What We Actually Did
I have been traveling with my mother-in-law since before the kids came along. We did Amsterdam together years ago, just the two of us, so we know what we both like. She can get along with anyone, she will try anything, and she laughs at everything. What I did not fully anticipate was that she would skip down the Path of Confidence in Salzburg on a Sound of Music Sing-Along tour, but I am getting ahead of myself.
This trip started with a tea tin. A few months earlier, our whole family had traveled to Southeast Asia for my MIL’s 70th birthday, and I came home with a box of Dammann Frères tea from the St. Regis Jakarta. I was sitting at home one afternoon, enjoying that tea, and it said Paris. I picked up my phone and texted her one sentence: “You want to drink tea in Paris for Mother’s Day?” She said yes before I put my phone down. Actually, I think she said “Seriously!?” then “Yes!”.
My MIL retired from United Airlines after 42 years of service, which is how my husband and I travel on employee flight benefits. Starting in 1978, in non-rev terms, means she has a priority that most people can only dream about. But usually it means we show up, check for empty seats, and either board or we don’t. After a lot of routing conversations and one very long discussion about UK Air Passenger Duty, we landed on Munich because we could use a vacation pass for Polaris business class seats. Honestly, Munich was not our first choice among European destinations from Houston, seeing as we initially chose Paris. BUT, it turned out 3 days in Munich was one of the best trips we have taken. More on that in a minute.
Getting There: The Airport Train Situation
Land at Munich Airport, grab WiFi immediately, get your eSIM sorted before you leave the terminal. I learned this the hard way after forgetting to activate mine in Houston because we were too busy laughing about old theater memories and stories about my husband’s behavior at a performance that I will not elaborate on further. (TBH, it’s more like every time he’s at the theatre…)
The S-Bahn from the airport is the obvious move, except the stop closest to the airport was down for construction the day we arrived. We ended up taking a replacement bus to the first working train stop, which was a total cluster-mess, and after approximately four minutes of that experience, we decided a taxi back to the airport on departure day was non-negotiable. If you are staying near Viktualienmarkt, just take a taxi from the airport. You will thank yourself.
Where We Stayed: Living Hotel Das Viktualienmarkt
The location of this hotel is genuinely unbeatable for a first time, and especially if youve only got 3 days in Munich. You walk out the front door and you are standing on Viktualienmarkt, one of the oldest outdoor markets in the city, with Marienplatz two minutes in one direction and the Hofbräuhaus five minutes in the other. We did not need a single transit connection to reach anything on our itinerary until the Salzburg day trip.
The staff were exceptionally kind throughout the stay. They pointed us toward the best breakfast spots, the best evening spots, the best place to grab a bottle of water, and they genuinely seemed to enjoy the guests they were hosting. That warmth carried through every interaction.
One honest note on rooms: we requested two separate beds, and they were not able to accommodate it. We ended up sharing a king, each with our own duvet, which is very much the European way of handling this. Given that we were walking eight to ten hours a day and mostly fell face-first into bed each night, it did not matter one bit. If two beds is a hard requirement for your trip, call ahead and ask specifically, but go in knowing it may not be possible at many European properties.
Day 1: Glockenspiel, Schmuck, and Hot Mint Tea at the Hofbräuhaus
We landed at 9:45am, dropped our bags at the hotel, and walked straight to Marienplatz because check-in was not until 3pm and we had a city to see.
The Glockenspiel performance happens at noon and 5pm daily. We timed it perfectly, found a table outside at Wildmosers Restaurant-Cafe am Marienplatz, and watched the whole thing over lunch. The mechanical figures dancing above a medieval square is exactly as charming as it sounds. My MIL ordered the pork shank. I had a cheeseburger with no bun, because I am gluten-free and Munich is not going to apologize for that, and neither am I.
After lunch, we wandered through the shops surrounding Marienplatz and discovered that the German word Schmuck means jewelry. It also means something very different depending on which language you are using. We could not stop laughing about this for approximately two days. I am not sorry.
The shopping in this neighborhood is genuinely wonderful. Servus Heimat became an immediate favorite, a shop full of beautifully made traditional Bavarian goods that felt authentically local rather than a tourist trap. We found the most perfect gifts for the boys here: wooden toy replicas of the exact trains we rode to Salzburg, sized to fit their Brio tracks at home. Shopping throughout Old Town, I also found a dachshund canvas bag, an olive wood boar’s hair brush locally made, and more dachshund-related items than I had any business purchasing. Zero regrets.
