The charming southern German city of Munich and the nearby Bavarian Alps will be directly accessible from June 20 when Saudi Arabian Airlines begins flights to that city from both Jeddah and Riyadh. Using wide-body Boeing 777s on this route, Saudia is also launching new flights this summer to Vienna and Manchester, but its Munich flights are the ones that are creating considerable buzz in the travel world.
And with good reason. While Saudia has long flown to Frankfurt, the business capital of Germany, Munich and the surrounding state of Bavaria offer much more to visitors in terms of historical buildings, palaces, museums and pure Alpine beauty. While most other German cities were 80 to 90 percent destroyed by Allied bombing in World War II, Munich suffered only 60 percent destruction, and when buildings were rebuilt they maintained their previous style.
“In Munich it’s so difficult to tell apart the newer buildings from the older ones. They all look historical,” said Vicky Weller, a public relations officer of the city of Munich’s Tourist Office during a recent visit of Saudi-based travel agents and journalists to the Bavarian city.
From countless royal castles in Munich and elsewhere in Bavaria, this region has so much to offer tourists: From a slew of museums, art collections, theaters, music concerts, shopping in department stores, boutiques and of course world-renowned health spas which specialize in knee and back problems.
BMW Museum
Munich is also of course home of the world-famous Bavarian Motor Works, which started in this city in 1919 and now manufactures luxury cars and motorbikes in plants across the globe. The car manufacturer’s museum, which first opened in 1973 and was refurbished in 2004, houses examples of all the cars and motorbikes it has ever built, including rare production models that were never produced in commercial quantities. It has been closed since last year to undergo a complete renovation and is scheduled to reopen this summer. This is a must-see for any serious car buff. We visited a temporary museum, which housed only part of its vast collection of vintage cars and bikes. For more information on when the new museum will open visit www.bmw-museum.de on the Internet or call +49(0) 89-382-58396. Other museums include the State Museum of Egyptian Art, the Alte Pinakothek, which houses over 800 European masterpieces including one of the largest collections of paintings by Titian, and the Pinakothek der Moderne, which houses modern art in four museums covering art, graphic arts, architecture and design.
Royal History
Munich and the rest of Bavaria are full of former royal palaces that are now run by the state as museums open to the public. One of the biggest in Munich is the Nymphenburg Palace, a huge baroque palace that was originally built in 1675 as a summer residence for Bavarian princes. Later additions, as well as sprawling gardens and a small lake, make it one of the largest royal compounds in Europe. Visitors can pay a small fee to visit various buildings and look at the beautiful paintings on the walls and ceilings.
If you’re feeling peckish by now head to Munich’s main square called Marienplatz and have lunch at the historic Ratskeller restaurant (Tel. +49 (0) 89-2199890). It’s housed in the basement of the grand City Hall building and its vaulted ceilings and dark wood certainly give it an 18th century feel. I ordered one of their specials for my main course: Breaded veal steak served with giant white asparagus and Hollandaise sauce. Before that I had a delicious liver meatball soup and finished the whole meal off with a tasty apple strudel and vanilla ice cream.
Outside Munich
Once you get tired of all of that art and culture its time to head to the Bavarian Alps and the charming Alpine town of Garmisch-Partenkirchen. Around 300 kilometers south of Munich, this picture-perfect town with its cute chalets and chic boutiques is the perfect base for shorter trips up the surrounding mountains or even across into Austria, which at only 20 minutes away by road is closer to Garmisch than northern Germany.
A day trip up to the top of Zugspitze by cable car, which at just under 3,000 meters (2,962 meters to be exact) is Germany’s highest peak, is a must. Bring a sweater or jacket with you as it will be chilly even in the summer. At the top you can walk on an open observation deck and look at Germany on one side and Austria on the other. Pick up a few souvenirs here like cute Alpine cow bells for 6.50 euros and leather-short clad teddy bears for 4.50 euros. The trip up in the cable car is a bit expensive at 47 euros per person roundtrip, but is well worth it.
In Garmisch we stayed in the five-star Reindel’s Partenkirchner Hof hotel (www.reindls.de, tel. +49-(0)88-21943870), which has been run as a family hotel since 1911. The current owner wears full Bavarian regalia at night and walks around talking to his guests as they dine in his gourmet restaurant. Rates at this 120-bed hotel start at 70 euros a night a person, and can reach 140 euros a night for small suites. There is a wide range of hotels, furnished apartments and chalets that can be rented in Garmisch. For more information visit www.garmisch-partenkirchen.de.
A Fairy Tale Castle
To round off our quick tour of Munich and Bavaria, we visited the enchanting castle of Neuschwanstein that was built by King Ludwig II from 1868 to his mysterious death in 1892. The monumental castle was built on an outcrop of rock overlooking a river gorge, and can be seen for miles around like a vision from a Disney movie.
Hourly guided tours are available in different languages, and tickets cost 35 euros per adult. Ludwig allegedly bankrupted farmers in the area by taxing them heavily to build this castle, and this is given as an explanation for why he was found drowned with an aide on a nearby lake in 1892. An autopsy never found water in his lungs, suggesting foul play and a cover up of his politically motivated murder.
The castle is stunning and definitely worth the two-hour drive from Munich to see it.
