Munich: A native´s guide
Created | Updated Jan 28, 2002
Munich, beautiful city of the south. A lot of entries for this city exist on h2g2, regarding its population, layout whatever. This article will therefore try to focus on the most important question: Where to go to have a good night of fun!. Before we get partying the are some things that foreigners should know and remember:
Things to remember
- Forget about the Hofbräuhaus
- Forget about the Oktoberfest
- No lederhosen (or at least very few)
- try to learn a couple of words in German, in some of the place in this article almost nobody will speak English.
- Keep in mind that in beergardens you get a Maßkrug (a mug containing 1 litre) of beer
Beergardens + Beer Halls
Beergardens are typical for Munich. They are like a garden (hence the name ;)), with benches and tables and one or several stands to buy drinks and food. If it was not for the different kind of food, you could consider them as some kind of open-air McDonalds;). Also quite typical are the large trees there. If you leave out that open air stuff, like trees and whatnot, you will end up with a beer hall. So the same rules apply for both, beer gardens and drinking halls.
What to drink?
Well, there is only one real answer to this question: beer! Normally each beer garden is just serving a certain brand of beer, as most of them are owned by breweries. For such kinds of beer like Pils or anything not directly from Munich you will also be looking for in vain. All they are serving is normally Helles (Lager) or Weißbier/Weizen and the mixed drinks made from them. Please see the quite excellent article on German beer for further information. If you are after softdrinks you will also be perfectly fine, as beer gardens are usually offering a vide variety of non-alcoholic beverages. Very limited choices of wine are also available most of the time.
What to eat?
You can get all normal German food there, sausages, sauerkraut, roast pork, roast duck and whatnot. There are however a couple of specialities tha might need a bit of explanation.
Obatzdais cheese speciality, made of french cheese, mixed (please correct me on this, I am moving a bit on thin ice here) with butter, powdered bell pepper, salt, pepper. It looks like a orange blob, or something that your cat might spew on your bed at 3 o´clock in the morning. But be brave and try it spread on a piece of Brezn (bavarian for pretzel) it tastes just delicious.
Auszogne, the definition for this dish will not make this article popular among people from Bavaria, but these things are actually bavarian doughnuts. The are made of dough (pretty obvious) and they are deep fried. The little white rim that sometimes goes around them is caused by them floating on the oil. Try one, taste and look pretty much like doughnuts.
Bretzn are not just pretzels in a beergarden. They are quite big, one is usually more than enough for an average adult (yes, average I know that there are osome people out there that eat them like peanuts). They are part of the classic beergarden-combo which is Mass beer and a Bretzn.
The authors favorite beergardens
There are heaps of them spread all over the city, so this list is by no means complete. It is just a list of the beergardens the author enjoys most.
Hirschgarten
Allthough the largest beergarden, it is also one of the most beautiful ones. It is about 10 minutes foot-walk away from the trainstation "Laim" and is located in some kind of park. Despite its size it is usually quite packed on sunny days.
Augustiner
Just next to the trainstation "Hackerbrücke" this beergarden is quite close to the inner city. It has a large area where you are actually served at the table and an even larger self-service section. Prices are OK, as is the food and they are serving the best brand of beer availanle in Munich :"Augustiner" ;)
Seehaus
Located in the english gardens, just next to the lake, this is the place to relax after a nice walk through the park. But beware, as soon as the first rays of the sun become visible this beergarden will be packed. And it has few shady places.
Night-Clubbing
Munich offers quite an extensive night-life to anyone who is willing to pay the price. The price includes rude bouncers, face-checks (more on that later), high admission-fees, watery drinks and a lot of travel.
The one-stop solution?
There is a place called Kunstpark Ost, to get there ride the train to "Ostbahnhof" and then do as the lemming does, follow the masses, which is most often considered the best place to party in Munich. It could be if you are after house, techno or any of that electronic stuff. It was made out of an old factory and houses about 30 or more different clubs and bars. And before you ask: Yes you have to pay for each of the clubs to get in. Normal prices should be around 10 - 20 DM. It is quite popular in Munich to go there, so expect huge queues ( that means german-elbow-in-your-face queues, not the british kind) in front of the popular clubs. My opnion for a night of fun there is: get plastered, go there, get lost on the to some club, go to some kind of bar, end up in a place called "Keller" (i.e. basement) and listen to some very alternative music, while you and your friends are the only people in the club. But then again for somebody who is into house and trance and all that electronic music, this might as well be the place to go.
Anything else?
Yep, heaps of it. This is (in no way complete) list of the clubs that I know and have seen from the inside, together with a recommendation on what kind of people to expect and what attitude to expect.
