How to Avoid Being in Munich, in Munich

All year long, it kinda looks like Christmas.

Chances are, if you find yourself in Germany, you'll stop in Munich sooner or later. 

You may be the kind of person that will walk into the old town and discover a beautiful quaint city of eternal Christmas and fall over from excitement. 

Every year, The Glockenspiel scores just below Prague's Astronomical Clock
as "most underwhelming attraction ever."

Traditions are rampant. You can wander around a very traditional food-market, and find all kinds of bratwurst--even horse sausage! But wait, there's more! Like really big May poles!

May Poll Question: do we need a May Pole?

And after seeing all that, chances are you might want to change things up a little and see something interesting. You're in luck! There are things to do near Munich.

1. Visit Neuschwanstein castle!

Located in Füssen, a couple hours train ride from Munich, you can visit this lovely castle that inspired Disney's logo. There are some surrounding lovely mountains that you can stroll through. And a lake. Though I'd advise to to stroll around the lake rather than through it.

View from Marienbrücke: aka tourist photo bridge.

It's a magical place. You can take horse carriages or a bus to the top of the hill. But if you take the time to walk, you might get a chance get swept into a fairytale.

And meet your toad prince!

2. Visit Dachau!

For less of a fairytale, visit a concentration camp! You can get photos and ammunition against any Holocaust deniers you meet. And it's only a 20 minutes bus ride from Munich. 

Legally prohibited from inserting a witty caption.

3. Oktoberfest!

Ok, this one is inside Munich. And there's nothing I can tell you about Oktoberfest that you don't already know.

Unless you do not already know the following key points:

• It starts in September, not October. Next year the first event is Sept 20th, and the last is Oct 5th.
• If you want to get inside a beer tent and drink, make a reservation and/or get there stupid early.
• People watching is awesome: the lederhosen is pretty funny and the dirndls are super cute. 
• Accommodation is super expensive, but you can find a way to make it work.

Oktoberfest is in tents.

And if you've had too much to drink and feel the need to get rid of your alcohol, there are a huge range of roller coasters, drop zone rides, and spinning teacups to choose from!

It's like a monster county fair.

4. The Olympic Stadium

It's something like 20 minutes from the central Munich station on public transit.You can pay to do some stuff, like zip line or whatever. But if you are feeling cheap, it's also a nice place to walk around and relive the glory of sports.

It's like a miniature Mount Olympus!

A stroll on a lovely day is highly recommended, to take in the sun and sit on the grass, and admire the retro-futurist design elements.

Live your Olympic dreams and sit around in a park!