Full day adventure to Munich and Oktoberfest
MUNICH Marienplatz Square & Town Hall is always in the top 10 attractions lists. One of Munich's most impressive buildings, the New City Hall (Neues Rathaus) on Marienplatz offers fantastic views of the city from its tower. The Munich Glockenspiel in the tower balcony of the Neues Rathaus is world famous and worth seeing. The famous glockenspiel attracts huge crowds every day and we joined them to watch important scenes from Munich's history, such as the wedding of Duke Wilhelm V to Renate of Lorraine in 1568.
Marienplatz is the central square in Old Town, Munich’s urban heart and the central point of the pedestrian zone. From Marienplatz, you can easily visit the best sights in old Munich. If you like shopping, you’ll enjoy the arcades, exclusive shops and boutiques in the city. Munich also offers castles, museums, churches, parks and squares bustling with life. It is a great destination for a city break, and I will be back! Munich also makes the perfect base for exploring southern Germany so why not make it part of a 2-3 centre break?
OKTOBERFEST I’d been told Munich that offers so much more than just the Oktoberfest or Lederhosen and the morning proved that to be true. However, the afternoon proved that Oktoberfest (and Lederhosen) is enormous fun and not just a box to tick.
Over 6 million tourists travel to this famous festival, which takes over Munich for two weeks of parades, rides, live music & plenty of beer & German food. The first Oktoberfest was a celebration of the marriage between Bavarian Crown Prince Ludwig and Princess Therese von Sachsen-Hildburghausen. In keeping tradition with the original dates, the last weekend of modern Oktoberfests always takes place in October, usually ending on the first Sunday of the month.
We went on the Family Day (every Tuesday is Family Day at Oktoberfest) and were dropped off by our Crystal coach to enjoy the event ourselves without a guide. As well as large & small beer tents, there are exhilarating rides, concerts, stalls and souvenirs.
The Oktoberfest site is massive, with beer tents in all directions. Probably going against all advice, we plumped for the first tent we saw, and sat next to a young German couple outside in the sunshine. We announced we were British and had no idea what to do – on reflection, this was probably obvious! They very kindly introduced us to our waitresses – one looked after drinks, and one looked after food. These ladies were amazing – they wore wrist supports to enable them to carry copious amounts of beer to their customers (and 1 red wine served in a commemorative mug for my girlfriend). Oktoberfest is also the perfect opportunity to sample traditional Bavarian cuisine such as white sausage, pretzels, gingerbread and countless roasted meats.
The best part though was seeing all the families and groups of friends dressed up in traditional Bavarian attire; the men wear lederhosen (leather shorts with H-shaped braces), and the ladies wear dirndls (a knee-to-floor-length dress with a bodice). It seems you have to dress to impress, and unfortunately, our look was “just got off our coach & it might rain-casual”. However, if I go again, I plan to wear lederhosen, just to join in with the fun, vibrant atmosphere.
Then it was back to Crystal Mozart, to enjoy a G&T and glass of champagne at the popup bar on the top deck before dinner. Please contact me if either a visit to Munich or a river cruise is on your wish list, just call me on 020 3432 2510 or email brian.telfer@travelcounsellors.comfor a chat.