I've been wanting to return to Munich since we last went in November 2014.
Munich during it's annual Christkindlesmarkt is nothing short of magical, so I felt it was time to visit on a non-event weekend.
Completely different experience!
Munich, oh Munich.
After a two hour drive, we had arrived. The drive was simple, but parking was not. The last time we went to Munich, I found the sweetest hidden parking lot upon some prior research. We put the address into our GPS this past weekend, and the results were different!
We knew we were in the vicinity of our special parking place, BUT it took us awhile to pin point it. It's not something easily found off of a main street.
If you find yourself in a pickle for parking in Munich, heed this advice:
Put "Richelstraße 3 80634 München" into your GPS.
It's a bank right next to our parking spot. Instead of pulling into the bank, follow the street "Richelstasse" until you hit a wall. Turn right, and on the left, you are there!
If your GPS takes you the one other possible way, follow the street, and toward the end, you will see the parking on the left. It's a dead end road, so you won't miss it.
My mistake was that we put just the train station's name into GPS. It kept guiding us up and above the parking lot, because the lot is under what looks like a freeway pass. Hard to put into words.
Note, this spot is not in the inner Munich ring, but we take the S-Bahn from this parking lot to Marienplatz. What's also beautiful about this spot is that it makes much of the city accessible with all types of city transportation. The best part: No one is ever parked here. On this super crowded Saturday, we were one of maybe six cars in this ginormous lot with a guesstimate of 150+ spaces. It's the Donnersbergerbrücke train station parking, and not a very busy station. Oh, and the lot has super cool graffiti art.
After purchasing, I used my MVV app, which is the official Munich city transportation guide app to find our way to Nymphenburg Palace. Super easy. Put my location and destination into the app, and bam, the nearest tram appeared. And... this was our first time riding a German tram!
The tram line stopped right in front of Nymphenburg Palace. Once off the tram, our adventures began!
Seriously, the main museum tour is short. It's self guided, but not many rooms to explore. The Great Hall is the only part of it that made it worth while! Simply gorgeous.
We didn't explore the entirety of the gardens; we stayed close by to the palace.
After visiting the palace, we hopped back on the tram and went in the direction we came from. Stopped at our stop, only because we know exactly what to do from there, and jumped on the S4 (train) to Marienplatz.
I mentioned our last trip to Munich was a different experience. Yup.
Although there were zero events taking place on this particular Saturday, the place was PACKED. Every store had terrible lines; every street corner had lingering tourists. People were just everywhere. After eating lunch and dipping into Forever 21, we decided to call it a day.
Munich during it's annual Christkindlesmarkt is nothing short of magical, so I felt it was time to visit on a non-event weekend.
Completely different experience!
After a two hour drive, we had arrived. The drive was simple, but parking was not. The last time we went to Munich, I found the sweetest hidden parking lot upon some prior research. We put the address into our GPS this past weekend, and the results were different!
We knew we were in the vicinity of our special parking place, BUT it took us awhile to pin point it. It's not something easily found off of a main street.
If you find yourself in a pickle for parking in Munich, heed this advice:
Put "Richelstraße 3 80634 München" into your GPS.
It's a bank right next to our parking spot. Instead of pulling into the bank, follow the street "Richelstasse" until you hit a wall. Turn right, and on the left, you are there!
If your GPS takes you the one other possible way, follow the street, and toward the end, you will see the parking on the left. It's a dead end road, so you won't miss it.
My mistake was that we put just the train station's name into GPS. It kept guiding us up and above the parking lot, because the lot is under what looks like a freeway pass. Hard to put into words.
Note, this spot is not in the inner Munich ring, but we take the S-Bahn from this parking lot to Marienplatz. What's also beautiful about this spot is that it makes much of the city accessible with all types of city transportation. The best part: No one is ever parked here. On this super crowded Saturday, we were one of maybe six cars in this ginormous lot with a guesstimate of 150+ spaces. It's the Donnersbergerbrücke train station parking, and not a very busy station. Oh, and the lot has super cool graffiti art.
Once we got the car parked, we headed into the train station to buy a city group day pass for transportation. We'd much rather ride city transport than try and drive a huge American car around this city. The city day passes work for every form of transportation: Train (bahn lines), U-lines, Trams, Bus. Depending on how big your party is, depends on the ticket price. For our family, the group day pass is 14.50 euro. Not shabby.
Also, depending on where you plan to visit in Munich depends on which ticket you need. Anything outside of the 3rd city ring require a Munich XXL pass.After purchasing, I used my MVV app, which is the official Munich city transportation guide app to find our way to Nymphenburg Palace. Super easy. Put my location and destination into the app, and bam, the nearest tram appeared. And... this was our first time riding a German tram!
The tram line stopped right in front of Nymphenburg Palace. Once off the tram, our adventures began!
The tickets for us to tour just the main "museum" inside was 12 euro. I would've opted to do the entire tour through the grounds, but given we left home later than planned and our slight parking dilemma, I din't want to fuss with the entire tour. Next time.
Seriously, the main museum tour is short. It's self guided, but not many rooms to explore. The Great Hall is the only part of it that made it worth while! Simply gorgeous.
Believe it or not, I actually took the time to take photos of the rest of the place. Ha. Though, the other rooms weren't as exciting as the Great Hall.
That about sums up the inside!
We exited the palace, and headed toward the palace gardens. The gardens sit on the rear facade of the building. This area is HUGE, and leads into what is called Schlosspark Nymphenburg. AKA Palace Park. The gardens and park are free to visit, by the way :-)We didn't explore the entirety of the gardens; we stayed close by to the palace.
I mentioned our last trip to Munich was a different experience. Yup.
Although there were zero events taking place on this particular Saturday, the place was PACKED. Every store had terrible lines; every street corner had lingering tourists. People were just everywhere. After eating lunch and dipping into Forever 21, we decided to call it a day.
I have explored much of Munich before (look under my November 2014 archives), so I wasn't butt-hurt to miss some sites this time around. I've seen many of them before.
My second time to Munich wasn't as enjoyable as our first trip once we hit the city center, but I don't discredit the city because of the hoards of visitors. It might be awhile before we go back, though! Oktoberfest is around the corner...!
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| Some horses along the autobahn on the way home |
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