|
Proost to
Munich's Bars!
Where
to Find BIG Beers in the Bavarian Capitol
The biergartens provide the pulse of Munich's bars and nightlife.
In a country where beer is treated as
food – after all, it's served in huge 1-liter mugs – Munich
is the kaiser of the German brew.
In Munich, everything starts in the biergarten. This is where locals
go to enjoy a couple over lunch, dinner or Happy Hour. Then it's out
onto the town for more vibrant nightlife.
Biergartens – A Munich Tradition
Ein Prost – Down This One and Another One!
Beer is basic nutrition
in Bavaria, which locals and tourists hoist in biergartens.
It's a warm afternoon, the Glockenspiel
has lost its appeal, you've parked it in the parks, there's been enough
seeing and shopping and frankly, it's just time for a nice, cold beer.
But not just any beer, one of those giantic ones in a large mug like
the ones served during Oktoberfest.
Not only that, it should be enjoyed while seated on a
wooden bench at a picnic table with a bunch of thirsty locals.
|
Munich
Party Tips
• The Hofbrau Haus closes at 11. Have
a plan to go elsewhere.
• Always go for the big, 1-liter mug of beer. Why? Because
everyone else is doing it and the beer is good.
• Tipping: Round to the nearest Euro.
• The Metro is a good way of getting to various nightclub
places. Taxis are another option.
• See our City
Guide to Munich
• Click for the Oktoberfest
Photos & Guide.
|
No problem. There is is an open-air market with big beers just a couple
of minutes from the unsuspecting tourists clogging the Marinlatz. Head
the opposite direction of the The Glockenspiel to Viktualienmarkt. It's
an outdoor market of food and flowers that is buzzing with activity.
Line up with the others at the beer station of choice, ask for a large
lager and find a spot to sit. This is a place to spend the afternoon
Euors on good Germany beer. The ample food offerings in the market make
it a good, inexpensive lunch destination, as well.
In evenings, for the Happy Hour beer or before, during or after dinner,
the Augustiner-Keller – on on Arnulfstrape, a few blocks
from the train station in the direction opposite of Marinplatz –
is a rewarding, thirst-quenching choice. The first reaction upon entering
is likely to be: "Now THIIS is a beer garden!" It has tables
in a large garden, a gravel ground, a restaurant and even a cafeteria.
And while the adjacent restaurant is beautiful, the food in the beergarten
is quite sufficent and affordable. It's the pefect place to have a beer
and a meal, or to serve as a pre-party spot for pubclubbing later in
the night.
Yet despite these two fine choices, locals have but one choice when
it comes to Munich's best beer garden – China Tower in English
Garden. Pardon the irony of having a German beergarten in a place
with a Chinese name in an English park, but it's the best in town. This
is a massive gathering spot with 7.000 seats, there is the signature
Chinese Tower (Chinesischer Turm in German) in the middle and it's one
of the few biergartends with live Bavarian music, Students from the
nearby University of Munich are among its frequent visitors. There's
also a nice restaurant on site.
So what is a biergarten anyway? Generally, it's a large outdoor area
with picnic tables under chestnut trees (under which, originally, were
cellars that stored the barrels). There's always people around, and
the waiters and waitresses often are attired in traditional Bavarian
dress. True biergartens are large and offer food. They are excellent
places to sit down and enjoy that fine Bavarian beer. What they are
NOT are wild party places with people dancing in the aisles and standing
on tables.
Beware of Bavarian Beer: It's is 5% alcohol. And don't be fooled by
imitators. There are about 180 "biergartens" in Munich, but
most of them just offer beer on some type of garden patio.
Munich Bars & Nightlife
Pubs, Clubs and Fine, Fun Bars
One of Munichs'
most fun bars is not one of the "hot" clubs.
PUBS & BARS – There's more to Munich than biergartends.
Take the bierhall, for example.
And the kaiser of all bierhalls is the famous Hofbrauhaus (in
the Marinplatz). This multi-room, multi-level food and beer establishment
is all Bavaria – huge liters of brew, oompha band, tourists and
even a few locals. In short, it's Oktoberfest when it's not Oktoberfest.
Locating it is not a snap – it's thru the Bohmlerimtal walkway
by phone booths and newspaper boxes.
So what's it like? Well inside is wilder than outside and since every
beer-drinking tourist, young and old, comes through at some point it's
a great place to start the night or as a second stop after spending
time at one of the aforementioned biergartens. Prost!
The Hofbrauhaus starts to slow down by about 11 – gee, that's
when the band quits playing – but there's some other good bars
just around the corner. This is an excellent time to stroll to Killians
Irish Pub/Ned Kelley's Australian Bar. These fun side-by-side bars
are for people who like to get down and dirty and just PARTY! Killians
has a live band and Ned Kelly's has a small, hot sweaty dance floor
and Aussies slamming drinks (naturally). They are connected to one another
and are casually crazy.
