Hi friends, welcome to my Germany and Austria series! Back in February, Jon and I decided to be ambitious and plan another trip to Europe at the end of August. After halted international travel the past two years, we’ve made it our mission to travel as much as we can in this season of life. Late August can be pretty hot in Europe, so we had to be thoughtful about a destination, especially if there might not be our beloved air conditioning. We chose Germany because it was on our bucket list and the weather is a little rainy, but not too hot. I wanted to see some of Germany’s famous fairytale castles and visit Eagle’s Nest and surrounding National Park (Travelling Han’s post inspired me), so we decided to explore the beautiful Bavarian region and add a day in Salzburg to live out my Sound of Music dreams.
After a lot of research, mapping things out, and checking direct flights, our trip was confirmed. The Paris/London itinerary took a lot out of me, so it took a while to get back into the planning mindset for this trip. We booked our hotels, rental car, and flights months out, but the itinerary was still wide open. A lot of the itinerary was hiking related and dependent on weather, so I outlined all the must-see spots and hoped for the best. We were looking forward to being in nature and relaxing on this trip.
Jon and I had an uneventful flight out of Newark on a Thursday at 5:30 pm. United was the only airline that flew direct to Munich and we will do whatever we can to avoid connections (even going to NJ 😉 ). The flight was about 7 hours and 15 minutes so we would land around 1am EST. We purposely booked this earlier flight so we didn’t have the pressure of trying to sleep on the plane, and then could take a quick nap in our hotel when we landed.
The flight was pretty easy because we were busy watching movies. We landed, made it through customs pretty quickly, and then took an easy fifty-minute train to Munich. We only stayed in Munich one night, so I booked the Eden Hotel Wolff right by the train and rental car pickup. This hotel is perfect if you’re only in Munich a day or two because it’s less than a twenty-minute walk to the town center and a good base if you’re visiting other places by train. The rooms were clean and spacious, and after we checked in, we crashed hard! I set my alarm for 1 hour and that definitely wasn’t enough time, but we only had a day in Munich so we had no choice but to make the most of it.
The first order of business was seeing the glockenspiel in Marienplatz, the main square in Munich. While we were walking down the main road, it felt like people were walking every which direction all at once. It was one of the most chaotic walks of my life. Munich was pretty busy late August, so I can only imagine how it is during Octoberfest! Every day at 11am and 12 pm, and an additional show at 5pm from March through October, this clock in the New Town Hall (built in the late 1800s) puts on a little show along with bells that draws large crowds. The characters depict a noble wedding that took place in the square in 1568 and lasts about ten minutes. It’s fun, free, and definitely worth seeing once.
The building with the green spires and the bell tower is Old Town Hall. It was destroyed in WWII, but rebuilt. New Town Hall wasn’t destroyed and became the US military’s headquarters after the Americans occupied Munich. The Germans did a great job rebuilding Munich, the buildings look so historic that it’s hard to believe they are all relatively new.
After the glockenspiel show, we needed coffee stat. Jon’s boss was in Munich a few days before us and she recommended this very cute coffee shop called Niu Asian Cafe. They have the prettiest lattes, smoothies, and crepe cakes. We shared a rainbow latte, iced coffee, and Venom crepe cake. If you want a photo worthy coffee, I’d definitely recommend this café.
With a second wind Jon and I stumbled upon St. Peters, the oldest church in Munich, and paid 5 euros each to climb the 306 steps to the top. It was not built for two-way traffic and quite crowded, but we enjoyed the views of the Old City.
We explored inside this beautiful church after and it was a lot larger than it looked. The church was bombed in WWII and suffered a lot of damage, but thankfully it was restored with donations from the Augustine brewery and private donors.
One of the most interesting sights inside the church is this box of St. Munditia who was beheaded by the Romans for her Christian faith. The pope gifted this box to the city for their devotion to him during the Reformation period. I don’t think she ever thought she’d be memorialized like this.
After St. Peters we headed toward The Residenz Museum and admired the streets, architecture, and beautiful day along the way.
I hoped you enjoyed the inaugural post of my Germany & Austria series. Stay tuned for the second part of our day in Munich featuring the Residenz Museum and our first German beer and meal 🙂
Looks beautiful Lyssy. So glad you managed another trip. We have not been to Munich, but your photos do it justice. That coffee and cake are worth the price just for the photos. The Europeans seem fond of displaying the decomposed bodies of their saints and martyrs. We saw similar displays in Irish and Italian churches. Thanks for sharing. Have a great day. Allan
Thank you! It is such a beautiful city, it’s hard to believe that a lot of it is rebuilt. We also got lucky with a beautiful day. I’d never seen a more beautiful coffee, almost too pretty to drink. Very interesting, hopefully we will be able to go to Italy next year and see that. Hope you have a great day too!
Great selection of photos and nice quiet streets too!
Thank you! It’s hard for me to narrow down which pictures to include because I have so many.
Haha, I bet you do! 🙂 🙂
Ok understood ma
I remember seeing pictures of that same clock and hearing my grandmother describe the characters to us after her trip there. She came home with a mini clock that hung in her kitchen until the day she died. You all made the best of your day there despite being so tired!
