I've always had a fascination with Germany. My surname has been traced back to an ancestor whom originated from Dossenheim, Germany, a small town just north of Heidelberg, in the mid 18th Century. This connection is probably the most significant contributing factor to my Teutonic attraction and led to my choice to study German in high school. Even with this drive and my love of travel I never made it to Germany until early spring of 2012.
If you're hesitant to visit Germany due to a language barrier, don't allow that to be the decisive factor. Over 50% of Germans (higher in the former West Germany) claim to be conversant in English. Most restaurants have menus in English and nearly everyone in a tourist-facing position has ample language skills to help you with whatever you might need. Tourist sites have English-speaking guides and even those who might not be conversant in English will make a strong effort to communicate with you.
I arrived in Munich on a much-delayed flight from London. (Sidebar: EasyJet has deeply discounted fares, but don't expect to get more than you pay for.) My original plan was to purchase my S-Bahn (Urban Rapid Rail) ticket from an agent, but that fell apart when I arrived over an hour after the service desk closed. Not to worry, I was confident that with three years of high school German ~25 years prior I was capable of navigating the automated ticket kiosk, so I took the plunge. Just a couple of minutes later I was triumphantly removing my ticket from the dispensing slot when I noticed a neat little row of national flags across the bottom of the screen of the dormant kiosk next to me. There's no telling how quickly I could have received my ticket had I only selected the American flag and navigated the system in English. DOH! Lesson learned: take a couple of seconds to completely understand the system before jumping in with both feet.
If you find the vast number of possibilities in Munich daunting, and you're not sure where to start exploring, I recommend going with one of the free tours to break the ice. While there are no tickets or admission charges you should be aware that the guides work for tips and have to pay a set fee per person back to the organizer for the opportunity to make money leading the tour. I've heard good reviews from several others in addition to the positive experience I had, so I encourage you to offer a tip commensurate with the value you receive. You might even have a guide that you can buy a beer for after the tour (ask politely, they often have arrangements that will get you a free beer) which leads to a nice conversation that provides suggestions for what else to see around town. The free walking tour (compete details available at the link above) can be picked up at either the Starbucks at the Hauptbahnhof (main train station) or in front of the Glockenspiel on Marienplatz. They last about three hours and the walk is steady. You'll get a solid foundation of Munich history and see the high spots (there's no way to cover all of Munich in just three hours.) After the tour you should be oriented enough to the city to revisit places of particular interest or find new sites that you'd like to explore.
Augustiner is, by far, the local favorite. It is also my favorite. The beer hall just down from Marienplatz (zum Augustiner) is an outstanding place to eat and drink. We spent a couple of evenings here and found the staff friendly and efficient. The food is quite good, the pretzels absolutely divine. One evening we shared a table with a young professional couple for a couple of hours and had an absolute blast working on our German a bit. They were gracious enough to nudge us along until being forced to revert to English to explain how we were butchering things. Another evening we visited Augustiner-Keller with a friend from the area and sat in the cellar, where the traditional band only added to the enjoyment of the beer and food. I could have stayed for hours, but we had a flight to catch the next morning so we had to call it a night at a reasonable hour. I look forward to my return to Munich so I can drink my fill of Augustiner.
It was nasty.
Fast forward nearly three decades and I found myself in the Löwenbräukeller, drawn specifically for their wheat beer, Franziskaner, which I knew to be delicious. We were visiting during the Lenten season, which is Starkbierzeit (Strong Beer Time.) It's not as raucous as Oktoberfest and is generally considered Munich's best-kept secret. Older than Oktoberfest, Starkbierzeit started when Monks began brewing a strong, heavy beer to help sustain them through the Lenten fast. Of course, I had to sample the Starkbier offering along with the Franziskaner and it would just have been silly to not give the eponymous brew a fair shake. It was shockingly good, which is to say I'd have no problem drinking it on a regular basis were it available in the States in this incarnation. Once again we found good food (including soft, warm pretzels!) If you're in Germany don't pass on Löwenbräu based on what you may have tried by the same name in the States. The only thing they have in common is the name.
You can't visit Munich without going to Hofbräuhaus, but be prepared for a crowd any time of the year. It is a magnet for tourists and you may have to wait for a seat. The atmosphere is loud and boisterous as this is where everyone goes to demonstrate their knowledge of drinking songs. We also managed a dinner visit to Paulaner one evening (before we ended up at Augustiner for more beer...) and it was equal to the task as well. Overall we ate good food and drank excellent beer during our stay in Munich and my only regret is that I haven't been back in four years at this point.
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