjoy the English garden, they actually have people surfing on the river inside the city (see photo on my Munich page).

If you can rent a bike and plan your route this would be your best bet.

Agreed, the english garden is beautiful and if it is a warm day and the beer garden at the china tower is open you could do a lot worse. You should see Marienplatz too and there are lots of cafes there for a beer.

The English Garden is close enough to Marienplatz (the very city centre which you should not miss) to walk there - past Hofbräuhaus and your first beer ;-)

In the English Garden you can have your next beer(s) in the beer garden at the Chinese Tower.

If you are exhausted after that you can take the U-Bahn at the station Giselastraße, either to get back into the city or to Olympiazentrum, the Olympic Stadium from 1972 and the Olympic Tower - great views over the city.

Good advice Sissi, but on your way from Hofbrauhaus to English Garden walk past the old Opera House and take a picture for me. I have some from when it was a sad, derelict building. But no new ones.
Or, if you only have eight hours, you could spend then reading all of this advice you are getting :-)
Whatever you do, Munich is a lovely place. Enjoy

no, no 8 hours ... 4! ;=)

Thanks all! Lets see if I got all this:
4 hours exploring
Marienplatz, Tea Garden, Hofbrauhaus, bike rides are great.
S8
Take a picture of..(I forget the name of the place but I will put it on my list).

Thanks everybody, excellent advice. I will not sit in the airport eating salted fish and Milka bars.

Rich.

Well, there is a litte tea garden, but the name of the place overall is English Garden: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Englischer_Garten ... there are some nice links off this page.

btw, just a warning in case you happen to be traveling with children (don't think that's the case) - sometimes there's some nudity there, it just seems very natural but there is.

By the way, I am not sure what time you're arriving, but if by any chance you can take Mike's Bike tours of Munich, that would be a good bet - they do stop at a beer garden and go thru the English Garden. Here's their site:
http://www.mikesbiketours.com/1.html

It's near Marienplatzs - this is their bike rental page: http://www.mikesbiketours.com/Muenchen-Fahrra.74.0.html

BTW, I am *not* crazy about riding bikes - but this is one place it will come in handy! The place is very friendly and will provide lots of help - only caveat, is to make enough time to return the bike.

If you're there within one of the 4-hour tour times it would be perfect!

Nomad, do not remind me of the nudes of English Garden! LOL

Yes, they think it is normal in the middle of the city. You are lying in the grass unsuspectingly, and suddenly something is dangling over your nose... No, I do not get into details... ;-)))

I see Mike's bike rental is even next to Hofbräuhaus. My opinion: If the OP travels by bike or walk/use metro should depend on how many beers he plans to test drink ;-) If you ride a bike with more alcohol than blood in your system, you lose your driver's licence in Germany......

;=)