Wow she really must’ve liked that clock! Hope you can see it in person one day 🙂
That’s an artful cup of coffee!
Prettiest cup of coffee I’ve seen!
A lovely introduction to your German series Lyssy. I really enjoy visiting Germany and hopefully I’ll add Munich to my list one of these days too! Those coffees and sliced of cake look almost too good to eat and drink!
Thank you! I loved our time in Germany and would love to visit more of it one day. I hope you get to Munich soon 🙂 I’d never seen a prettier offering from a cafe.
I love those views from St. Peter’s . But as a black coffee drinker, I’d probably pass up on that rainbow latte!!😅 😂 🤣
Those views were amazing! I am a black coffee drinker too unless I’m on vacation haha
Fabulous, Lyssy! I would love to see a real fairytale castle. Since we haven’t read or heard much about Munich, it was a real treat to see your amazing photos of the beautiful buildings and the stunning St. Peters church. The food at the coffee shop looks wonderful too!
Thank you! So glad you enjoyed this, I only seem to see people in Munich for the Oktoberfest, but there is so much to do. We only scratched the surface in our one day there. Can’t go wrong with cake for breakfast/lunch 🙂
Cake for breakfast is perfect!
Know this city so well but it was lovely looking at it again in your gorgeous photos
Thank you, so glad you enjoyed!
Es war super!
Great piece Lyssy, which I read with interest since I haven’t been to this part of Germany. Your photography shows Munich as a colourful and vibrant city rich in historic architecture. And trust you to sniff out some ridiculously photogenic coffee and cake.
So glad you enjoyed this! I know you would love visiting here. There is a lot of history we didn’t get a chance to cover on our day here, but I think you would love it! You can always count on me for some pretty food and coffee.
You & Jon are seasoned travelers to know a) take a direct flight, b) sleep a minimum when you first arrive, and c) most importantly, soak up the sunshine the first day. I’ll bet you overcame jet lag in a hurry! I’m impressed how wide Munich’s streets are for such an old city. And the one photo with the enclosed walkway over the street reminds me of the Bridge of Sighs in Venice (though not as ornate), the bridge to the prison where the convicts would get a glimpse of the outside world for the last time.
Our other rule is no checked bags unless absolutely necessary. Lucky for Jon I am not a fashion/makeup blogger so I’m ok with outfit repeating. The second day we were pretty refreshed and ready to go. As long as I make it through the travel day I’m usually good to go. It was nice that cars aren’t allowed on a lot of the streets so you could take full advantage of the space. The enclosed walkway does look like the Bridge of Sighs, maybe one day we will visit Venice before it sinks.
Munich looks so beautiful, and I love your castle photo! The buildings are gorgeous and it seems like a magical city.
Thank you! Munich was a very cool and beautiful city!
Wow, Munich looks stunning I’m forever seeing content on Instagram from here. It looks like such a great place to visit; those views from St. Peter’s Church are stunning. I look forward to seeing more.
It is a beautiful city! I’ve seen a lot of instagram content there, maybe it was so popular recently because of Oktoberfest. Can’t wait to share more 🙂
During my stays in Munich I wondered what I liked so much about this city compared to other German cities. I came to realise that it must be the Italian influence in the architecture that makes it more majestic and elegant.
It’s cool how it feels very old, but is as new as some other cities in Germany that are more modern. I love the architecture here too.
This post made me beam from ear to ear 🙂 Can’t WAIT to follow along with the rest of the series
Yay!!! That makes me so happy 😊
Great post and beautiful pictures! I have never been to Munich but it looks stunning! The architecture and colourful buildings remind me a lot some towns in Austria!
Thank you! It is such a beautiful city. It does look a lot like some towns in Austria!
I meant to mention, Lyssy, the Venom Crepe Cake is one of the prettiest desserts I’ve ever seen on your blog (and I’ve seen a lot ha). Something about the muted colors speaks to me, and that drip of cream running down the side into a little puddle is simply elegant. Hope it tasted as good as it looked.
It was delicious! They also had a rainbow one that was pretty, but we were in the mood for chocolate.
https://talentednationboard.net/mixtape/check-out-the-too-ten-most-expensive-midfielders-in-the-world-continent/
https://quicksell.co/s/calibuds420/top-shelf/5li
Woow, it’s amazing country 👍
You’ve inspired me to consider Germany for my next Europe trip. I’m hoping to plan something for spring 2023 so I will be following your posts to get some more ideas!
Yay!! Germany is amazing, and there is a lot you can do. Cities, nature, storybook villages, castles, and I found it a lot less crowded than Paris/London so it felt refreshing.
Awesome shots! The Germans know how to do food!
Greetings
🔺 Do you wish to become famous, wealthy and powerful? Be part of this elite organisation called illuminati brotherhood filled with world leaders, business authorities, artist, also reach the peak of your career as well given💲1M as your monthly benefit and also be given a new house of your choice.reply me by saying YES.