Learn about how to spend two days in Munich in Spring. Take a trip to Munich in June. Discover the best places in Munich in the Spring. Explore a 2 day in Munich itinerary.
Munich is an ideal city break destination in Europe. With just 2 days in Munich Germany, you can get a taste of what the capital of Bavaria has to offer.
When you visit Munich in the Spring, the city simply comes alive. After reading this post, I hope you'll agree that Munich is one of the best places to visit in Europe in June.
Read on for an ideal Munich 2 day itinerary to try when you plan a trip to Germany in June.
Getting to Munich
Munich International Airport is well-served by national and low cost carriers. Once you land in Munich, hop on the S-Bahn for the 45 minute ride to the train station in Munich City Centre.
Munich Viktualienmarkt
Munich in Spring is the perfect time to visit an open-air market and visiting the best food markets in Europe is one of our favorite things to do when we travel. We emerged from the subway onto Marienplatz and headed straight to nearby Viktualienmarkt.We spotted delicious looking produce including white asparagus, a staple in Munich in the Springtime. Viktualienmarkt features a variety of quaint fountains. We saw bakers selling huge loaves of bread. Sachets of lavender scented the air nearby.
Wood carvings enticed visiting shoppers. While the calendar had ticked over to June, we were lucky to spot the maypole in the middle of Viktualienmarkt.
We continued our walk around the market and appreciated the beautiful blooms. A different smell started to permeate the air and we discovered a wide variety of cheeses on offer.
I love cherries and they were in season during our Spring visit to Munich. We ordered a half kilo of cherries and the vendor tied them up in a paper cone to take home and help us sustain our energy during our 2 days in Munich.
Sample German Fast Food and Beer
We stopped at Bayrische Schmankerl for some currywurst and beer, typical German fast-food. I liked how the beer bottles were capped with ceramic plugs.
Later, when we were done exploring Viktualienmarkt, we decided to sit down in the biergarten for one final pint and to soak in the sun. We also sampled one of Munich's speciality giant pretzels, a must-do on any Munich itinerary.
I definitely came away from this experience with plenty of Oktoberfest party food ideas to relive the memories of this trip to Bavaria back at home.
From Marienplatz to Schwabing
We wound our way from Munich's Viktualienmarkt toward Schwabing. We saw people relaxing near a fountain not far from Marienplatz.We spotted a shop selling elaborate Bavarian costumes. We passed the Rathaus (Old Town Hall) on Marienplatz and continued down a small side street.
After our early morning flight, we were in need of some serious caffeine. We stumbled upon Aran and stopped for a quick coffee and bio-break.
Continuing on, we passed the area around the Munich Residenz. An outdoor library "Read the City" (Stadt Lesen) was set-up on the square. Locals sat on comfy beanbags enjoying a good book in the Spring sunshine.
We wandered through the Hofgarten adjacent to the Residenz. We continued up Ludwigstraße toward the Universität. We rested for a moment under an imposing fountain before continuing on.
We crossed the street in front of Siegestor, one of the old city gates. The boulevard past this point was lined with tall, narrow trees offering some welcome shade.
As we approached Schwabing, we spotted Munich's Walking Man. We thus felt inspired to continue our long hike from the center of the old city to our hotel in Schwabing.
SIDEWALK SAFARI SPOTLIGHT: Looking for other short city break destinations to visit in Germany? Have you considered:
Looking for other city break inspiration in Central Europe beyond Germany? Check out these ideas:
|
Exploring Munich Schwabing
We checked into the Cosmopolitan Hotel (now Schwabinger Wahrheit by Geisel) in Schwabing, an unusual place set back from the street. Our room had a patio overlooking an overgrown courtyard.It was neat to see the vegetation taking root on the walls of the building. We took a walk through Schwabing past buildings with speckled facades.
A variety of storefronts lined the street and beyond. We spotted a building featuring stylized artwork. Another building had been given over to a vertical garden.
I smiled when I saw this theatre - Keine Panik. My German isn't great but I could easily figure out that this meant Don't Panic! We spotted another maypole just outside the entrance to the Englischer Garten.
The Englischer Garten
The Englischer Garten is the ultimate place to include on your two day in Munich itinerary if you visit in the Spring. Since we were staying in Schwabing, not far from the English Garden, we took an afternoon stroll into the park.To our surprise, we discovered gaggles of geese everywhere! They seemed to be quite used to people and waddled right up to us.
After admiring the birds for a while, we continued on our way around the lake. We spotted a nesting moorhen. Other unusual species of ducks called the park home.
We came around past the boathouse. We soon approached the entrance to the beer garden situated along the lake. The entrance was marked with a lovely peacock statue.
We continued our walk and spotted even more geese. We were so excited to see a moorhen and her chicks. There is a species of moorhen that is quite common in Dublin and they are my favorite birds.
However, I've never seen them nest or with young before. I could have stood for hours watching the family zig-zag through the water. I love how the parents would dive deep to bring up bits of food for the chicks. Amazing!
Dinner in Schwabing
After our visit to the Englischer Garten, we took a walk around Munich's Schwabing neighborhood in search of some dinner. We were impressed by the variety of sculptures we saw around town.Stylized stone cows were out to pasture on the grounds of an apartment complex. Even the buildings themselves featured various embellishments.
