We were lucky enough to spend four days in Munich just as the World Cup had kicked off. The carnival atmosphere within the city’s pubs and in particular within the Munich fan park was really something quiet special.
The main purpose of our visit to Munich was to see our first live World game; Saudi Arabia and Tunisia. The game, despite it’s lack of established footballing powers turned out to be a cracker. A frantic final 15 minutes, saw two late goals and the game finishing 2-2!
Our time in Munich was definitely different to the norm. A city renowned for it’s Beer and traditional Bavarian culture and we spent 90% of our time watching Football! The highlight was certainly the Munich fan park. Despite only having to tickets to one game, the fan park located in the old Olympic complex offered a comparable experience! Picture this. 40′000 crazed football fans, sitting on a hillside, alongside a river bank with a massive big screen TV showing live games! Add in the traditional Bavarian food and drink stands and it was a perfect venue for watching Football. The atmosphere was simply electric and some of my fondest memories of Munich come from nights spent cheering along whichever side’s supporters groups we managed to infiltrate!
Football aside, I do have some useful pointers for those planning to visit Munich. First a warning. The initial hostel we booked into was the A&O City Hackerbrücke, It’s roughly a 20 minute walk from Munich HBF station. We arrived at the hostel after 3pm, so the cleaning crews had just finished their daily clean. The state of our room was diabolical! Vomit and all other kinds of bodily fluids were littered across the room. The VB (Victoria Bitter) bags on the beds, painted a tale of Aussie backpackers having a massive bender. Despite this we were new guests, we expected a clean room. We politely asked for our money back, credit to the A&O staff they were very apologetic and returned our money with no fuss. I’d wager to say we just got a little bit of bad luck, but it’s still worth noting down.
From a negative Hostel experience to a extremely positive one. We ended up settling upon the Jaegers Hostel. Jaeger’s location is excellent. It’s only a five minute stroll from Munich HBF. The facilities are excellent, you have a very pleasant chill out zone with Internet terminals, a well stocked bar and some large screen TV’s which proved great for watching the early kick of World Cup matches! The rooms were equally as impressive, clean and secure. I highly recommend Jaeger’s if you are going to Munich and are looking for a Hostel.
My last little bit of advice is on how to get around Munich. The S-Bahn and U-Bahn provide a highly capable transport network! The U-Bahn is the underground network, whilst the S-Bahn is the suburban network. Between the two, most areas of Munich are covered. Personally I spent most of the time on the U-Bahn to get to and from the Allianz Arena & the Olympic complex. Tickets are reasonable, especially if you check out the Bayern Ticket. Which allows a group of up to 5 people to travel anywhere in Bavaria, incl all of Munich for just 28 euros. I highly recommend checking it out! I’m excited to say that my next trip to Munich is on the horizon.
I’m scheduled to arrive on the 1st of October for the last weekend of Oktoberfest an experience which promise to be closer to the traditional Bavarian experience! As much fun as I’m sure this will be, I’ll always have a soft spot for my special World Cup Munich!
Related Links:
Jaegers Hostel: – < http://bit.ly/aQvip >
A&O City Hackerbrucke – < http://bit.ly/NbhGd >
Bayern Ticket: – < http://bit.ly/8Psyg >
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