Nachtwerk
Not really a club, it is to big for that, but still an OK location. At the moment they have music from the ´50s to the ´90s on saturdays and usually quite cheap booze. The people are the best part about this place, they are usually the youngsters that can´t get in anywhere else. All dressed up and ready to kill, they stroll around until the yare plastered. Big fun can be had on every second tuesday. They have students party, every beer just 1 DM, all the lovely music from the charts, and even lovlier people. Just make sure that your alcohol level is high enough and you are in for some serious fun ;). To get take a cab and tell them to go to "Nachtwerk" on "Landsberger Strasse" (strasse = street)
Backstage
This a club sponsored by the city, so once in a while they are having specials on racisms and similar topics. Also there are a lot of concerts in this place. It is a very alternative place, playing most of the time some kind of independent music. It is quite dirty, loud, full of smoke. Very recommended is saturday, with their "Freak Out" party. Thats independent hardcore music, a beergarden, that has a oof over it and is open until 5 in the morning, the resident shack for cheap salty and greasy food. And no hassles with bouncers, travel or stupid kids. It can be easily reached by going to "Donnersberger Brücke" station and then just following the noise.
Pulverturm
More on the outskirts of Munich, quite similar to the backstage, but a bit smaller, louder, dirtier.
Nachtgallerie
Only fun on saturdays, admission 20 DM every beer 1 DM, every drink 1 Dm per ingredient. Music ranging from charts to bad party music. People of all ages and colors (including green and vomit yellow). Always quite full, but a good place to make the foundation for a decent hang over.
Alabamahalle
Just famous for their all-you-can-drink-party. Bad music. worse people and the worst drinks. Don´t brag that you had 25 screwdrivers in that club, and don´t even think about getting close to that number ever again. I don´t want to be blackmailing anybody, but tests on human specimen have shown that 25 screwdrivers (no dancing involved, drunk as fast as possible, only 1 toilet break) equal about 7 screwdrivers in your average bar. Only go there if you want to see somebody puking on the floor and falling asleep in it.
This list is, as mentioned before, by no means complete or comprehesive. There are so many clus around, the easiest way to find your way around is go to newspapaer stand and buy a magazine called "Prinz" it has all the parties listed. Or, alternatively, try to find a magazine called "INmünchen", it is given away for free in pubs, bars and clubs. It has the same listing, but none of the articles as in "Prinz".
Schickeria - Upperclass clubbing
Schickeria is bavarian slang word for the "upperclass", that kind of people driving around in BMW convertibles, wearing rolex watches and being very hip and trendy in general. There is a couple of plaqces where you might meet, but not migle or talk to them.
These places would be:
P1 commonly know as the "Oanser" or "Oanserstueberl", it is the location for the hip, young and beautiful. Expect to spend at least 3-4 weekends in the queue before you get in. Also refer to face-checks under problems below. Theclub is small, cramped with people, ****ing expensive and not really worth it. It is all about see and to be seen....
Parkcafé Basically the same thing as above, but service-staff is not as good.
Sugar Shack For posers, who can´t get into P1 or Parkcafé. just as bad as any copy.
Problems
Rude BouncersAnyone knows about these guys. Normally bouncers in Munich are quite OK, if you don´t piss them off, that is. only if are going to the very trendy places you can run into trouble. They start seeing themselves as gods or something, ruling over who gets in and who doesn´t. If you are in Kunstpark Ost it is perfectly fine not to get into one club, just make a jump to the left.... and there is the next one. It is really annoying , if the bouncer doesn´t even talk to you and just keeps on letting other people in while you are waiting. This especially nasty, if you are in place like the P1 even the next McDonalds is 15 mins foot walk away.
face-checks
Basically meaning, the bouncer looks into your face and says "Don´t like your nose" or something similar. Two choices can be made, a smart and a stupid one. The smart one is to leave, the stupid one is to ask why, or make another witty remark. People who do this tend to wake up feeling like they are having the worst hang over ever. And maybe a couple of broken bones. Remember there is never just one bouncer...
Travel
Travel is bit of a problem, Kunstpark left aside all clubs are pretty far from each other. So it is no drinks, taxi or public transport. Public transport is fine to get ther initially, but for coming better save some money for the taxi. Public transport almost completely ceases during night time and if you don´t exactely know which line to take to get close to where you want you will spend countless hours, waiting for busses, trains etc. Or just don´t drink and drive yourself.
Pubs
Pubs in Germany are more like bars, or bistro type things... There quite a few nice ones around in Munich and way to many to list them here. I have therefore made a list of just parts of the city, as I think it is a lot of fun just to set out eyrly on the evening, go to a certain area and just see were you will end up.
Glockenbach
The area around "Gärtnerplatz". It holds heaps of pubs and bars, including the famous "Klenze 17" and "Fraunhofer". Very nice area. The part of the city where a lot of gay-community seem to hang out.
Haidhausen
No gay people, or very few. But a couple of good jazz clubs, small, dark student pubs, where you can get a beer and a decent dinner for a fair price. But of a strange neighbourhood though....
Neuhausen
Just of the subway station "Rotkreutzplatz", very nice and heaps of pubs and bars. Reaching from mexican bars to bavarian beer-halls. This part of the city should be catering to any individual. Very recommended!
Nachtkantine
translated as Night-cantina this is the only bar that i will mention. And this is for a very specific reason. It is located in the Kunstpark, quite near to the entrance. It is about as comfy as train station, has the worst service staff around, it is bloody expensive. And nobody I have met so far liked to got there. But somehow everybody does. Whenever you don´t know where to go and what to do, it will just take ahalf an hour and you are stranded there. It just sucks you in. So i would not recommend to go there, you are going to end up there anyway ;).