We stopped at Isabella Glutenfreie Pâtisserie that first afternoon, which I want to highlight specifically for any other celiacs planning this trip. Fully gluten-free bakery, proper pastries, and they had a local Heidi tea that was genuinely one of the best cups of tea I had on the entire trip. If you are gluten-free and in Munich, this is a priority.
By evening, we made our way to the Hofbräuhaus, which, yes, is touristy, and yes, you should still go. The atmosphere is 400 years old and completely unlike anything else. It was chilly that night, so we ordered hot mint tea instead of beer, which is not something I expected to do at the most famous beer hall in Bavaria, but the staff did not bat an eye. That is the thing about Munich. Everyone was extraordinarily kind and welcoming, with one notable exception at the train station ticket office, but that is a story for the Salzburg post.
Day 2: Salzburg and the Sound of Music
I know, I know what you’re thinking, “but you left Munich for your 3 days in Munich!?”. Yes. Full day trip. Details in a separate post because this day deserves its own space. What I will say here is that the route from Munich to Salzburg on the RJX train through the Bavarian Alps is one of the most stunning things I have seen from a train window, the Sound of Music tour exceeded every expectation, and my MIL skipping down the Path of Confidence is an image I will carry forever.
We got back to Munich on the 5pm RJX, pulling into Hauptbahnhof around 6:30pm. We had rested on the train and somehow got our second wind, so instead of going straight to bed like sensible people, we walked back to the Viktualienmarkt Biergarten and had a proper dinner. I got the pork shank and a glass of white wine at the open-air biergarten. We sat outside in the evening air and talked for what felt like hours. Then we walked back to the hotel and kept going until after 11pm in the lobby bar, just the two of us, sharing stories. It was one of those nights that sneaks up on you as the best part of the trip.
Day 3: The Residenz, Rischart, and the English Garden
Saturday morning breakfast at Rischart overlooking Viktualienmarkt is something I will think about for a long time. The market below was absolutely packed with locals, the streets essentially car-free and wall to wall people on a beautiful May morning, and we sat above it all with coffee and watched Munich happen. It was one of those moments that does not photograph well but stays with you.
After breakfast, we walked to the Munich Residenz, Germany’s largest city palace, and I want to give you an honest time warning: this place is massive. We spent the better part of the day there and genuinely did not see everything. Start with the Treasury, which is worth the trip on its own. The Bavarian crown jewels, ceremonial swords, and religious relics are extraordinary, though I will say the reliquary section is impressive in a slightly unsettling way. Beautiful and a little creepy in equal measure, which feels historically accurate for a 16th century royal collection.
After the Treasury, we took a break at Azuki, a patio spot just across the plaza, before continuing into the Residenz itself. Plan at least two to three hours for the palace after the Treasury. We were there until around 4pm and still had rushed through the second half.
The palace garden behind the Residenz was a perfect recovery spot. Beautiful formal grounds, a cold drink, and about a thousand other Bavarians who had the same idea on a warm Saturday in May. The weekend crowds in Munich’s Old Town were genuinely remarkable. The streets were so packed with pedestrians it seemed like they had been closed to cars entirely.
My blood sugar had other ideas by late afternoon, and we ended up back at Wildmosers for an emergency cheeseburger and potatoes, which I stand behind completely as a gluten-free survival strategy. We also did some final shopping, returned to Servus Heimat, and walked back through the market one last time.
Our taxi driver the next morning swung by the English Garden on the way to the airport so we could see the Eisbach surfers, city surfers riding a standing river wave in the middle of a public park, which is one of those only in Munich moments that you just have to see. We did not plan it. It was the perfect ending.
What Surprised Us Most
We went into Munich thinking it was the consolation prize. London had the tea culture, Paris had the romance, and Munich was the city we chose because the flight math worked. We were wrong about all of it.
After 3 days in Munich, we found it is one of the cleanest, most walkable, most genuinely friendly cities either of us has visited. The people were warm at every single turn. In three full days of walking, I managed to step on exactly one thing on the ground. It was a pretzel. I cannot make that up. The food scene is more navigable for gluten-free than its reputation suggests, especially once you find Isabella’s. The shopping is legitimately wonderful once you get past the souvenir shops and into the places actually making things there.
We walked more than we expected, laughed more than we expected, and found ourselves saying we would go back without hesitation. Which, for two women who chose this city mostly because the seats were available, is about as good an outcome as standby travel gets.
Staying in Munich? The Viktualienmarkt neighborhood puts you within walking distance of everything in the Old Town. Doing the Salzburg day trip? Read our full guide to the Sound of Music tour from Munich by RJX train coming soon.
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