Moving to Munich from Canada

Hi,

I'm moving to Munich from Windsor, Canada in August. There is so much I don't know, but mainly I could use some help with stuff like: Where is a good area to live/bad area to live? How much should I expect to pay for a decent apartment? Approx. how much is a rail/bus pass for the city?
Any help would be great. Thanks!

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All depends, of course. Do a search on the website and you will find the answers to lots of your questions. How big an apartment? Where you live and where you work will influence your public transport price. But all of Toytown is fine to live in, there's no real wrong side of the tracks.

Hi Sk8rgrl,

Welcome to Toytown!

Its late on Friday and most people are out partying, so stay tuned for more responses tomorow.

To start off the answers

Where is a good area to live/bad area to live?
Depends what you want to do really. Be close to work/studies or bars, restaurants, cafes, etc. Central and going north into Schwabing is a good bet for life, but popular places can be more expensive.

How much should I expect to pay for a decent apartment?
A cop out, but this really depends on where you chose and what you want - e.g sharing, furnished, parking, balcony, close to public transport, etc.
Use www.mrlodge.com as a good reference for getting to know a bit more anout the areas, and the type of accommodation/prices, complete with lots of pictures of apartments and the areas. Argueably their prices are higher (its all furnished too), but use it as a guide.

Approx. how much is a rail/bus pass for the city?
Check out http://www.mvv-muenchen.de/en/mvv-info-service/index.html. Prices cover all U-Bahn, S-Bahn, buses and trams. If you were going to use public transport alot, a monthly ticket for say just the two central rings would be 36.00 EUR for unlimited travel in those rings. Link to general ticket info http://www.mvv-muenchen.de/en/mvv-info-ser...ices/index.html and price info http://www.mvv-muenchen.de/en/mvv-info-ser...eise/index.html .

Hey there.
Just to give you an idea: a monthly ticket for all of the actual city area (and you don't need the outscirts) costs fourty-something Euro; for an apartment of thirty square metres you should expect to pay around 500, for three rooms, about 100 sqm around 1200; depends on how popular the area is. Schwabing is usually the most popular because of the nightlife but basically everywhere on the underground is good.

Thanks for all the info so far! It's only 6:30pm here in Windsor right now...bit of a time difference.
I guess I should have been a little more detailed with my questions. I'll be working near the Olympic Center. I have looked online at the Mr. Lodge website but I guess I wasn't sure if it was overpriced or not...like I said, I don't really know too much yet. Basically, I just don't want to get stuck in a bad area of town or something (being by myself and all).

As I said, there are no "bad" areas of town.

sk8rgrl,

Welcome to Toytown! As the other memeber's mentioned, there are no bad parts of town. A bicycle is a must and you can get a used one. I am assuming you skate from the screen name, so by all means bring the skates along. There is a blade night every Monday night, they block off the streets & 10,000 skaters rule the road.

Mr. Lodge are fully furnished accomodations specializing 6 months to 2 years. another option would be to check out the classified section on Toytown. There are people moving in and out of Munich looking to sublet their room or flat.

Liz Frey relocation services is yet another option. She has small studios and one room flats availabe, also full furnished.

You will love the Toytowner's! they are a social group, love to party and they do it a lot.

Previous threads:

Best area of Munich to live in - a poll

Best place in Munich for a young family

My recommendations (best first):

City Center
Schwabing/Maxvorstadt
Lehel
Haidhausen
Isarvorstadt/Glockenbach/Ludwigsvorstadt
Neuhausen/Gern
Westend
Giesing
Sendling

Worst places:
Moosach, Obermenzing, Neuperlach, anywhere outside of ring 3 on the MVV.

Decent apartment: 700 to 1,200 Euro for a good 1 bedroom apartment. Shared living is cheaper.
Public transport: 50 Euros a month.

All questions answered.
Next!

Whatever you do don't live in Garching. Not that you would, but just as a word of warning. It's not even in Munich. Takes an hour to the city centre!
Am Arsch der Welt!

lol
Big C knows what he is talking about.

I would not recommend the city center though, meaning Marienplatz and the immediate surroundings.

@Big C

It does not take an hour to get to the city center! Not that I would recommend anyone move to Garching, but that just isn't true. It's a 5-10 minute bike ride to the Bahnhof and 20-25 minute train ride into Marienplatz.

I've found a lot of places...(thanks everyone!) and actually, what is Laim like? and Schwanthalerhohe? I noticed they're not on anyone's lists...but I read somewhere that Laim is retirement central...is that right?

