Why life in Munich is so great

Here's a comprehensive list of the great things in Munich, as listed by people who live here:

Great beer - particularly the weissbier. The Oktoberfest (a.k.a: Wies'n). Girls in dirndls.

[img]http://www.toytowngermany.com/munich/girls_in_dirndls.jpg[/img]
Photo by keydeck

Good public transport - clean, safe, comprehensive, punctual, reasonably priced. You can say you'll meet someone and get the subway and arrive on time. Cycle routes everywhere - you can ride a bike and not get killed by some idiot in a white van.

Open-Air anything - pools, cinema, concerts, beergardens, afterwork parties.

Dancing close with a beautiful woman wearing a demure dirndl to a nasty groove in a disco, while she occasionally chugs a beer or puffs a cig with her beautiful dirndl-clad maiden friends.

The Cops / Policemen - they look like friendly forest rangers. And there are so few of 'em. I have not yet had the experience in Munich that I did driving down the 10 towards Santa Monica when there were not 2, not 4, but 9 police helicopters hovering in slow formation towards downtown, truly an "Apocalypse Now" kinda moment.

People healthy + honest and cossetted by a generous welfare state, apartments cheaper.

Clean, safe streets with so little violence. Compare this to the North of England, anyone who has had to live in Leeds for longer than a few weeks or been to Newcastle/Leeds/Manchester for a Saturday night out will appreciate Munich.

Greenery - lots of it. Gern has phenomenally green and has loads of trees, and is right opposite Taxisgarten.

As for the women, they are one of the best attractions of this city, especially when you are lying amongst them on a Starnberger Lake summer day.

Dantebad on a summer Friday afternoon for a beer and a swim.

Sitting at Cafe Roma in the afternoon to watch the posers go by

A half chicken (Halbes Hendl) and a jug of beer (Maß Helles)

Natural blondes.

Bookshops that provide seats so you can browse in comfort, rather than squatting uncomfortably or leaning against books that others are trying to look at.

In restaurants you don't have to "Please wait to be served" even if the place is nearly empty. And afterwards they don't immediately bring you the bill the second you say you don't want a coffee or dessert.

Floating down the eisbach on a hot day. Or the Isar Floßfahrt - cheezy but fun.

[img]http://www.toytowngermany.com/munich/isar_flossfahrt.jpg[/img]
Photo by keydeck

Some of the most stunning mountains in the world - the Alps. Incredible skiing (and ski touring) - less than 1 hour from the city. Then drinking Gluwein of Jager Tee after a day on the piste.

Sunny weather.
Tasty bread from Hopfisterei.
Wonderful smelling forests (eg. Perlacher Forest).
Rei Deer seen regularly.
Starnberger See on a weekday in summer.
Italy just south for the Renaissance stuff.
Prague just East for one of the most beautiful cities in the world.
The "Lange Nacht der Musik".
After work party at Reitschule.
A 10-minute commute.
Hearing "Silent Night" sung in a midnight mass in a Bavarian village at Christmas.
Athleticism - no Taco Bells in Munich.
Physical puritanism - none.
Doner Kebabs - tasty 'n cheap.
Public drinking - no hangups.
Deutsches Museum - Pretty neato.
Classical music - promoted. Welcomed.
Architecture - interesting + gargoyles!
Television - soft-core pornography (this appreciation lasts all of 2 minutes, though).
Wonderful mountain biking through forest trails.

In short, there's something completely right about that juxtaposition between the old world and the new.

Thanks to the following people for their contributions to this article:
Jeremy, jordigo, karambos, Keydeck, randy, showem

Sure Bob, great list, I fully agree, but I´d like to add a few things:
1) ALL the public pools, both indoors and out, especially Maria Einsiedl Bad (outdoors) and, let´s see, what´s my favorite indoor pool, uh... hmmm... well, it´s one of the eight great facilities.

Then there´s the Beach! Check out a photo of the beach on my website under FAQs.

How about the architecture? Ever tried to take a look at any of it and appreciate not living on, for example... Long Island any more?

How about Feringasee? Been there yet?
Did you mention beergardens?
Bike paths?
Quiet Sundays?
The possibilities of the Volkshochschule?
What else? Hmmm... how about the bowling alleys?

Anyway you slice it, in a Consumer Reports sort of objective rating system for a lot of different things regarding the quality of living, Munich, at least in my opinion, would have to wind up ranking somewhere close to Nr. 1 in the world.

