St. Patrick’s Day in Munich

Even booking last minute (2-3 days before) the bahn train was super easy booking online to hop two hours over to Munich for the day for the St. Patrick’s Day Parade.

Reserving our seats on the way back in the evening was worth it too. It cost a few euros more but when traveling with more than one person it is the way to go from a fest.

Walking from the station about 10-15 minutes we reach the town hall or Rathaus in Marienplatz to watch the Glockenspiel move and chime for a long 12 minutes.

The tower of the Rathaus is only open to go up during the week so that was out unfortunately.

Since it was a Sunday and all shopping is closed in Germany, churches were the best places to visit to get inside out of the wind and freezing cold that day. There are a lot in the area of Marienplatz with the historic ones being:

• St. Peter’s Church built in 1180. 
• Church of our Lady or the Frauenkirche
• The Asam Church (or Asamkirche)

• St. Michael’s Church or Theatinerkirche

We met up with some other friends who had taken the USO bus trip into Munich that morning for the parade, and been staking out a good spot along the route. The parade was to start at noon so we started heading their way to Odeonsplatz where the end point of the parade was. Beer vendors and music were already beginning there. The streets were empty which made us a little nervous, this was supposed to be one of the larger events in Munich after Oktoberfest. We walked further down toward the arch where our friends were stationed. It was sparse with people still, but you could tell the parade was coming. It was freezing cold and windy so we ducked in between cars to block the wind until the parade reached our point. Our fabulous friend ran to get us all hot chocolate too, it was so amazing.

Finally just as the police car drove through to make way for the parade, all these people dressed in green came from out of nowhere and it was suddenly crowded. We still had a great spot though. At the end, walking back to where we started at Odeonsplatz was nuts, tons of people with not much space in the square to move or grab a beer. Following the cows from the parade (people dressed as cows) to the Guinness express line on the inside was the best idea, after all it was a St. Patrick’s Day event and Guinness is not a thing at all typical to find in Germany. Glass included, it was only 5 euros for the pint. In Ireland, I don’t think we ever got a beer less than 6 euros, without the glass.

After the parade, for lunch we ate at Nürnberger Bratwurst Glöckl am Dom which was originally built in 1893 and rebuilt after the war, also known to be frequented by Hitler and other top Nazis. I had the mixed sausage platter, very German of me.

Hofbräuhaus is around the corner, one of the largest and most famous (touristy) beer halls in Munich right across from the Hard Rock. Despite only “Ein Mass” size on the menu, smaller beer sizes are available. It’s hard to get a table, you just have to jump in as soon as you see someone else leaving, and share with whoever else is sitting there. The hall has hundreds of communal tables, the service is spotty.

After  Hofbräuhaus, we headed over to one of my favorites we went to on our last trip in December, the “Weissen Bräuhäuser” – Schneider-Weisse where we ended the day with more beer, a cheese plate and apple cake. Time went by so fast, we then rushed off onto the metro in order to catch our bahn train back to Stuttgart. We made it! A great day trip in Munich.

Click here to view the photo album. 

PROST!