Are you Avril Lavigne? Sk8trgrl?

c u l8tr grl.

Oh and Laim is too far out imho.

Nope, not Avril. I can't sing at all actually, but thanks for the info.

Well, I moved from downtown Windsor to downtown Munich 4 months ago. I guess I can give you some location specific advice. Please do me a favor and eat some fish and chips at the Kildare House.

Please do live as close to downtown as possible. A lot of people will steer you to some outlying area, but my advice is to get as central as possible. Get the city experience.

Schwanthalerhöhe is not too bad. I have some friends there, and they like it. Schwabing seems to be the it place, but the rents are high. I'm in Bogenhausen and I really like it.

I looked at a lot of furnished places, but most are really expensive and you're stuck with somebody elses old junk. It's a bit creepy somehow. Maybe I didn't see the right place, but...

I crunched the numbers and over 2 years it was cheaper to furnish a place anyway. For less than 2 years, a furnished place CAN be cheaper.

What is your gripe about Moosach? It's a great location. As you mentioned in previous posts - it all depends on what you want to do. For me, being close to work(BMW) is key - less than 10 minutes by car to the OlympiaZentrum - same by bike - during rush hour - less at other times. Plus, the Lakes are so close - all of them. And, if you like to do sports, you can get out of the city fast - do that from Downtown.

just a little "contra" to all thos eTTer who said there is isn't a bad part of time!

You all obviously haven't been to Hasnbergl in the north! A real drug-pushers and hookers paradise.

But having said that, Hasnbergl is just one samll area, easily avoided and the rest of Munich on the whole is really good to live. Some place better to live than others.

the "in" places being Schwabing and Haidhausen.

Actually Graham, I have been to Hasenbergl. Admittedly during the daytime, but absolutely nothing that everyone seems to shudder about. No graffiti, no dodgy looking characters. Sure, tall apartment buildings, but I hardly find that a reason to think the place is bad, especially as each one has a big grassy area around it which makes them a lot more inviting than some of the places more central.

The ONLY place anyone has "pushed", IE offered, me narcotics was in schicky micky Schwabing. As for hookers, they are legal here, and the ones that work in legal brothels earn good enough money to live on Kaiserplatz.

Munich compared to most places in Canada is very safe and law abiding. You really have to look for trouble to find it. I know lots of women who never think even twice about walking home from any bar at 3 am. Isn t that the way it should be? But I know my sister in Vancouver would never do it.

On rent it is compared to Canada expensive, I pay 670 and live in Haidhausen which is nice area though if I were you I would try to live near to Olympia Park maybe Schwabing-Hohenzollernplatz, or someone correct me if I am wrong Gern-Rotkreuzplatz is nearby.

In fact everything seems expensive- example cocktails 7 Euros/ 11 C$. I typically accept that what things cost in C$ is the same as Euros.

What else can I say. Its a great, clean, very green city near the mountains, pretty provincial though and very monocultural for someone from Canada.

Hiya
Gern & Neuhausen would be very nearby in fact, cycle paths connect to the area and the U1 extension to Georg-Brauchle-Ring (where O2 is) would take you from either station (Rotkreuzplatz or Gern) through and it is still only 3 unnderground stops from the central station.
I find them much greener and nicer than Schwabing (unless you live directly on the Englischer Garten) and I personally moved from Schwabing to Neuhausen. accommodation prices are similar to Schwabing (75sqm one bedroom would go for about 800€ plus, including extras) and parking gets worse the closer that you get to Rotkreuzplatz so if you lived very close to there it may be worth eith not having a car or looking for a rental parking space. It is less student-y than Schwabing and has more families, it has good bars and restaurants but less of them and no clubs, some don't like that, but I do.
I would really recommend that you try to find somewhere basic for the first month and look around to see what you like. You might be really into a specific sport and want to live close to that or want to be close to access to the airport?
Whereever you choose, welcome to Munich!
Katrina

Not sure about Windsor...but having lived in Toronto all my life...I can say that Munich is safe, clean, green, cultural, centrally-located, and never boring. Toronto is multi-cultural...but so is Munich. You will meet lots of new people from all over the world. There are so many opportunities for ex-pats to interact...TT just being one of them. And the travel opportunities alone are enough of a selling point. One hour and you are in the mountains! Italy, France, Austria, Switzerland...all at your doorstep.