Munich ROCKS!

Mike Lasher
Mike´s Bike Tours

Cheap Apartments?!!

you must be kidding. Good service in Restaurants! B*llSh!t.
What about the crappy supermarkets, the lack of queuing or respect in shops... I could go on and on...

This is hands down, the best website on Munchen I have ever had the pleasure of seeing. I keep it bookmarked, and come back almost daily to see what's new. Unfortunately I do not live in Munchen, but visit family there every summer, I would love to call Munchen home when money is no longer an issue (wet dream).
And so, with that said, I will second the comment "Cheap Apartments?!?"
PLEASE! Tell me WHERE!!
I will look forward to attending a Toytown event, and I would love to get aquatinted with some of the dash cunning people from this website!
Regards, Angela
www.virtualtourist.com/Angelamtp1

I visited Munich last week with my wife and two sons (16 and 13). During our visit, we went to see Farenheit 911 at the Atlantis Theater. My older son had brought with him a bag containing 5 CDs that he had purchased earlier in the day. To make a long story short, he left the bag at the theater. When he realized his mistake, I told him that it wasn't worth going to the theater because the bag would have already been taken. Three days later, we returned to the theater to see Coffee and Cigarettes. We were stunned to find that the bag was sitting behind the counter, waiting for us to pick it up! We just wanted to thank whoever turned the bag in! Munich is a city filled with the most honest, friendly people in the world!!! Thank you all!!! We had a fantastic time!!!

Yes, I lived in Munich for 3.5 months in 2002 during the summer. Went to visit some friends for two weeks and decided to stay until my American Visa ran it's course. Yes, big and cheaper apartments than NYC! I love NYC, it's my home town and a fantastic town! However, Munich offered me something completely different and unexpected. Living near the Isar, I was just several metro stops away from Starnberger See... 30mins away by auto to Tegernsee (my fave) and literally rollerbladed to Feldmochinger See with one of my girlfriends. We met our other friends and just threw everything off except our bikini bottoms (very typical thing to do) and I was in heaven. Best part was, all the cars passing us on the off roads while we blading were honking us with thumbs up, congratulating us! Strange and amazing experience. Skiied at Hintertux in Austria and went swimming that afternoon in SchlierSee, after having dinner atop the alps overlooking the lake.. and this was a typical Saturday... unbelievable. Fresh and delicious bread everyday from "Mueller"... Sports on weekends (bycicling to Englische Garten for See Hause, mountain biking in the alps, hiking in Garmisch or simply walking around and shopping) Edgy fashion, can actually ride the amazingly organized and uber clean metros with a tank-top, lowride jeans and high heeled sandles and no one will bother me or start trouble! Great weather.. lovely, lovely men and more fab biergartens. Super safe any time of night or day (I still can't believe how safe it is there) People actually meet you when they say they will. They actually call you when they say they will. They actually will gather at last minute, bring bread, cheeses, meat, veggies, table cloth and cutting utensils (Yes, I'm serious) to the biergarten of choice and have a blast talking and eating, drinking and eating and laughing. (this goes for picnics, too) loads of those.

Great parties, nightlife (when you know where to go) my faves are Reihtschule and Favorit Bar. Geographically perfect and absolutely no hang-ups or puritanism what so ever! Everyone has a car and drives it! Friends were always bringing food over along with all kinds of drink when I'd invite them for a chill-out at my apt. You're invited to everything. Tons of art shows around and dance/music nights in the parks.

The people are friendly, curious, everyone speaks English (althoug I only wanted to speak German, which I did) helpful if your lost, even in English. Always want to know more about you and where you grew-up, what are your aspirations, if you have any. I think I should stop now.

I've made valuable friendships there to add to my wonderful friendships here. Can you tell I loved it? Well I'm back next month, can't wait.

weather is not so good any more.

Hey Guys,

I just googled for "munich rocks" and found your site. quite cool! i'm 20 years old and always been living in a suburb of munich. i totally agree with the positive list, there is no better city in germany. the worst thing for a young guy is though, that the nightlife in munich is much worse than in other big cities. if you don't like the average taste in music, you're quite lost.
But every city has to have it's negative aspects.


I'm happy and proud that you like our city for so many reasons. Thank you, you made my day;)