We stopped for supper at Wirtshaus zur Brez'n and nabbed a table outside. A stag party was also enjoying dinner here and had come with their own swank transportation. Our meal featured hearty German fare including chunks of brown bread with a sour cream dip. We also enjoyed a plate of white asparagus and potatoes with a buttery sauce.
After dinner, we walked off our meal in the neighborhood. We discovered a human size chess set in the park. Stone hippos looked on as children swung to and fro.
Colorful roses climbed the apartment block nearby. As we ended our walk, we spotted a stone monkey and a lone rose peeking out from a small garden. What an idyllic spot.
Sunday Breakfast
On Sunday morning, the start of the second day of our 2 days in Munich, we sought out a hearty breakfast. We decided on Cafe Schwabing which featured an affordable breakfast menu and covered outdoor seating.We took a seat among a decent crowd of people. We enjoyed eggs and toast plus a bowl of muesli and coffee. The rain came in halfway through the meal.
Through sheer luck, we ended up at the only table that was truly protected from the rain. Everyone except us cleared out. We took our time finishing our meal before heading out on our day's adventures.
Munich's Museum Quarter
One of the perils of visiting Munich in the Spring is the chance of rainy weather. We spent the second day of our 2 day in Munich itinerary focused on indoor activities.We headed on foot from Schwabing towards Munich's museum quarter. We passed some lovely architecture en route. We encountered a high brick wall with what looked like a park beyond.
We wandered inside and discovered a small cemetery. Taking a shortcut through the cemetery, we emerged onto a commercial street.
We arrived at the Pinakothek der Moderne and discovered that the entrance fee was only 1 Euro on Sundays. What a bargain!
The museum featured a variety of exhibits including an auto-inspired area. One section of the museum featured 'classic' computer equipment.
Avant garde jewelry (including a laptop on a rope) featured prominently. We saw a display of colorful chairs.
One of my favorite exhibits was a table full of miniature foil figures. The artist handed out 500 chocolate bars to factory workers in Japan and asked them to create something with the foil wrapper. This was the result. We finished our tour with cake and coffee in the museum cafe.
An Afternoon Walk
The rain had cleared so we decided to take an afternoon walk. We passed the obelisk on Karolinenplatz and took a bit of a detour to follow strains of music that we heard. Turns out that the music was simply a sound check for an outdoor concert scheduled that evening.The detour was worthwhile though in that we spotted some cool buildings and features. We walked through the Old Botanical Gardens and spotted the Ministry of Justice.
Lovely fountains provided an impressive centerpiece to the park. We passed an ornate round entrance before crossing the ring road into Munich's Old City.
SIDEWALK SAFARI SPOTLIGHT: Have more time and looking for Munich day trip ideas? You could cross the border into Austria and spend a day in Salzburg, birthplace of Mozart and The Sound of Music. You could also head to the Munich train station and hop on a train from Munich to Augsburg to see the impressive golden town hall. You could also spend more time in Munich itself. I visit often on business trips and have discovered plenty of other fun things to do in Munich at any time of year including a visit to the impressive grounds of Nymphenburg Palace.
|
To the Hofbräuhaus
No trip to Munich is complete without a trip to the Hofbräuhaus. We wound our way through the pedestrian streets of the old city toward the famous beer hall.We discovered that Landliebe had set up a prize wheel and a short queue had formed to take a shot at winning a prize. I couldn't resist and joined in.
While I didn't win anything major, I appreciated my consolation prize - Greek style pudding. We walked toward Marienplatz and spotted a sculpture of a man on a balance beam.
Stately peaked buildings lined the road. Colorful flowerboxes added to the local charm. We skirted around the Rathaus and past a fountain topped by a fat puffer fish.
It was definitely a contrast to the buildings around. We ducked down a side street and soon emerged in front of the Hofbräuhaus.
We entered the hallowed premises and found ourselves a table near the band. The ceiling was painted with whimsical frescoes.
We bravely ordered two Maß (1 liter steins of beer). It was quite hot inside the beer hall so we moved outside to the garden (another advantage of visiting Munich in the Spring).
After an enjoyable afternoon nursing our large beer, we finally reached the bottom and declared that it was time to move on.
We wandered from the Hofbräuhaus to the Isartor City Gate. We crossed the river to have a look at a part of town less frequented by tourists. A shaded path lined the river and featured a variety of street art.
Beyond Isartor City Gate
We wandered from the Hofbräuhaus to the Isartor City Gate. We crossed the river to have a look at a part of town less frequented by tourists. A shaded path lined the river and featured a variety of street art.
We emerged at a grassy oasis and found sunbathers and picnickers along the banks. We sat down in the stones nearby and listened to the water rush past. After this relaxing stop, we continued on our way along the river not far from Volksbad.
We spotted more impressive street art along the way featuring a variety of disparate themes. The trail continued on towards the Englischer Garten. The water rushed rapidly downhill. We found our way back across the river, through the Englischer Garten and emerged in Schwabing.
The walk was quite a distance - we covered almost 10 miles We replenished our energy with a carb loaded meal at the popular and inexpensive Pepernero. It was definitely a fine way to recharge after an action packed day to conclude our weekend in Munich.