I think the rents are a bit expensive...but then again...the apartment you get for that price compared to what you would get in Toronto is quite different. Most apartments here are nice, white, bright, and the buildings are very well-kept. There is usually a bike room...and storage in the basement. Some have balconies and/or a courtyard/garden area. Have yet to see an apartment that I did not particularly like...most people I know are quite happy with the apartment they are in.

It is best to live near the city...but you do not have to live right in the middle to enjoy it. Olympiapark is very nice...and great to cycle around.

The public transit system is amazing and so scheduled you can plan your outings down to the minute. Look for an apartment with various transit opportunities...one near trams, U-Bahn, S-Bahn and buses...and you can't go wrong. There are many different ways to get the the same place depending on your mood and time restrictions. I live in an area where the U-Bahn is 500 m from my door...the bus outside the door will take me to an S-Bahn or a tram stop within 5 mins. It's great!

Food is going to cost you, especially if you like to eat in restaurants. Fridges are small so you have to shop two or three times a week. Items also seem to be sold in smaller quantities i.e. no bags of milk...not that it matters because as stated...fridges are small...but you need to plan ahead as the shops are closed on Sundays. There are so many things from back home that are not obtainable here...simple things we take for granted like decent peanut butter or brown sugar to make cookies with (there are various threads on here about that particular problem). Coke goes flat instantly once opened...not sure why that is...but it is annoying. Cocktails are mind-blowingly expensive...but beer is cheap for the most part. Pfands will test your patience though...and your apartment will be full of empty bottles that you will one day have to return to get your money back.

Suggestions:
- Get a bike...everyone cycles here...great way to get around, do your shopping, etc.
- Make the most of your time here...just hop on an U-Bahn or a tram and get off wherever...roam the city...chances are you will find yourself in the middle of something interesting on any given day
- Get out and meet people...there is typically something going on every day around here...with one group of people or another...it is a great way to get to know the city as well
- Things are very structured, organized and there are a lot a lot of rules...talk to people, read up and do your research to find out the things you need to know about health insurance, taxes, TV licenses, things like that (there is already a lot of information on TT about such things)
- Learn the language...at least become conversational or self-sufficient. English is widely-used yes...but there can be mix-ups and complications when the communication breaks down.

I have been here 6 months and the culture is sooo different here...relaxed...you can't explain it to people back home...but it is seriously like you are on vacation every day...even when you have to work. I miss home...but not enough to consider leaving here yet

Enjoy and good luck!

Schwabing is a good place, but Munich is pretty small and there are loads of good places, not only Schwabing.
There are loads of nice little bars near Ostbahnhof (Haidhausen/Bogenhausen).
I live right in the city centre and love it there. Schwanthlerhöhe is pretty central too. (just be aware of the drunks when the Oktoberfest comes up)
Even Hasenbergl is not too bad. It is worse than some other parts but it is still remarkably safe compared to other cities.
Somewhere along the U3/6 would do good for you. Even U2. (Get a mapn and you will see which trains are running. In any case of doubt check out http://www.hot-maps.de
Are you looking for a room or a flat.

what? am I reading correctly? Haßnbergl nice? You gotta be kidding? Maybe in comparison to the bronx or Brixten. But come on, only drug pushers and hookers live there by choice. Everyone else who lives there does so just because they can't afford anywhere decent.

Graham, where does your experience with Hasenbergl come from? Have you lived there?

never said it is nice, but it is still safe. People around there might be dodgy and they are not the richest, but i still would dare to walk home drunk at 4 in the morning. you will not get robbed or sliced. and as we know that can even happen in the nicer areas. Munich is safe!
You make it out to be a real bad place with drug addicts begging for money on street, and hookers running after you. And it is not! And I know ppl who live there with a decent salary and they neither earn it with drugs nor with prostitution.
And i agree with the statement before: You are more likely to get offered drugs in some schickimicki bar in Haidhausen/Schwabing then there.
By the way, some of the apartments are really nice, new and spacious. you could be better off there than in some crappy old flat in Schwabing paying unreasonable rent.

@showem

no, thank god, burt I did look at about five or six flats there when i first moved to Munich. Maybe I am doing the area a bit if an injustice but it seemed to me that the stereotype so comically portrayed by Stefan und Erkan (who call it Bunny Hill) was quite true.

Maybe there are nice parts I am unaware of. If so, I am willing to be corrected.

My main point is actually that there are far nicer places to live than there. But I will agree with all that was said that Munich is very safe and nice to live in and even the less desirable places aren't really that bad compared to most other cities.

All this info has really helped! Thanks everyone.