I must confess: Munich was pretty far down on my places to visit. I had a preconceived notion that Munich was best enjoyed during Oktoberest, when the city becomes one big beer drinking party. However, when I researched cities to go to for the best Christmas markets, Munich kept coming up. Once I saw pictures and learned of all of the different types of Christmas markets, I was sold.
Table of Contents
How We Got There
One of the best parts about traveling throughout Europe is its easy train system that allows access to almost anywhere you’d want to go. When we first arrived on the train, our first challenge was finding enough space in the luggage compartments for our massive suitcases. The next challenge was that our train was delayed slightly, meaning our connection time in Stuttgart was cut down as well. Picture four girls running through an unknown train station with tons of luggage…yeah, not pretty. It all worked out okay because in the end, our connecting train was also delayed. Here’s a tip: if you have reserved seats on a train, look up on the train map to see where your train’s car will be so that you won’t be running up and down the platform trying to figure it out. It looks similar to the picture below.
Once we found our seats on the train, it was smooth sailing to Munich!
Our total travel time was about four hours including the connection. We arrived in Munich in the afternoon.
Where We Stayed
Location was my priority when choosing a hotel to stay at for the three nights we were in Munich. When I found the Cortiina hotel on the Chase ultimate rewards portal and realized how close it was to Marienplatz and all of the other Christmas markets, I knew I had to book it.
The room that was given to us was actually next door to the entrance of the hotel, with its own secure door to get inside the building. The building was set up like an apartment and our room reminded me of a studio. It was by far the biggest room I had ever stayed in in Europe.
Itinerary
Day 1:
My sister and I wasted no time and wanted to get out and see as much as we could on our first afternoon and night. We first headed to the Christkindlmarkt at Marienplatz and were greeted with a beautiful, jaw-dropping Christmas tree in a massive plaza filled with stalls of food, glühwein, and Christmas goods. Additionally, there were other Christmas markets located just around this main plaza as well, so we were able to cross off a few more off our list in a short time.
The first thing that my sister and I did was find some glühwein. Fortunately for us, we didn’t have to meander too far to find that. The drink that I got was topped off with amaretto and it was very delicious!
High on my list of things to do was to climb St. Peter’s cathedral and watch the sunset over the city. Due to my extensive planning, I knew that the cathedral closed at 5:30, so we took our slightly buzzed selves to the cathedral, which was only a short walk away from Marienplatz.
We paid the few euros and climbed 299 steps to the most amazing views. Even though my legs were burning and shaking, and it was very crowded at the top, the view overlooking the city of Munich was breathtaking. The best view is the picture at the very top of this post, but see below for more vantage points.
Our next stop was about a fifteen minute walk away to our next Christmas market at Residenzstrasse. The Residenz is actually a former palace and the main square inside is transformed into Christmas magic. Here, we enjoyed more glühwein, a bratwurst, fries, and churros.
The next stop for the night was probably considered a tourist trap, but I would still recommend checking it out. The Hofbräuhaus is a beer hall located two minutes from our hotel. This massive drinking spot was actually built in 1589 and was comprised of many rooms. The main hall was the only room to survive the World War II bombings. Apparently, if you look closely at the ceiling, you can still see the Nazi swastikas that have since been painted over. I did not see this, but it was a strange feeling knowing that I drank beer in the same spot as Nazis.
Just across the way from the Hofbräuhaus was an Irish bar that ended up being our last stop for the night. Here, we met some crazy Irish and enjoyed shots and even more alcohol.
Day 2:
On our second day in Munich, we slept in for the first time since our trip began and then headed over to Cafe Glockenspiel for brunch. In my opinion, this restaurant is over-hyped, unless you get a chance to sit near the window overlooking Marienplatz.
I wanted to check out the less traditional Christmas markets, so we walked over to Wittelsbacher Platz to experience a Medieval-themed Christmas market. The decor, food, drinks, and stalls set this market apart from any other we’d been to. Instead of cute mugs to drink our glühwein from, we got huge clay goblets. They even lit a sugar cube on fire upon delivering us our drinks. One stall was filled with Medieval weaponry while another was in the shape of a castle.
In our attempt to find our next Christmas market, located at the Chinese tower in the English gardens, we stumbled upon the infamous surfing canals in Munich. I had heard about people doing this, but I thought that it was mostly done in the summer. As it turns out, it doesn’t matter what the weather is like!
After it started to rain, we gave up on our quest to find the Chinese tower because it was further than we expected. We got an Uber ride to our next Christmas market, the pink market at Stephansplat, where we also met up with our cousins. It was located in the LGBT neighborhood of Munich next to an old church and cemetery. The only way we found it was because of, you guessed it, the pink lights that lit up the streets and could be seen from a few blocks away.
Twinkling pink lights and decor hung from the trees. There was a stage surrounded by stalls, and I got to partake in probably my favorite drink of the entire trip: eierpunsch. This drink is much like traditional eggnog except with white wine.
After getting our fair share of pink everything, we headed over in an Uber to the Winter Tollwood festival at Theresienwiese, which is also where Oktoberfest is held every year. There was definitely a more ‘party’ atmosphere here, as this market was massive and crowded. Stalls of food and goodies and alcohol lined the pathway until huge tents took over that were filled with either more stalls, a gigantic food court, or a stage with a full bar and live music. We managed to find seating in this tent while I enjoyed a German mule (similar to a Moscow mule).
Quite frankly, I would probably need at least half a day to explore this market in its entirety. Our stomachs reminded us that we hadn’t eaten since brunch and none of us really wanted another bratwurst, so we made our way to the metro located at the front of the grounds. After spending a long time figuring out how to get a metro ticket, we made it back to the Residenz Christmas market to pick up some souvenirs we had failed to get the night before. Then, we ran over to Rindermarkt to get the cute glühwein mug in the shape of a boot. Since the markets closed at 9:00 pm, we had to speed walk.
We definitely earned a hearty meal, so we went to a restaurant called Schneider Bräuhaus. My favorite blogger at Happy to Wander mentioned in one of her Instagram posts that this spot had some of the best käsespätzle in Munich. Now, I had no idea what this consisted but her post described it as Mac and Cheese but “infinitely better.”
So there you have it! The two full days we spent in Munich were filled with all of the Christmas markets I wanted to check out and included some non-traditional markets as well!
Our next full day in Germany was actually spent taking several trains to different locations. This day will be in a more extensive blog post about some options for day trips to take outside of Munich, so stay tuned!
Below is a map of some of the sites we visited and other points of interest.
I absolutely love your pictures! And p.s. I think Chase needs to pay you for how you promote using them so much for your travels!
This was so good! I thought churros was Mexican lol! I loved the view from the cathedral