One of the most fun bars in Munich, a PubClub favorite, in fact, is
Szymanskkis Bistro. It's a restaruant-turned-bar that has a jammin'
and cool DJ, dance floor, small wait for cocktails, great music and
a fun party atmosphere. No cover, no lines, just fine times. It's on
Bayerstrasse, directly across from the Hauptbahnhof taxi stand.
A walk down down Schwanthaler will be rewarded with a variety
of bars –go past Mittererstrasse for a few of the better ones.
This street is the scene of one of the World's Largest Parades, Saturday
morning on Oktoberfest
opening weekend.
CLUBS – The big party place of Munich is a few miles east
of town in an area known as Kunstpark Ost (near the Ostbahnhof train
station). It is here the European clubbing comes to this town. The area
is an entire series of bars and clubs with dining, drinking and dancing.
Students like the laid-back Rum Machen (near the train station),
The Backstage in Neuhausen has a biergarten, Alabamahalle
is a pure dance and Laim has a series of bars and clubs.
CLUBS IN MARINPLATZ – The hot, Hollywood/Vegas/fast
movers club is P1; (that's a racing term meaning Position 1 on
the track though this is located at Prinzregentenstrasse 1 which could
also account for the name). It's tough to get in, but there's no cover.
Guys may have a better chance of getting into Pacha, a nice,
upscale club of locals which starts out as two clubs but becomes one
as the night becomes morning. Sausalitos is a Mexican restaurant
(in Munich, yeah!) that has Happy Hour margaritas from mindnight to
5 a.m.
Excursions – Things to See and Do Outside Munich
The Alps, Lakes and a Sad Reminder
Not all of Munich's enjoyable attributes
are actually in Munich. In fact, on clear days the Bavarian
Alps can be seen from the Marinplatz (well, for those who climb
the 300 or so stairs of St. Peter's church, anyway). They are that close.
There are several attractions in the Alps, and elsewhere for that matter.
While it's possible – and easy – just to jump on a train and
go for a visit, it's recommended to get on a guided tour. It only costs
a few more Euros and they handle train tickets, the admission, etc.
Simply check with the various companies in Hauptbahnhof. Here's a few
suggestions for Munich excursions.
THE LAKES – A number of lakes are within an hour's train
ride of town. Two are the Stanberger See and Ammersee using the S-Bahn.
NEUSCHWANSTEIN CASTLE – This is one of the most popular
daytime excursions. In a remote setting about two hours (train) from
Munich, It stunning design inspired the Matterhorn at Disneyland. Tours,
audio are guided, are required. The tours, in German and English, last
approximately 35 minutes. The tour involves climbing 165 steps and descending
181. After arriving at the site. It's a 30-minute walk to the castle
itself. This is an all-day trip. How to Get There by Train: (Deutsch
Bahn) to Füssen, then bus RVA/OVG 73 direction Steingarden/Garmisch-Partenkirchen
or bus RVA/OVG 78 direction Schwangau to Hohenschwangau.Admission:9.00
Euros.
DACHAU – On a depressing note – if not downright saddening
and also shocking – is something worth mentioning that society
should never forget. Just a 20-minute train ride from Munich is the
town of Dachau. And on the outskirts of an otherwise pleasant-looking
small town is one of the most notorious Nazi concentration camps. It
has an excellent museum, the barracks have been restored and gas chambers
and cells door are open. Even more frightful to think about is the fact
it's adjacent to what was the training site of the evil SS. Dachau is
where "prisoners of the state" were taken to be punished for
simply saying or doing anything perceived as being against the government.
It opened in 1938 and just imagine sitting pleasantly in the Hofbrau
Haus one night, making some comment disagreeing about the country's
aggressive behavior at the time and landing in Dachau the next day.
How the Nazis managed to find so many evil souls to run places like
Dachau is beyond imagination, How to Get There by Train: S-Bahn,
the S 2 in the direction of Dachau / Petershausen. Then catch Bus 726
"KZ-Gedenkstätte" in the (direction of Saubachsiedlung. Admission;
Free.
Oktoberfest
Tips for Tipping 'em Back in the Beer Tents
The bands play,
the beers flow and the people drink. Ein Pro-sit!
Where else in the world would one expect
to find the world's biggest beer festival except in the capitol of beer,
Bavaria?
For two weeks each September, Munich becomes a host to locals, Germans,
Euopeans and of course Australians (you can't serve endless beer in
huge mugs to huge audiences and not expect Aussies to show up, now can
you!?) all celebrating the October harvest. Well, that's not exactly
what they are celebrating but the point is that they are celebrating.
Oktoberfest is Munich's signature event and one to put on any hearty
partier's to-drink list.
CLICK
FOR PUBCLUB.COM'S COMPLETE GUIDE TO OKTOBERFEST!
• Photos. • Tips • The Beer Tents • The Big
Beers • The Food • The Carnival
 Take
Our Virtual Tour of Paris!
|