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Also consider our earlier trip to Munich in August 2019
Also consider our trip to Vienna for Christmas Markets in November 2019
Also consider our trip to Berlin in August 2022
Also consider our trip to Berlin in June 2014
Also consider our trip to Heidelberg and Muenster in 2011
For several years we have gone to New York City at Christmas time to see the decorated stores and some shows including the Rockettes at Radio City Music Hall. This year New York seemed risky. We had a great time at the Vienna Christmas Markets in 2019 so we did some research on where the best Christmaas Markets were located, and chose Munich.
Wednesday November 30 we left Austin at 10:18 am to Charlotte, and after a couple hours layover we flew non-stop to Munich arriving Thursday morning December 1 (early) at 7:10 am.
On Wednesday December 8 we will flew from Munich at 10:20 am to Charlotte and after a long layover, flew to Austin arriving at 8:17 pm.
We stayed at the NH Collection München Bavaria Arnulfstr. 2 80335 Munich - Germany +49 89 54530 It is directly across the street from the Central Train Station (München Hauptbahnhof)
Airport (München Flughafen T) is Northeast of the city; to get to Center City (München HBF Hauptbahnhof) - main train station: The best way is by rail, Train S1 (circles the city to the west) or Train S8 (via east). The two trains originate at the airport and depart about 10 minutes apart (each train every 20 minutes), and take the same time so it doesn't matter which train you take if you are going to center city.
Train tickets are interesting... A group ticket for up to 5 people costs less than two individual tickets. An all day ticket allows continued use of public transit for the remainder of the day for little more than the single trip ticket. The airport is zone 6, the all day group ticket is €24.70. Tickets must be validated, but many dispensed from vending machines are issued with validation for the current day.
Christmas Markets are to enjoy the festivities, buy gifts and decorations, and eat lots of local food and drink lots of Glühwein (warm spicy red wine). There are often multiple markets around the city. The main market in Munich was in Marienplatz, Munich's main square since 1158. It is also the business center of the city, so the festivities during the day were diluted by routine business traffic.
Glühwein is typically €5 per mug plus €5 deposit for the mug. In Vienna most of the vendors had the same mug, so you could wander with your drink and return the mug at any nearby vendor. In Munich each vendor had unique mugs, so you had to remember where to return it to get your deposit back. We found a trick... we kept an empty "McDonalds" coffee cup and immediately transferred the wine to our cup, so no deposit and no backtracking.
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The first picturesque booth was countless games and puzzles. These were probably imported from China, but many were local handicrafts. |
Somebody was fond of folded paper stars |
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Would you like stars or angels for your Christmas Tree? |
These are Chocolate horseshoes, wrenches, can openers, wine openers, cameras, and countless other shapes. |
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The decorations on the roof of this wine vendor will make sense in the next picture... |
The church towers at the end of the street should look familiar |
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Can you make a wreath out of pine cones? |
Yes this is a large Christmas Tree |
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This restaurant certainly takes Christmas seriously |
Why bore you with pictures of this wine? Remember I am married to Jenny Ott. |
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We then went to a nearby medieval theme Christmas market
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This Christmas Fair had several exhibits |
For years I have been told that pianos and string instruments would be destroyed if played in the cold. Trust me, it was cold. |
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Food vendors had an interesting way of offering mustard (Senf), Ketchup, and I believe Mayonnaise (sauce for your fries). Think of milking a cow. It dispenses just what you want, and does not drip. |
Beeswax can be burned as a candle (it is great as candle wax) but it is hard enough to be moulded into other shapes. Several shops were offering many choices. |
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When it is ready to eat, there will be no question about what it is and how it was cooked over hardwood. |
This fair had a performer, dressed as a witch. She was quite entertaining to children (of all ages). |
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This witch was young enough to be quite flexible |
Some of the attendees came in period dress, and added to everyone's enjoyment. |
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We will ignore the cell phone at his ear. |
This was actually a vendor (of something - I don't recall) but in period dress. |
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The entrance had a couple guards with serious weapons of 1490. There is no admission charge but they added to the ambience and kept the red Toyota out. |
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The next Christmas Market was at a gate in the old city wall
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There were a couple booths outside the gate, but you can see more inside. |
Everyone knows you will be subjected to church pictures in my travelogues. |
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Many places had an area where you could set your food and wine to eat, but this on had a extra feature... a fire. |
When you encounter a wild boar on the street you have to ask, so I did. It is Sitzender Keiler, otherwise known as the German Hunting and Fishing Museum. Okay. No Thanks. |
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Even the subways had the Christmas spirit. Wherever there was a smooth wall, the trees, packages, and stars were applied. Festive! |
We went to a Night Market. It was fun, but crowded enough to not be as photogenic, except from approach outside the market. |
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Bavarian National Museum - a whole floor of Nativity Scenes
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Some were small, as in this self-contained display case. |
Some were large - filling a wall with a sophisticated and lit display. |
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This one was room size. |
Smaller than room size but large enough for realistic detail. |
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In another part of the museum was the largest carved ivory scene in the world. The people are curved because of the curvature of the tusks.
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There was also an exhibit of doors |
and if you have doors you must also have doorways |
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